


Balance In Our Lives {Fairy Tail}

by EnergyMageFrea



Series: Frea-verse {Fairy Tail} [3]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Energy Dragon Slayer, Energy Mage, Energy Magic, F/F, F/M, Frea - Freeform, Gen, dragon slayer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-10
Updated: 2018-11-10
Packaged: 2019-08-21 16:05:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 59
Words: 558,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16579757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EnergyMageFrea/pseuds/EnergyMageFrea
Summary: [Third Book! Read first two stories first!]The Grand Magic Games are over, but trouble is still present in Fiore. Frea finds herself in a lot more trouble than she could have ever expected, and she has no choice but to test the limits of her own Power, when things keep turning from bad to worse. But its not only danger that threatens her, its also the threat of keeping the balance between the people around her and herself.





	1. Return

****

**Chapter 1**

**Return**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

Frea leaned back in her seat and let her eyes fall closed, arms crossed behind her head, letting out a low sigh. They were on their way back to Magnolia now, the Party having come to a screeching halt after the Guilds started a fight to try and get Yukino to join their Guilds.

And then, there was Natsu.

Everyone had wondered where in the hell he had gone, and when they finally figured it out, you could say that Master was a little... Less than pleased.

_Stupid Flame-Brain... I can't believe he stole the King's crown... What an idiot..._

She cracked her eyes open a little to stare up at the roof of the train car they were in, quirking an eyebrow.

_Did he ever give it back...? I don't remember..._

She shrugged the thought off, she didn't know, and she really just didn't care. Let the idiot get in trouble for it, he might get some sense knocked into him.

As they had left Crocus, the city had been pretty much rebuilt, and due to the fact that the city's civilians had been evacuated before the Fight with the Dragons began, naturally, the King had been trying to keep the incident under wraps. With that in mind, now there was a rumor that a Dragon had been created by Magic, and set off just after the Games concluded.

None of the Civilians were aware of what really happened.

Though, there was no doubt in her mind, that DoranBolt would be altering some memories of what happened, she just didn't know who he would do it to.

The seat across from her was occupied by Levy, with Cana sitting next to her. Moon was sitting comfortably in her lap, with Lily sitting in Levy's. Gajeel was in the seat next to her, though he was silent, and glancing over, his cheeks were puffed up and he was a little green.

_Motion sickness sucks..._

She knew how he felt, though she didn't get sick on trains, only boats.

Across the isle, Chase was sitting with Bisca, Alzack, Master and Asuka, who was currently seated in Chase's lap, smiling cheekily. Frea let a small smile slip as she spotted them, Chase really was quite good at getting along with everyone, and Asuka seemed to love him... She looked away and glanced toward the ceiling.

Chase was friendly, smart, funny... There wasn't a person she had ever seen him not get along with. She bit her lip and sweatdropped.

Actually... Scratch that, Chase did _not_ get along with Laxus.

 _Its weird though... Even_ I _can handle the Lightning Idiot on most days... But Chase can't seem to stand him..._

She shrugged the thought off for now.

The whole train car was rowdy, being filled with most of their other members. Everyone was on pins and needles, still extremely happy with the outcome of the Games. Levy and Cana were happily chatting away with one another, Cana sipping on a flask while she did so. Moon and Lily were talking too, and Frea smiled a little to see the two were getting along quite well despite Moon's initial coldness toward him.

The car was a little less noisy, due to the fact that neither Gray or Natsu were here. They had chosen, along with Wendy, Lucy, Juvia, Carla and Erza to take a carriage back to Magnolia instead of taking the train. She partly wondered if the alternative mode of transportation had been Natsu's idea, though she wouldn't see why, he would still get sick in a carriage... Then again, Natsu wasn't known for his intelligence.

She let her eyes fall closed again as she let out a sigh, the air around her was swimming with happy emotions, not a single person here was unhappy. It was pleasant, she had to admit, this being opposed to the tense situations and feelings that had been going around the Guild for the last few days during the GMG and the Fight against the Dragons.

Her eyes snapped open suddenly when the Energy in the air shifted, and she sweatdropped.

_There it is again..._

The Energy in the air changed, it became something unnatural, not normal. The air seemed to buzz, and sounds were blocked out momentarily. Her stomach involuntarily flipped at the sudden change, and she groaned on the inside. This was not a pleasant feeling...But then it was gone again, and the Energy returned to normal, the buzz went away, and the sounds around her increased again. She narrowed her eyes, she had gone rigid the minute the Energy Shifted, and she forced herself to relax now that it had ended.

_What in the hell is that? Why does it keep happening?_

She didn't have an answer, but it was starting to worry her a little. The Energy didn't just shift like that for no reason, especially not as much as it was... Whenever it happened, it felt like the air disappeared for a minute, like it was gone completely... But it only lasted for such a short amount of time, that it wasn't an issue.

Anyone other than herself wouldn't have felt it, and she glanced to the left to see Chase was sweatdropping too, though he kept a smile not to alarm any of the others. She looked away and out the window, he had felt it too, of that she was sure. How could he not? He had felt it, along with herself, the first time it had happened.

Due to the events that had gone on for the last few days, with the fighting, Eclipse, the Dragons, and the GMG, she hadn't been awarded the opportunity to bring it up with him. She needed to, they had to start thinking about it, decide on what it is, maybe find out why it was happening.

She silently concluded she would take the time to talk it over with him, once she had the chance to get him alone for awhile, with no interruptions.

She contemplated on the idea of maybe bringing the subject up with Jynx, thinking the ghost girl might have some insight. But she didn't see that as a good idea at the moment, Jynx wouldn't be able to feel the Energy shifting, she wouldn't know what was going on any better than Chase or herself would.

_I'll keep this between Chase and I for now... Until I find out more, then I might ask Jynx._

She closed her eyes again, head resting against the seat and face tilted up toward the roof of the train car. She would think it over during the train ride, this was the perfect opportunity to really think things through and straighten her thoughts out.

She had become quite good at blocking out noise around her, it was almost _essential,_ when you lived in such a noisy Guild for most of your life, she cracked a small smile at thought. The sounds of her Guild-Mates slowly drifted away, until they were only a low buzz in the back of her mind.

She had so much to think through, so much to organize. Her head had been swimming for awhile now with all she had learned, and all that had happened. Many topics pressed upon her mind as she made sense of them and organized them, putting things together and concluding them.

But one thought struck her, one thought she had no answer to, and one that pressed an almost urgency upon her mind, that she didn't understand at the moment.

What is causing the Energy to shift?

* * *

 

"Your back!"

"You finally returned!"

"Fairy Tail!"

Frea walked along the crowded streets slowly, glancing back and forth. They had arrived to find the town filled with cheering people, and now she along with everyone else in the Guild were walking in the middle of the street, cheering crowds on either side as they were showered with praise and confetti.

There were so many people, a lot more than there could be in Magnolia, there were people from other towns here. Moon was walking along beside her with wide eyes, this being the first time she had been to Magnolia.

"There are so many people here..." Lucy murmured.

"Its amazing..." Lily breathed.

"You said it..." Moon murmured.

"We're the best!" Gajeel smirked.

"We won!" Master shouted in joy, Azuka smiling widely as she rode on the old man's shoulders.

"Lets celebrate with Booz!" Cana cheered.

"Stop it Cana." Laxus told her with an annoyed expression.

"Hehe... Even Twilight Ogre's cheering..." Chase chuckled as he walked up to her shoulder.

Frea glanced toward the crowds to see he was right, and she smirked a little too. They headed along the roads, being pushed on toward the center of town.

She cast a quick glance Chase's way. He wasn't looking at her, and despite the cheerful smile he was wearing, she knew what he was really thinking and feeling. He was worried, confused, just as she was, and she had no doubt that he wanted to speak with her about the Energy Shifts just as much as she did.

Unfortunately, now really wasn't the time.

"I'll show you all something good!" Natsu shouted, dropping to one knee as he dug around in his bag. Frea's attention turned to him as he shouted out, and her head tilted slightly at what he was doing.

"Taaddaaaa!"

In his hands, he had lifted the King's Crown up above him, causing several of the Fairy Tail member's jaws to drop. Frea sweatdropped, sighing heavily and pinching the bridge of her nose.

_Well... There's my answer..._

"YOU TOOK IT?!"

"That's not what I wanted..." Natsu murmured, placing the crown back in his bag and digging trough it again. He didn't seem to take notice of the shocked expressions, or he just didn't care.

"Here we go!"

He lifted a huge Gold Cup up above his head, "Proof of your victory! The King's Cup!"

The rest of Fairy Tail let out roars of approval at the words, and Frea smiled a little more.

"The Mayor will now award you with a commemorative item!" The Guild Master of Twilight Ogre announced. They all came to a halt as the Mayor of the town stopped before them, smiling softly.

"A commemorative item? You shouldn't have..." Master told him with a small embarrassed smile.

The Mayor shook his head an held out an arm, "Fairy Tail... Over here please."

Everyone's heads turned in the direction the Mayor had gestured, and their eyes went wide. Frea's eyes went wide, before them stood a massive Building, the Guild's original Hall, but it was improved and better than ever.

"Fairy Tail is our town's Pride. So, I thought I would award you with the restoration of your Guild." The Mayor explained.

"The Guild's back to normal!" Natsu shouted with an almost childish look on his face.

"Aye!"

Master was shocked beyond belief and he turned to the Mayor, "Oh Mayor... You really..." Master Makarov stammered but the Mayor held up a hand to stop him.

"No, no..." The man smiled. "Everyone helped out and fixed it." He explained and Master stood there, shaking as tears started to flow down his face faster and faster.

"I love this town!" Master shouted out and Frea smiled.

She couldn't help herself in that instant, to see everyone so happy and at ease. Their happy emotions lifted her spirits a little, and she was glad for it.

But even as she stood there, among the smiling faces and celebrating people, her smile slowly fell, and she glanced toward the sky with an almost grim expression, unfit for such happy festivities. Everything was great, no one was in trouble, hurt or fighting. This could possibly e the most at ease and happy the Guild had been at for some time... But even so...she couldn't help but get the feeling:

Something was going to go wrong, and soon.

 


	2. Dream

**Chapter 2**

**Dream**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

_Carla looked around the dark wildly, trying to see anything in the curtain of black before her eyes. For a moment, she was confused, she didn't know if this was a dream... Her heart dropped to her stomach to think it might be another vision. After the last vision she had had... She wasn't too thrilled with the idea of some terrible warning._

_Light flashed out in front of her, and she squinted, momentarily blinded from the intensity of the sudden light._ _She opened her eyes all the way, then narrowed her eyes. She blinked in surprise to see a picture appear in the air before her._

_Half of it was the sun, illuminated in orange light, while the other half of it was the moon, illuminated in blue light as the two met in the middle._

_Carla's head tilted a little, not sure what to make of the picture._

_Slowly, the blue light began to stretch over to the orange, and swallow it up, as the moon half of the symbol started to destroy the sun part of it. When the sun half was completely gone, the blue light of the moon turned a deep red, and Carla took a step back when she heard liquid hit the floor, dripping off of the symbol._

_Her paws started to be stained red, and her body froze when the warm liquid started to rise up around her._

_This... This is blood..!_

_The symbol only blazed brighter as the blood began to rise up around her, staining her white fur a crimson color. She couldn't think of what to do, she couldn't move, and she took in air in short horrified breaths._

_"Wh-what does this mean..?!" She stammered out._

_A wave of the blood washed over her, and she was swept away into the river of blood that had been formed. She broke the surface and gagged, eyes wide in horror as she struggled to remain above the level of the scarlet liquid._

_The symbol had risen above the level of the blood river, and was still blazing with red light as the blood poured down from it._

_"What... is this...!?" She choked out, the foul metallic liquid filling her mouth._

_She couldn't fight against the current, could hardly move to try and swim the blood was too thick, it was sticking to her fur and dragging her down._

_She let out a gasp of pain when another wave swept over her, and she smashed into an invisible wall, slowly sinking to the floor as the river's level lowered and flowed away altogether, only leaving puddles of the blood._

_She froze upon seeing a figure underneath the symbol, covered in blood that continued to drip down from the symbol. Their skin was ripped, clothes torn, and hair red from the blood covering them. The blood faded away near the ends of the figure's hair, and she could make out silver._

_Silver hair... Near the ends...? That... That can't be Frea... Can it..?_

_The figure's head was hanging, arms wrapped around their stomach, and eyes closed, she couldn't get a good picture of their face._

_"F-Frea...?" Carla breathed, trying to see if it really was her._

_But before anything could happen, the symbol disappeared and they were sent into darkness._

* * *

 

Carla woke with a start, lunging up in the bed and letting out a short yell of fear. She looked around wildly, trying to make sense of where she was, before she realized she was in her room with Wendy at Fairy Hills.

Her outburst had woken Wendy, who shot up in bed and looked at her worriedly. Carla didn't look her way though, she was trembling and panting, a bead of sweat dripping down her face as she stared at the sheets.

"Carla? Are you alright?" Wendy asked quietly. The room was still fairly dark, it must have only been at least five in the morning.

Carla took a minute to catch her breath, and swallowed. She could still taste the blood in her mouth, and feel the stickiness in her fur, though looking down, no red stained her.

"I.. I'm alright... It was just a bad dream..." Carla told her lowly, and Wendy tilted her head.

"What was it about...?" She asked carefully. "Was it just a nightmare... Or was it something else?"

"I don't know..." Carla answered. Forcing a weary smile, she turned it on Wendy just to reassure the girl. "I'm sure it was just a regular old bad dream, there's probably nothing to worry about." She wished she could believe what she said, but something in her mind told her otherwise.

_Please... Just let it be a dream... Not another prophecy..._

* * *

 

"Well, that was easy..." Frea murmured, lifting her arms above her in a stretch and yawning a bit.

"It was." Moon agreed as the Exceed walked along beside her. "I thought it was going to be harder, based on the information the client gave."

"Seriously... You call 50 Vulcan a menace? Those things are so dumb, the townspeople could have taken care of the issue if they really tried..." Frea murmured, and rest her arms on top of her head. She smirked a little, her fangs visible, "It doesn't matter though, we got payed, that's all that matters." She chuckled and Moon shook her head a little, smiling though.

"The Guild's been so busy lately, with all the job requests we've been receiving." Moon said

"It definitely is, I haven't seen the Request Board this full in... forever." Frea told her.

"I suppose that's what happens when a Guild wins the Grand Magic Games." Moon smiled and Frea nodded.

"I suppose so." She murmured.

They were walking along the streets of Magnolia, having come back from a job they had finished earlier today to get rid of at least fifty Vulcan in a neighboring town. It had been about two weeks since the end of the games, and life in the Guild was busier than ever. Everyone was happier than she had seen them since coming back from Tenrou, and it was great to see everyone keeping busy, including herself.

Frea came to a slow stop and narrowed her eyes.

_The Energy in the Air just shifted... Again._

This had been getting more increasingly frequent since the end of the Games, and now, every time it happened, it lasted longer and was a much bigger shift than ever before. Moon stopped too and blinked up at her, confused as to what she was doing.

Frea ignored her for the moment though, she was frozen. She didn't dare move a muscle, she didn't even breath, she was concentrating to much, just trying to figure out why in the hell this kept happening.

_It's not a result of someone's Magic... There isn't any Magic appearing when this happens... It's just like... The land, the air... Its wavering almost..._

And that's what it felt like now, it felt like the air was tingling, somewhere in the back of her mind, there was a buzzing sound that she had never heard there before. The ground under her feet seemed to grow cold, and the light faded just a bit, like the clouds had passed over the sun, though there wasn't a speck of the white wisps in the sky. Her eyes narrowed more, when it seemed that all the noise in the world around her was just suddenly gone. There was only silence, and the buzzing sound just grew louder...

"Frea?"

Her thoughts snapped back to the present as Moon's voice reached her, and the buzzing stopped. The air stopped wavering, and the Energy went back to normal.

Frea took in a long breath, in the minute or two it happened, nothing had felt right, everything was off. She sweatdropped and glanced around warily, this was getting bad, she needed to figure it out, soon.

"Is something wrong?" Moon asked and Frea looked down at her. Moon had fixed her with a serious stare, but the confusion could be seen in the Exceed's pale blue orbs.

"I don't know..." Frea murmured, and Moon tilted her head. "It's just a feeling... I'll try and figure it out, don't worry just yet."

Moon eyed her up and down for a moment, before nodding a little, and they headed off again.

_I'll talk to Chase... He might have some ideas..._

With how busy the Guild has been lately, she hadn't had time to talk to him about it.

She let her eyes fall closed for a moment, every since the first night she had had the dream of the half sun and half moon symbol, the blood washing over her... It had happened again once or twice, but she still couldn't figure out what it meant.

_I suppose... Talking to Jynx may not be a bad idea, though I haven't seen her around lately..._

The Guild Hall came into sight, filled with shouting and laughing, no doubt there was a brawl going on within the hall. Frea led the way inside and pushed the doors open, silent and eyes narrowed as she went in to deep thought.

If there was a chance at figuring this out, she would really need to think about it. She didn't even take in the state of the hall, in fact she ignored it. She didn't care about any of it right now.

"LETS GO, FREA!" Natsu's voice rang out around the hall as he appeared from the mass of battling wizards in the center of the Building, jumping through the air with a wide toothy grin, and flaming fist. He swung out, but Frea's hand shot up to hit his face, and stop him dead in his tracks.

"Not today Natsu." She told him lowly, and kept walking, leaving a very stunned Moon and Natsu behind. They were shocked, Frea was _always_ itching for a fight!

The rest of the Guild stared in assembled silence as they witnessed what had happened, even the rest of the members who had been brawling seconds before had stopped, they were shocked beyond belief.

Frea didn't notice their reactions however, and she took up a seat at the bar, her favorite bench forgotten at the moment. She rest her elbows on the counter and folded her hands together, pressing her chin into them and letting her eyes close.

Slowly, everyone went back to what they had been previously doing, but they still cast confused looks Frea's way every so often.

_I'm missing something here... I know it..._

She knew Chase wasn't here as of the moment, not being able to feel him anywhere close, or having seen him when she walked in. The world around her went silent as she blocked everything out and went into deep thought.

_There has to be a connection somewhere, why is the Energy Shift happening, and why am I having the same dream over and over again?_

It didn't make sense that it wasn't happening for some reason, she just didn't know what reason. She knew no Magic showed up when it happened, so it wasn't being caused by someone... But what then?

Without her realizing it, her senses had started to cast out around her self-consciously. She reached past the Guild, past Magnolia, and she tensed a little when she reached out farther and farther, without letting her Magic bubble to the surface. She was searching for anything out of the ordinary that she could possibly feel.

_Could this be happening due to some Magical Instrument or Tool...? But... If the was the case, something powerful enough to shift the Energy like that, I would have been able to feel it a long time ago..._

She also had to consider the possibility that these Energy Shifts, may be an after-effect of the Eclipse Gate, and Ultear's Magic. Time had been played around with in those few short hours thy had been fighting, and Time and Energy were closely connected, so perhaps the Energy was affected as the time was...

But she had felt this Energy Shift occur before the fight with the Dragons. Its true that the future Lucy and Rogue were already in this time by then, but something was telling her that's not what was going on here.

But back to the Dream, she had to be having it over and over for a reason. There was something she needed to understand about it, and the symbol in the Book.

Hell, the Book _itself_ had made it clear that it wanted her to look in it, when it had brought itself back from Magnolia, into her room in Crocus. She sweatdropped a little and frowned,

_Too fucking bad I can't read that damn Dragon Language... Huh?_

She let her eyes open a little to rest on the counter and she quirked an eyebrow.

_You know... There might be something in the Library that might help me..._

Her eyes slowly shifted over the door to the Library for a moment, and she mulled the idea over in her head. She shrugged and straightened up, letting her arms fall onto the counter as she let out a low breath. It was worth a shot to look in the Library for anything that might help, though she was sure there wouldn't be alot to help her, probably nothing at all.

_Ah, what the hell... Might as well look..._

She stood up and started toward the door to the library slowly. The Guild had gone back to its usual behavior by now, and no one looked up as she started to head toward the Library Door.

_I never really did like studying... But I don't have a choice I suppose... I can use all the help I can get..._

Moon watched Frea walk into the Library quietly, eyes narrowed. Frea was acting off, very silent and thoughtful. The fact that she had turned down a fight with Natsu, didn't put her nerves at ease.

Frea loved fighting, especially against Natsu and the other guys in the Guild. It wasn't normal for her to turn a fight down.

_She seems to have a lot on her mind, I wish she would just tell me what was wrong..._

Her mind flashed back to when Frea had stopped in the street, and her silver eyes had shifted up to look at the sky. It hadn't taken much for her to tell that Frea had tensed up, and she could tell whatever it was, it was worrying the Energy Dragon Slayer.

But it wasn't just that, Frea didn't seem to be getting a lot of sleep lately, and as Moon glanced over at Carla, she blinked in surprise to see Carla looking a bit tired to.

"Carla?" Moon asked softly, causing her to glance over. "Are you alright?"

Carla looked away for a minute, sweatdropping the slightest bit. Moon tilted her head a little, _everyone's acting weird..._

They were sitting on a table, with Happy and Lily nearby, the two tom-cats talking away.

"Please, come with me." Carla murmured and Moon nodded a little as they jumped from the table, and headed outside, before sprouting wings so they could land on the roof.

"Carla, what's the matter?" Moon asked, becoming a bit worried now. Why would they need to come up to the roof?

Carla was pacing now, eyes narrowed and looking very very worried about something, though Moon didn't know what exactly. Carla was putting her on edge now, there was something definitely wrong if it was making the sensible and calm Carla act so... Paranoid.

Carla bit her lip nervously and Moon placed a paw on her friends shoulder, causing her to stop, just trying to reassure her. "You can tell me you know." She put in and Carla sighed heavily.

"I... I had a dream last night..." Carla murmured. "I think it was warning... There was blood... And I think... I think Frea was in it..." Carla told her softly and Moon stiffened.

"What do you mean?"

"That's just it, I don't know!" Carla muttered. "I don't understand it, but I have a bad feeling, I've seen things like this before, and more than often they come true." Moon looked away and narrowed her eyes. She was aware that Carla sometimes received visions of what would happen in the future... This had to be something serious.

"Are you sure Frea was in your dream?" Moon asked and Carla sighed.

"No, I'm not completely sure, but it might be her." She replied and Moon tapped a paw to her chin, thinking. After awhile, she held out a paw and looked at Carla with a neutral expression.

"Do you mind if I see it?" Moon asked and Carla blinked in shock, before nodding a bit and slowly placing her paw in Moon's.

Moon let her eyes fall closed as she concentrated on searching for the dream in Carla's mind, and she was pulled into the memory...

* * *

 

_No... No... That's not going to help... There isn't anything in here to help me!_

Frea came to a slow stop and let her forehead rest against the shelf, her eyes falling closed as she sweatdropped.

She hadn't been able to find anything to help her so far, and it was quite annoying actually. She hadn't been planning on finding anything before she walked in, but it did annoy her that there wasn't anything none-the-less.

Something could have been helpful, she was flailing around in the dark here and she didn't like it.

Stepping away from the shelf, she let her eyes open again as she rubbed the back of her neck, letting out a calming sigh. She was always going to be amazed at just how many books were in here. In all her years at the Guild, she had hardly ever found a reason to come in here and look at the books.

It was a labyrinth in its own way, but she wasn't worried about getting lost, she could always use her nose or her senses to get back to the Main part of the hall.

She wasn't exactly sure what would help her in this situation, maybe a book on the Dragon Language...?

_Wonder if there's such a book in all of Fiore... I doubt it._

She turned and started walking, arms hooked behind her back as she made her way down the rows of shelves filled to the brim with books. It was quiet in here, compared to the rest of the Guild. She understood why Levy came in here so often, not just for the abundance of books, but for the peace and serenity of the room.

Frea let out a low sigh, Chase still hasn't showed up into hall. She was on high alert for him, and she was becoming a bit impatient with him not being there. He was the only other person who could feel the Energy Shifts, so he was the only person she could hope to get some good ideas out of.

She had been thinking about talking with Jynx about this, but when she searched for her in the Guild, she could tell the ghost girl was upstairs with Master Makarov of all people, and Mavis.

_Wonder what those three are talking about...?_

She would never understand why Master always seemed so tense with Jynx around, but she didn't exactly feel like it was her place to ask either. But it must be pretty important to get all three of them in the same room together, why else would they meet upstairs and away from the rest of the guild?

She let out a hiss of pain when something heavy fell on top of her head, and thudded onto the floor. She looked down at the floor and froze.

"Oh... You have got to be kidding me..." She murmured.

_That Book... The Energy Magic book was on the floor!_

"Why in the hell are you following me?!" She hissed, crouching done and picking it up without standing again.

It seemed absurd, yelling at a book of all things, but then again, it had become quite clear that this wasn't some ordinary book. In fact, it seemed to have a mind of its own, and the fact only added to the mystery of the old thing. She glared down at it for a few moments, hoping that it would do _something,_ give her _some_ clue.

But nothing happened, and it only pissed her off more.

She let out an aggravated growl as clenched her jaw, this wasn't good, there was definitely something this book wanted her to know, but she couldn't read it damn it!

She got to her feet and held it to her chest, she didn't have a choice.

_I'm gonna find something to help me read this damn book, no matter how long it takes!_


	3. Two Minds

**Chapter 3**

**Two Minds**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

Frea and Chase headed away through the trees silently, growing farther and farther away from the town as they passed under the dappled shadows. Frea stopped in the center of a small clearing and fixed him with a neutral stare.

She had been waiting for him at the edge of the city, and he had made his way back this morning, two days after she had decided to look for answers in the Guild's library.

Despite the promise she had made herself to speak with him alone as soon as she could, it hadn't worked out very well. The Guild being swamped with as many requests as it was since the GMG, everyone had been heading out on as many jobs as they could possibly take.

Chase had been pulled along on a job by Laki, Sam and Cana, the poor guy not having the heart to tell the three of them no, when they had asked him to come along. She didn't blame him for it, she herself didn't always have the heart to tell her Guild-Mates no, especially when they were as happy and as excited as they have been for the last two weeks since they returned to Magnolia.

Even she hadn't had much luck sticking to her plan of speaking with him, she had gone on more than a few jobs herself and been more than busy. This was the only time she had actually taken to get away from all of it, and get him alone so they could talk about the Energy Shifts.

"So Teach, do you have any idea as to what in the hell is going on with the World's Energy?" He asked, looking unusually serious for someone who was almost always smiling.

Frea shook her head a little, "No, I don't." She admitted. She tapped a finger to her chin and glanced away from him. "Well... Its not being caused by someone... No unfamiliar Magic shows up when the Shifts happen."

Chase nodded a bit, "I noticed that to." He murmured. "But if it's not being caused by someone, why is it happening?"

Frea sighed and sweatdropped a bit, "I was thinking it might be an after-effect of the Eclipse Gate, and Ultear's Powers..." She suggested and he nodded a little.

"Yeah, I thought about that to." He told her, "But it doesn't make a lot of sense, the Energy did Shift before any of the Major events involving Eclipse or Ultear happened." He pointed out and Frea nodded.

He was right of course, the possibility of the Shifts being chased by Eclipse or Ultear were almost non-existent. The Shifts had started before any of it actually happened, so they had to be ruled out as a possible cause.

"With that in mind, your Spell would have to be ruled out too." Chase continued and she blinked, heart quickening a little. Her mind immediately flashed to the Celestial  
Energy Spell she had used on Solana.

But Chase didn't know about that, did he? At least, he hadn't made any indication that he had...

"Messing with the Land's Energy like you did could set off an unexpected effect." He went on, and she let out a silent sigh, when she realized he had been talking about the Aid Spell. Her eyes fell closed for a moment, so she missed the skeptical look Chase gave her.

He had noticed the sudden tenseness when he had mentioned a Spell, he could feel her nerves rise, and her emotions changing. He had the feeling she wasn't telling him everything, and he was momentarily pushed back to his suspicions.

The Magic Anomaly, it really had felt like Frea's Magic, and he was quite sure it was hers. His only hesitation with it thus far, was the idea that he had a hard time believing Frea could have set something so powerful, and so huge, off.

The amount of power and control that would have been needed to set something as large and magnificent as that Anomaly, off, would have been massive, extensive. In all of Fiore, he didn't think there were any Mage's with that kind of power.

But after the fight with the Dragons... He was getting to the point where he could believe it could have been her. But he pushed it away for now, they had other things to worry about.

"Manipulating the Land's Energy as you did, well, we just didn't know what doing something like that would do." He went on, "But it couldn't be the reason for the Shifts." He concluded, and Frea nodded.

"I suppose that's true..." Frea murmured. She hadn't considered at the time, what manipulating the Land's Energy might do. She hadn't time to think really, she just acted.

Though, back on Tenrou that Mage named Asuma seemed to use the Land's Energy to his liking without any back lashes, other then her own intervention.

"You tried asking Jynx about it?" Chase asked and Frea blinked at the question. She sighed and sweatdropped, oh yes, she had _considered_ asking Jynx, but...

"I don't know where she is..." She mumbled. "Nearest I can tell, the only time she's been around here is when she was talking with Master Makarov... And Mavis." She told him.

It was true, the only time she had ever even sensed Jynx's presence around Magnolia, was in the Guild Hall where she was sure the ghost was upstairs and talking with Master and the other resident Fairy Tail ghost, Mavis.

At this point, she really sort of wanted to know just what those three were doing, but she didn't feel as if it were her place to ask, even though she _really_ wanted to know.

"Alright..." Chase murmured, looking a little intrigued by the idea of Master, Mavis and Jynx all in one room, talking. He seemed just as curious as to what they might be discussing, but he wasn't going to pry. He glanced up at the leaves of the trees. "Then we really don't have an answer." He mumbled. "Nothing makes sense. There's no one causing it, we know that for sure... So what else could it be...?"

They fell into silence for a moment as they both thought it over. They weren't left with a lot of explanations, so they had no idea of what it could be. There was no reasonable explanation she could think of that would be causing these Shifts to happen. No one was causing it as far as they could tell, there wasn't anything major that happened before the Eclipse incident... At least nothing she could think of that might have affected the World's Energy anyway.

Even the Spell she used on Solana, that wouldn't have affected the world in any way. It would have only altered or changed Solana herself, and perhaps the Celestial Spirit World in a small way.

Frea blinked a few times and Chase looked back at her, from where his gaze had drifted away to look at the ground. "Here's what we're going to do," She told him and he straightened up. "Next time a Shift happens, we're going to use our Magic together, and cast out our senses as far as we can go. Alright?"

Chase nodded, still looking quite serious as he stuck his hands in his pockets. "Got it."

* * *

 

Moon stared down at the wooden table she was sitting on, eyes narrowed and silent. It seemed she was deaf to the noise going through the hall around her as she remained in deep thought.

She couldn't get it out of her head, it seemed impossible.

Carla was right, the figure in her dream, it looked a whole hell of a lot like Frea. But she hadn't the slightest clue what the dream had meant. It put her on edge, thinking something bad was about to happen, and that the river of blood, may be meant for Frea. She didn't want anything to happen to Frea, let alone having her get hurt so soon after the Dragon Fight.

That's why, she'd became increasingly agitated this morning when she woke up and Frea was gone. She only took comfort in the fact that she knew Frea was plenty capable of taking care of herself, but she was still worried none the less, not even Frea could go up against anything.

But, Carla seemed a little more relaxed now that she had shared her dream with someone else, and Moon cast her friend a small smile from where she could see Carla giggling away with Wendy. She was happy Carla saw her as someone she could confide in, and she was happy to see Carla so relieved after sharing the dream, even if it had done nothing to calm Moon's nerves.

She looked back down at the table and crossed her paws over her chest. There had to be some reason Carla had had that dream, and she wanted to know what it meant. Unfortunately, she had no clue as to what it would even mean. The Sun and the Moon? That could be connected to a million different things, but what would it have to do with Frea?

_Of course... I'm not even sure the person in the Dream was Frea..._

Moon let her eyes close as she let out a long sigh and sweatdropped, _What the hell does it mean?_

Her eyes snapped open when she felt a paw place itself on her shoulder, and she blinked in surprise to see Lily standing in front of her. "Are you alright?" He asked, and Moon blinked a few times before nodding, and smiling.

"I'm fine. Why do you ask?" She replied and he crossed his paws over his chest, looking her up and down.

"You seem on edge." He pointed out.

Moon shook her was a little, "Oh, yeah I know. But I'm fine really, just thinking is all." She explained and he quirked an eyebrow, but didn't press the subject.

"Alright." He murmured. "Would you like to come on a short fly with me?" He offered and Moon stared.

She was surprised at the question, but smiled up at him none-the-less. "That sounds great," she told him and stood up. As Lily lead the way out of the hall, one last concern bugged her mind.

She needed to decide, if she should tell Frea about the Dream Carla had had, or not.

* * *

 

"Energy Sense!"

Both Frea's and Chase's eyes snapped shut in an instant, and they pressed their palms together between them. Immediately, both their Magic's started to spiral up around them and glow softly in the shade of the trees above them.

The Energy in the air had shifted again, and started to buzz and waver. The world went silent, and they combined their senses together, pushing out farther than they could ever go alone.

They were searching for anything out of the ordinary, anything that would be a cause of the Shifts. They didn't dare breath, they didn't move, they stood still and silent as they searched.

They tensed up when something very powerful suddenly flared up from somewhere far, far away. But it disappeared and the Shift ended before they could figure out what it was, and they opened their eyes, letting their hands fall to their sides.

The only thing they had been able to tell about it, other than it feeling extremely powerful, it felt... _ancient_ , somehow...

"What was that?" Chase breathed and Frea shook her head, sweatdropping the slightest bit.

"I don't know..." She murmured, staring down at her feet. Whatever it was, it had been powerful, and she didn't like it. It was huge, but it had appeared, and disappeared so fast, they hadn't been able to find much out.

Letting out a sigh, she rubbed the back of her neck in slight defeat. Unfortunately, this had done them no good, they didn't have any more answers now, and they were just becoming more confused. "Lets go." Frea murmured, turning away from him and in the direction of the town. "I'll keep looking in the Library, if you see Jynx ask her about it." She told him and he nodded.

"Sure thing, but, before you go.." Chase said lowly and Frea stopped, she had taken a step forward to walk away, but paused. Glancing over her shoulder at him she quirked an eyebrow.

"Yeah?"

Chase looked her over silently, not bothering to say anything, and Frea turned toward him a bit, confused by his behavior slightly. He looked oddly thoughtful, and she could tell there was something he wanted to ask, though she didn't know why he was hesitating.

Chase fixed Frea with a steady gaze, standing still for a moment as he looked her over silently. It seemed Frea would never cease to amaze him, he thought he knew her... But she just came up with more ways to shock him the longer he was around her.

She had always been strong, he had seen that clearly the first time he met her. She had saved his ass from being killed after all, and he had seen just how strong she was against the Monster herd in Jogenen.

For a split second, his stomach tightened at the thought of his old home, and all that had happened there. But it disappeared almost immediately, he shouldn't have to worry about what happened there, or even feel sad anymore.

Frea had explained to him long ago, that letting Negative Emotions hang around for too long was not a good idea. He knew she was right, and he knew she had told him that from experience of her own.

Frea herself had had one of the most brutal and painful life's of everyone in the Guild, he supposed. After she had told him what had happened with Kasumi, Shadow and Winter... She probably knew better than anyone how much negative emotions affected someone.

But back to the matter at hand, in all the time he had known her, from the first time, to their training, the missions, Tenrou... Through all of it, he had become increasingly close to her, and he began to understand her more, he could see her gradually changing, getting stronger.

He looked up to Frea; she had been his Mentor, in some ways she still was, and he thought of her as one of the best teacher's he could have ever hoped for, even if her teaching methods may have been a little... Rough, at times.

He respected her, more than anyone he had ever respected in his life-time. She was a great Mage, strong, powerful, passionate, loyal, and dedicated. She was easily one of the best Mages in Fairy Tail, and in his opinion, probably one of the best Mages in all the Wizards Guilds in Fiore.

But, lets not mistake everything he said for being attracted to her. No, he wasn't attracted to Frea in a romantic way, the thought made him feel a bit uncomfortable, it was just to... Weird.

No, but Frea was definitely a great friend, probably the best friend he had ever had. And they were family he supposed, everyone in Fairy Tail is family.

 _I owe everything to her_ , he realized. It was true, his Magic... He joined the Guild because of her, made friends... Hell, he owed her his life. She had saved his ass on numerous occasions, she made it a point to protect everyone in the Guild with her life, he had seen it before.

He sighed and let his eyes close for a moment, he couldn't tell her how grateful he was to her, for everything she had done for him. But something told him she already knew how he felt, and he was glad for it.

"I meant to ask you sooner Teach," he started. "It's about the Protection Spell you used back in Crocus." He opened his eyes to look at her and she blinked in surprise at him. "You said you altered it to work on everyone, including me, when normally it shouldn't have." He paused, letting out a low breath. "How in the hell did you manage to alter it? It sounds like a really old Spell..."

Frea stood in silence as Chase looked her over, seemingly lost in his own thoughts. She could feel the mixed emotions dancing off of him, not particularly interested in trying to place all of them. She was sure he was thinking of a lot of things, probably things that had happened in the past, or maybe the problem at hand. She really didn't know, and she wasn't concerned with finding out at the moment.

"I meant to ask you sooner Teach," Chase started. "It's about the Protection Spell you used back in Crocus." He opened his eyes to look at her and she blinked in surprise at him.

_The Protection Spell?_

"You said you altered it to work on everyone, including me, when normally it shouldn't have." He paused, "How in the hell did you manage to alter it? It sounds like a really old Spell..." He trailed away and Frea just gazed at him, face going neutral.

He was right, the Protection Spell, or rather 'Aid Spell' considering she had changed it to fit the situation., that Spell was meant to be used specifically by an Energy Mage, in fact it quite literally meant, 'Divine Protection of the Energy Mage'.

Though... she really hadn't a clue why it was in the Dragon Language... now that she thought it over, it wasn't the only Spell supposedly used by Energy _Mages,_ that was spoken in the Dragon Language, as opposed to English.

Anyway, normally, because the Spell was meant to be used by Energy Mages, a draw back of the Spell was that if one Energy Mage cast it on an area, or a group of people like she herself had done, any Energy Mages within that group would not have been affected by the Spell, they would not have received the boost from it.

Would it really make sense that an Energy Mage can be put under the 'Divine Protection' of something they already were, an Energy Mage?

It was this basic idea that the issue was formed upon, so the Spell should not have worked on Chase, if she had not altered it, and left it be.

She had considered this at the time of course, and had taken the necessary action to alter the Spell enough, so that it would work on Chase. He had been one of the people she really had felt the need to give strength to, having been momentarily scared at the fact that she had felt him die before Time was rewound for one minute.

But at the time, it wasn't necessarily the work of the Spell itself that had given Chase strength. Rather, it had been herself that had given him strength directly.

While she had locked on to all the Energy Signatures of the Wizards within Crocus, she had found his specifically, and channeled her own Magic into him instead of the Land's Power.

With this in mind, she actually hadn't altered the Spell at all, in fact she had just managed to bypass the 'rules' of the Spell at the time. But, she was determined to actually change that Spell, so it would work without having to cheat. Even though she hadn't _completely_ been cheating either, the Spell had helped her to channel her Magic into him a little. Something she had managed to do by forcing the Spell to do as she willed.

"I gave you my Magic, not the Land's." She told him after a moment, and he blinked in shock. "When I said I altered it, I wasn't exactly telling the truth, but it wasn't a lie either." She crossed her arms over her chest and sighed. "I did manage to bypass the 'rules' of the Spell, in two ways rather than one."

"The first one I skipped, was the one Master Makarov explained. Where instead of giving _my_ Power to everyone, I gave them the Land's Power, excluding you." Chase was listening to her with slightly wide eyes, finding what she was saying more shocking than he had imagined. "Your right, that is an Old Spell, if memory serves me correctly, it was created by the first Energy Mages, thousands and thousands of years ago, before they disappeared."

"But, the second 'rule' I broke, was the one where it should not have worked on you. But, I was able to force the Spell into working, if only for this one time, by channeling my Power into you directly." She looked away at the ground. "Forcing the Spell... Was harder than I thought it would be, but I plan on finding a permanent Solution for it, so that it may work every time." Looking back at him she smiled a little.

"That way, the Spell will be changed permanently." Her smile grew a bit wider as he just stared, looking astonished at what she told him. But she ignored him, and turned away again. "Come on kid, we should head to the Guild Hall." She called behind her.

"I'm not a kid!" He yelled furiously at her, as if her words had snapped him out of his shocked trance. Frea chuckled at the reaction, glad that he had returned to his regular demeanor so quickly after what she had told him.

She heard him begin to walk behind her as they headed away through the trees back toward Magnolia, and she smiled wider upon hearing him grumble moodily under his breath, clearly irritated at the nickname she wouldn't let him live down, _ever._

_You'll always be a kid to me... Chase._


	4. Shatter

**Chapter 4**

**Shatter**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

_The sound of something shattering broke the still air suddenly._ _Everything went black, and the floor fell away from under her feet, and she was sent into a free-fall._

_At least, that's what it felt like. It felt as of the ground had fallen away, like she had been pushed from the edge of a cliff, like a great chasm appeared in the earth and she fell into it. Her stomach lurched, her nerves rose and her heart beat against her chest._

_But she wasn't falling._

_What the hell is going on?!_

_The air seemed to disappear, everything grew cold, before it burned hotter than ever, and the temperature dropped again._

_Wind was blowing in all different directions, like she was stuck in the middle of a tornado, being pushed around by the furious wind. The oxygen was sucked away, everything kept changing rapidly, the air buzzed, it was hard to breath, and she still felt as if she was falling._

_No sounds reached her but the incessant buzzing in the back of her mind. She was starting to panic, unable to figure out what was going on. Everything around her... It..._

_It Shifted!_

* * *

 

Frea shot up from her sleep, eyes wide and heart racing. Everything, everything she had been feeling in that dream, it wasn't all just the dream.

It was happening, right now. The World's Energy had shifted drastically, more than it had any of the other times. Goosebumps spread up her arms, it was freezing in here, and her breath billowed out in front of her in a haze. She could hear the glass of her window groaning behind the closed curtains, from the force of the wind she could hear blowing outside pushing against it.

The incessant buzzing did not go away as she woke up, she could ear it clearly above the sound of the wind. Nothing felt right, everything felt like it was spinning out of control, though nothing was moving.

The World's Energy was wavering, shifting, moving, spinning rapidly, it was in complete chaos. Frea panted for air as she stayed completely still, it was hard to breath. Her stomach was still lurching, the feeling of falling not leaving even as she woke up.

_What's going on, this isn't right!?_

She stayed still for a moment, waiting for the feelings to go away. But they didn't, the World's Energy didn't return to normal, it just kept shaking and wavering, spinning and shifting.

Moon had woken up immediately when Frea came out of the dream, and she let out a shudder, eyes widening upon realizing how cold it was in the room. "What's going on?" She asked, voice slightly drowned out by the wind outside and the ever relentless buzzing, but Frea didn't answer. "And why in the hell is it so cold in here?"

_This... This isn't right, the World's Energy can't be moving like this... Its wavering too much... Its in chaos..._

"Frea!" Moon snapped, clearly not happy with not getting an answer.

"Everything's wrong..." She managed to breath after a moment. She swung her legs from the bed and stood up, but swayed immediately and placed a hand against the wall for support.

She felt dizzy, everything she was feeling coming from the World's Energy around her was overloading her senses. She took a small step forward, disconcerted because she still felt like she was falling, though the floor was clearly there.

Moon was getting worried, seeing Frea so off balance, and without an apparent reason. Frea scrunched her eyes closed, her stomach staring to lurch and spin in circles along with the World's Energy.

"Fuck..." She hissed under her breath, holding her stomach and leaning against the wall with her shoulder, eyes still closed. _It's getting to me too much... But I can't..._

She took in a deep breath, and did her way to block out the Energy around her, receding her senses as much as she could manage, until she only felt a little woozy and light-headed. She let out a low groan, feeling like this first thing she woke up, had _not_ been what she expected.

"Frea, answer me please. What's wrong?" Moon asked, "You look sort of... Sick, are you alright? I could go get Wendy..."

Frea opened her eyes to see Moon floating in front of her, looking quite worried and Frea shook her head. "Relax Moon, I'm alright now, there's no need to bother Wendy..." She trailed off and looked around the room, eyes narrowing in concentration. "There's something going on, I'm not completely sure what it is." She explained and Moon tilted her head.

"So, you have no idea why its so cold?" She asked, but she looked like she almost fell to the floor when the temperature of the room rose exponentially in seconds, and it could have easily been close to 90 degrees in the room. They exchanged bewildered looks, both of them utterly confused as to what was going on.

"What in the hell...?" Moon breathed and Frea looked toward the window. She sweatdropped a little, a sense of dread falling upon her, when she thought about what was going on outside.

She walked toward the window slowly, still a little unsteady but definitely doing better now that she was blocking all the Energy out as much as she could manage. She didn't like the fact that every step she took, it felt like she was stepping off the edge of a cliff, and her nerves rose every time, until she actually made contact with the floor.

Moon followed her across the room and she reached the window, the temperature having dropped again so it was freezing, and drew away the curtains.

What she saw on the other side made her go still, and sweatdrop even more. No light flooded into the room from the outside, below in the town she could see the lights of homes on.

Dark clouds covered an even darker sky, the moon could be seen between the clouds, full and glowing an unnatural red color. Frea went still and Moon froze too, neither one of them being able to understand what was going on.

"Moon... What time is it?" Frea asked slowly.

"Nine'o'clock.. In the morning..."

* * *

 

"But this doesn't make any sense!" Moon argued, flying back and forth in the center of the room. "How in the hell is it still night?!"

"I don't understand it any more the you do." Frea answered, pulling on her clothes as fast as she could manage. She was rushing to get ready at this point, there was no doubt in her mind people were starting to panic, she needed to figure out what in the hell was going on, as fast as she could.

She had the feeling that whatever was causing the World's Energy to move and waver like it was now, was something big, so she opted for putting on clothes that were a bit more sensible for fighting, though she wasn't sure she would end up fighting.

Shivers went down her spine as the temperature dropped from boiling to freezing again.

For a moment, she stopped moving all together as she closed her eyes and rocked a little on her feet. She definitely didn't feel good with all the Energy around her moving so much, and her stomach churning with it wasn't helping. Taking a deep breath, she sat on the edge of her bed and began to lace up her combat boots as fast as she could.

She could hear Moon's wings beating rapidly as the Exceed flew back and forth. Frea sweatdropped a little when she realized, Moon was definitely freaking out a little more about all this than she was.

It was understandable she supposed... Moon couldn't feel the World's Energy moving and wavering like Frea could, so she had no idea what it really was like.

It hadn't taken much thought to realize, that the Energy Shift, whatever was causing the World's Energy to spin, move, waver, and fluctuate like it was, it was the reason everything else was so out of order to the normal person. The temperature going in and out, the wind, the lack of morning even.

"But... But... It couldn't have anything to do with... That...?" Moon murmured, her wings stopped beating as the Exceed finally came to a halt. Frea stiffened upon hearing the words and her attention snapped from her boots, to her partner, who was staring at the floor with wide eyes.

"With what?" Frea asked, silence stretching out for a long time, and Moon didn't answer. "Moon!" She snapped, earning the Exceed's attention. Moon looked over with wide eyes, looking to be lost in thought still, but most of all she looked afraid. "Have to do with what?" She said again and Moon looked away.

"Carla... She had a dream..." Moon murmured after awhile. "It was strange, a sun and moon symbol where the moon half swallowed the sun part... And a river of blood..." Frea went deathly still at the words, eyes growing wide and jaw dropping a little. Moon noticed her reaction and quirked an eyebrow, "Frea?"

_That's... That's not possible... Carla, she had the same dream..?!_

There was no way, how could Carla have had the exact dream she had been having since the GMG? It didn't make any sense... Unless, whatever was happening now, was a lot more serious than she originally thought.

She looked away from Moon and hastily laced up her boots, she needed to get moving, there was no telling how bad things would continue to get if she didn't think of a plan and do something. She winced a little when the back of her hand was suddenly sent alight with a stab of pain, and she sweatdropped upon seeing the silver symbol blaze on the back of her hand.

A dragon's head surrounded by a spiral.

_That... That's the Mark I gave Solana..._

"What... Is that...?" Moon whispered, eyes having landed on the symbol as soon as it appeared.

"My Mark..." Frea murmured. "The GateSentry Mark I put on Solana..." She explained, not looking away from the back of her hand. She wasn't exactly sure why it appeared now, but she had the feeling it didn't mean anything good.

Finishing lacing up her boots, she strapped her bag to her back, dropping the Energy Magic book inside, and left her cloak where it was hanging over the chair at her desk.

She stood up, ignoring the dizziness it caused and tied her hair up. Looking to Moon, she fixed the Exceed with a serious look. "We need to hurry, and try to find out what's going on. All of this is only going to continue to get worse if we don't do something." She said firmly and Moon nodded, shivering a little when the temperature dropped yet again.

"Energy Dragon!" Both Moon and Frea jumped slightly when Jynx appeared suddenly, looking a bit frantic. Her appearance stopped them from moving toward the door, Frea looked her way, sweatdropping at seeing Jynx looking so worried.

She had never seen her looking this worried before. The ghost was looking to her with wide eyes, a bead of sweat rolling down her face, and hair a little ruffled. She seemed to have been trying to catch Frea before she headed off.

"Jynx?" Frea murmured.

"There... There was an unexpected complication..." Jynx explained hastily. "With your spell..." She said and Frea stiffened.

"What complication?"

"When you made Sun Dragon's soul into that of a Spirit's, its affected the Energy of the World..." Jynx told her, "I wasn't aware of it at the time, but..." Jynx trailed away, a dark and grim look spreading across her face.

"...Her soul is directly connected to the Sun itself."

Frea went completely still, eyes growing wide as all thoughts fell away from her mind completely. She just stared at Jynx, hardly believing what she had heard.

_That... That couldn't be possible... But... If it was..._

Her heart seemed to stop for a split second, her thoughts coming together again as they clicked into place, and she understood the severity of what Jynx had said.

"... Ah shit!" She hissed and looked at Jynx hopelessly, the ghost nodding once she saw that Frea understood the issue now. She spun around and lunged for the door, "Moon! We have to go!" She ordered, snapping Moon from a frozen state of shock, so the Exceed quickly flew forward and toward the door along with her.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jynx melt away into a dark purple haze, and was gone, and she reached for the door handle.

This was worse than she had her thought imaginable, and it all made sense now damn it!

_Why didn't I see this coming earlier?!_

She swung the door open and jumped through it, narrowly avoiding running into Erza, who was just outside in the hallway. "Frea?!" Erza said in surprise,

"No time to talk!" Frea shouted back as she continued running, not breaking stride as she sprinted down the hallway.

"Do you know what's going on?!" Erza called after her, but Frea didn't answer as she and Moon rounded a corner, leaving the ReQuip Mage behind.

"Frea, what's the matter?" Moon asked. Frea narrowed her eyes and kept running, rounding corners and heading toward the front doors, jumping down several stairs at a time as she headed toward the first floor.

This wasn't good, it was really bad. With what Jynx had said, it all made sense now, and she hated herself for not realizing it earlier.

"I sort of know why all this is happening, but I don't know if I can fix it." Frea answered, "But I'm going to need some time to come up with a plan." She risked a glance over her shoulder at Moon. The Exceed was looking at her confused, but she didn't have the time to explain all of it right now. "For now, we need to get to the rest of the Guild."

Moon nodded, and Frea turned her gaze back ahead, the minute she opened the front doors, they were hit with a tremendous amount of wind, Moon was almost knocked away by the force of it. They pushed on, Frea hardly slowing down as she continued to run. She ignored the World's Energy around her as best as she could, it becoming increasingly harder to do so as time progressed, and the chaos of the World's Energy continued to escalate.

Frea clenched her jaw and let out a low growl, "...Damn it all..."


	5. Moon's Knowledge

**Chapter 5**

**Moon's Knowledge**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's and Ideas**

**.:+:.  
**

_What the hell am I gonna do?!_

Frea raced through the windy streets, heading toward the center of the town where the Guild Hall stood, a black outline in the dark town. People were beginning to panic, anxious whispers and calls were echoing through the city, though they were muffled by the buzzing. The moon was still high in the sky, though the sun should have come up long ago, and let's not forget the fact that the moon is red, that definitely isn't normal. The temperature was going in and out of burning hot and freezing cold rapidly, that wasn't normal either, neither was the wind.

None of the citizens knew what was going on, hell, she was only half-sure about it herself.

But, they could only feel half of what was going on, they were only experiencing the material changes. Frea could feel the very air, the World's Energy, it was out of synch, it was chaotic.

It was madness.

She let out another low growl at the thought, and ran faster, dodging in and out of the rushing townspeople looking for shelter. By now an icy cold rain had begun to pound down on them, soaking both her and Moon in seconds, but she kept going.

_I need a plan damn it... How am I supposed to fix this..?!_

"Frea!" Moon shouted above the rain and the wind, catching up to her shoulder. "If what Jynx said is true, doesn't that mean that when you changed Solana's soul...?" Moon trailed way and Frea nodded a bit.

"Yeah..." She muttered. "Everything that's happening, all this chaos..." She clenched her jaw and scrunched her eyes closed for a moment. Pure anger was building up inside of her, but it wasn't anger at somebody, or something.

No, she was pissed with herself.

"Its all my damn fault!" She shouted furiously, eyes snapping open. "I somehow managed to screw everything up with my Celestial Key Binding Spell!" Her eyes stayed fixed ahead, the Guild Hall was coming into sight now. "But now I have to find a way to fix it!"

Moon looked away from Frea and sweatdropped, wings beating furiously as she fought to keep herself going, pushing against the wind, and the weight of the water soaking into her clothes and fur, weighing her down.

Frea was mad, she could tell. The Energy Dragon Slayer was literally shaking with anger now, and Moon was a little worried that that anger was going to spill over.

But honestly, how angry could Frea become with herself?

Moon let out a silent sigh and sweatdropped more, Frea had a temper, a big temper, and at this point, Frea wouldn't find it illogical to be utterly furious with herself.

"So... The Balance has been thrown off..." Moon murmured, and Frea stopped dead, eyes growing wide. In front of them, the front doors to the Guild Hall were only a couple feet away. Light flooded out from inside through the window, and they could hear bewildered shouts coming from the inside. Moon stopped too, quirking an eyebrow at her partner.

"What?" Frea murmured, looking Moon's way slowly. Moon blinked a few times,

"Uh... Theoretically, the Balance between the sun and the moon would have been thrown off by your spell," Moon told her slowly. "If what Jynx said is true and Solana's soul is directly connected to the sun, or was;" she added in with narrowed eyes. "Then it would make sense that the Balance could have even tampered with, when you used your Spell."

Frea's eyes narrowed upon hearing the words, and the two of them continued to stand outside, in the pouring rain, in complete silence.

"Balance of the sun and the moon...?" Frea mumbled, and Moon sweatdropped.

"You don't know what I'm talking about do you?" Moon asked and Frea blinked. "Well... I suppose its not really common knowledge... More like an old Legend..." Moon explained slowly, "There's this idea that the sun and the moon are connected spiritually, and that the balance of the world itself depends directly on the balance between the two." She explained. "If one was changed, or altered, wouldn't it make sense that it disrupted the balance between them? And ultimately the balance of the world?"

Frea looked away and toward the ground, eyes still wide. She was thoroughly shocked now, she had never heard of anything like that before...

No, what Moon said, it seemed sort of familiar, like she had heard it somewhere before, but she couldn't think of where, and clearly, at the time she had heard it, she hasn't thought much of it so she forgot about it completely.

_So if the moon and sun are connected... That means I affected the moon when I made Solana a Celestial Spirit... And I threw the balance of the world off in the process, that explains the Energy Shifts, and now the total chaos the World's Energy is in now..._

She continued to mull the thoughts over in her head, and make as much sense of them as she could at the moment. Everything was making so much more sense, the more she thought about it... her thoughts clicked together.

Her eyes snapped up from the ground to land on Moon, and she let a toothy smirk appear across her face. She snatched Moon from the air and squeezed the Exceed in a tight hug, "Moon, you are a genius!" She told her happily. Holding Moon out in front of her at arms length she let out a low chuckle, smiling wider so her fangs showed a bit more. Moon was looking astounded, but not without the small faint blush of embarrassment at the praise. "I think I might have an idea on how we could figure out how to fix all of this now, and restore Balance again." She explained, "Where did you learn about all of that?"

"Oh.. Kyo told me about it." Moon answered softly, smiling a little, but looking a bit downcast at the thought of her dead friend none-the-less.

"Well, I thank both you and Kyo, I have a feeling this is really going to help solve things." Frea said earnestly, setting Moon down on her shoulder, she stepped toward the Guild Doors. "How about we get out of this rain first?"

Moon nodded a bit, and Frea pushed the doors open. No one turned their way as they stepped inside, out of the rain and into the light of the room. Everyone had their eyes fixed on each other, or on Master Makarov who was sitting on the bar, eyes narrowed in thought and arms crossed over his chest.

"Why in the hell is it so cold?! Its freaking July damn it!"

"What in the hell happened to the sun?!"

"The moon looks super creepy.."

"This wind is crazy!"

"Gah! Why can't the damn temperature stay still?!"

Everyone was talking about one thing or another, none of them able to comprehend what was going on, or why.

The doors closed behind her as she looked around the hall, trying to spot a head of blonde hair, but she only saw Laxus sitting at the bar, talking with several of the other Mages of the Guild.

_Lucy isn't here yet..._

Frea frowned a little at the realization, she was hoping the Celestial Wizard would be here already, she needed to talk to Solana. She had the feeling that something was terribly wrong with the Dragon Slayer Spirit, if the incessant stinging on the back of her hand, where the GateSentry Mark had appeared didn't tell her that.

"Your looking for Lucy?" Moon asked quietly, and Frea nodded.

"I need to talk with Solana." She explained.

"At this point, I doubt your secret will stay hidden for much longer." Moon pointed out lowly. "Everyone will start to ask questions if you ask to speak with Solana."

"I know..." Frea mumbled, sweatdropping at the thought. Honestly, she hadn't any clue as to why she had wanted to keep the fact that she had caused the 'Magic Anomaly' a secret. These people were her family, she'd trust them with most anything... It was more the feeling that, she sort of didn't want them to know she had that kind of power...

It was stupid, why would that be a problem?

She hadn't a clue, but she was a bit reluctant to make them all aware of what happened while she had been on her Training Mission. Or how she had really come into possession of Solana as a Celestial Key.

Without Lucy here just yet, Frea instead turned her attention to looking for Chase, who she spotted leaning up against a wall on one side of the Guild, arms crossed over his chest and eyes closed. Slipping in between her Guild-Mates, she easily made her way over to him, just missing Erza as the red-head ran inside a few moments after Frea and Moon had moved away from the front doors.

Chase didn't even seem to register the fact that Frea and Moon were walking toward him, Frea accredited it to the fact that Chase was probably blocking off his senses completely for the time being, so unless he heard them coming, he wouldn't be able to feel them getting nearer.

It was only at this point in time, did the full force of the chaotic Energy of the World hit her again, she had managed to ignore it while she had been rushing to get to the hall, but now she could feel it again, and her stomach stared churning anew.

"Kid." She murmured, causing Chase to open his eyes as she got near.

"Teach," he murmured, taking in her appearance quietly. "Your soaked." He pointed out an she rolled her eyes a bit.

"No shit." She muttered, not at all in the mood to deal with stupid comments like that, time was of the essence here.

Chase sighed, stepping away from the wall and rubbing the back of his neck. "Well then," he mumbled. "I can see all this... Madness with the World's Energy is getting to you." He fixed her with a rather clam stare, one she returned with a neutral look on her face. "Otherwise you wouldn't have been so quick to growl at me." He explained, crossing his arms over his chest again.

"Yeah well... Your the lucky one who can block off your Senses completely." She pointed out and he nodded.

"True." He murmured. "So, got any idea what's going on? If things keep going the way they are, things are going to get worse, and eventually, it might end up affecting other forms of Energy." Chase said lowly, voice slightly muffled by the talking around the hall, and the buzzing in the back of her head.

Frea frowned a bit and sweatdropped, the reaction not going unnoticed by Chase, who tilted his head and raised an eyebrow. "Yeah... I know what's going on more or less..." She muttered lowly. "I screwed everything up, and managed to affect the sun, and the Balance of the World."

Chase simply stared for a moment, blinking a few times as he processed what she said. Moon glanced sideways at Frea, not missing how the Energy Dragon Slayer had deliberately left out how she had _managed_ to mess things up.

"Now how in the hell did you manage that?" Chase asked, and Frea sweatdropped a bit more. Before she was given a chance to answer, and loud shout silenced everyone within the hall.

"BRATS!"

All eyes turned to Master as he stood up on the stage now, arms crossed behind his back and expression serious.

"What's going on, Gramps?"

"Everything's all weird!"

"Why is the moon still up?"

Various questions were thrown out across the hall all at once, so it was impossible to discern who had said them. Wendy stepped up to the front of the crowd, arms pulled to her chest, eyes wide and looking very worried.

"The air is all wrong, it doesn't feel right." She told the old man in a small voice, "It's not acting naturally..."

Her voice was cut off when a huge boom of thunder rolled over the town suddenly, the effect of a flash of lightning so large, they could see it illuminate the dark outside through the windows. Most everyone jumped at the sudden noise, and PantherLily's reaction was immediate, as he jumped high and smashed into a few people, trembling.

Lily, had been standing nearby with Gajeel, and the last person he knocked into was Frea, who looked down at him with sympathy, and Moon quirked an eyebrow, quietly stepping from Frea's shoulder, to stand next to the trembling Exceed, hiding underneath the bench pushed up against the wall behind Frea and Chase.

Frea momentarily looked to Moon and Lily, before looking back at Master, arms crossed over her chest and expression serious. A few more booms echoed over the hall from the thunder in the storm, before Master had a chance to start speaking.

Frea was faintly aware of Lily trembling even more as a result of the lightning. Her eyes switched to Laxus momentarily, when she saw him stiffen at the thunder, and glance toward the window, looking somewhere between serious, and confused.

Frea narrowed her eyes, _so... He can tell that Lightning outside isn't normal..._

"I'm aware that things are serious." Master began, causing Frea to look back at the old man, "But it is with regret, that I tell you I do not know what is causing all of this." His eyes closed for a moment, and Frea sighed silently, taking a step forward, intending on speaking up, and explaining what was going on, though she was terribly reluctant to.

"Guys!"

Moon flinched a little when the booming thunder echoed over the hall, and her eyes immediately landed on Lily, who almost jumped out of his fur at the sound.

With more speed than she had ever seen Lily have, the tom-cat ended up bumping into a few people, Frea included, before he came to a stop, under the bench pushed up against the wall behind her.

She looked his way in utter surprise, never seeing him act like that before, and she saw Gajeel shake his head a little at his partner, but not looking angry or annoyed, actually, Gajeel looked sympathetic. Which, was a new look Moon had seen from the Iron Dragon Slayer so far.

She jumped from Frea's shoulder lightly, and walked toward where Lily was. He was trembling, wide ayes and sweatdropping, looking absolutely terrified. Moon tilted her head, and her eyes grew wider when Lily jumped at every sound of thunder to reach the Hall.

"Your... Afraid of thunder and lightning..?" She murmured, realizing why he was acting so scared suddenly.

"O-of course not..!" Lily stammered, though Moon could tell he was clearly lying.

"Its ok if you are." She murmured, "Everyone is afraid of something." She explained and for a brief moment, he stopped shaking, looking at her with wide eyes, but another crack of thunder sounded again, and he jumped, hitting the under side of the bench with his head. Moon gave him a sympathetic smile, as he held his head in his paws, wincing. She placed a paw on his shoulder, "Relax, ok?" He nodded a little, trying to calm down and he stopped shaking so much.

Her eyes switched from Lily to Frea, when she noticed her Partner take a step forward, looking intent on speaking. But before Frea could say anything, she was interrupted by the doors being thrown open, and a loud shout was sent out over the hall, by someone Moon did not recognize.

"Guys!"


	6. Team of Six

**Chapter 6**

**Team of Six**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's and Ideas**

**.:+:.  
**

_Loke?!_

Frea stiffened the minute she heard the voice, and her eyes darted to the doors to see a drenched Loke and Lucy panting in the doorway, eyes wide and looking serious.

_He's here? Ah shit! I was right, something must be wrong with Solana!_

As if to prove her suspicions, the GateSentry Mark blazing on the back of her hand, suddenly flared up with an unbelievable amount of pain, and she had to bite down on her tongue to keep herself from hissing.

"Loke?" Gray asked. "What's wrong man?" The Ice-Wizard was immediately tense, not liking to see his long time friend looking so worried.

"Luce!" Natsu was stepping toward the pair along with Gray in an instant.

"The lightning hit a lot of the buildings in town!" Lucy exclaimed, "The rain can't seem to put the fires out!"

"And the ocean has started to flood over the houses down by the water." Loke explained quickly, "People are getting trapped in both the flames, and the flooding."

Master was immediately reacting, "Brats!" He called their attention back to him. "We must help the townspeople immediately! Everyone spread out across the city and help wherever you can, but be careful yourselves, these are dangerous situations, I don't want any of you hurt." He ordered and the people in the hall nodded stiffly.

"You got it Gramps!"

"I'll eat all of that fire up!"

"Juvia will try to stop the water from flooding any more."

"I'll heal any injuries."

"We'll help all the towns people!"

"Yeah!"

Master nodded and almost instantly, most everyone had rushed from the hall. Frea stood still, her eyes scrunched shut, she didn't register anything else for a few moments, she would love to be able to focus on what was going on inside the hall, but everything had changed in seconds suddenly, and it was hard to focus on anything.

Her head was spinning again, her stomach churning and her head pounding. She felt dizzy, like the world was spinning around her, and in a way it was. Despite all her efforts to block out as much as the World's Energy as she possibly could, she was failing miserably as the issue continued to become worse, and the World's Energy was plunging into chaos more and more.

But it wasn't just that, the GateSentry mark on the back of her hand was sending more and more pain through her, the silver light of the mark glowing brighter. She couldn't think, could hardly move, and she placed the hand without the GateSentry mark against her head.

She started to slowly sink toward the floor, until she was sitting with her legs on either side of her, jaw clenched, eyes still closed, and her hand moved from holding her head, to grabbing her other hand when the stinging pain on the back of it increased ten-fold.

For a few moments, everything else was gone, there was nothing. Just the buzzing in her head growing louder and louder until she could hardly stand it anymore.

_Son... Son of a bitch...!_

"Frea!"

The harsh voice snapped her from the sort of painful and confused daze she had slipped into for a few moments, and she slowly opened her eyes to see several people in front of her, looking extremely worried.

Chase was crouching in front of her, looking at her with a serious face, more serious than she had ever seen him before. She realized it was his voice that had snapped her from the daze, simply because he never called her by her name anymore.

The others surrounding her and gazing at her in shock and worry, from her position of sitting on the floor, were Moon, Lucy, Master, and Loke. These five alone had stayed in the Guild Hall after everyone had rushed from it to help the townspeople. Even Lily, who had been terrified and hiding under the bench behind her, seemed to have pushed through his fears, and joined in helping along with the rest of the Guild.

Her thoughts slowly came back together as she did her best to recompose herself as best as she could, and she blocked off her senses a little more. It helped to slow the tide of jumbled and horrible effects of the World's Energy shifting, but it did nothing to stop the churning in her stomach, or the pounding of her head.

And the stabs of pain in the back of her hand, did not go away either.

A series of booms of thunder echoed over the hall.

"Good now?" Chase asked lowly, knowing almost exactly why she had drifted away for a moment. He really was lucky not to be feeling any of this right now, he was really lucky he could block off his senses completely.

What Frea wouldn't do, to be able to do just that right now.

"I... Guess..." Frea muttered, closing her eyes for a moment and sweatdropping. She opened her eyes and looked directly at Loke, "There's something wrong with Solana, isn't there?" She asked him lowly and he nodded a little.

"That could be the understatement of the year..." He mumbled. Frea winced when a particularly large stab of pain went through the back of her hand, "Whatever in particular happened after your spell, its causing her to fade." He added lowly, looking quite worried, not just about Solana, but at the fact that he had never seen a GateSentry so affected by a Spirit they had created like this, even of Frea really wasn't a 'true' GateSentry, but even worse, it was Frea suffering for it, and he didn't like it.

They were Guild-Mates, but it was Frea in particular he had become quite good friends with in his years stuck in the Human World. She had immediately been able to tell he was a Spirit instead of a human, and she was the one person he had actually explained the entire story to before Lucy. Frea hadn't liked the situation he was in, he knew she had wanted to help him but couldn't. But, he had shared more than a few things about himself and the Spirit World with her in the few years they had been friends, and surprisingly, he hadn't been reluctant to talk about it with her at the time. Frea would always silently listen to what he had to say, and he was momentarily reminded of the fact that she seemed to be always willing to listen to whatever people had to say. It was one of the better qualities about her, the willingness to listen, and the knack she had for understanding people in several different situations.

Frea's eyes scrunched closed for a moment, and her body tensed up. Everyone had noticed the mark blazing up on the back of her hand by now, and it was clearly causing her pain.

"Teach, I for one, am very confused." Chase pointed out lowly, causing Frea to look his way. He was gazing at her steadily, face neutral, but he was clearly not delighted with the fact that she was in pain, and he didn't know why.

Frea sighed, her eyes falling to the floor for a moment. "Sorry about that..." She mumbled, and looked up again, she looked to him for a split second, before switching her gaze to Lucy, and finally landing on Master. "I suppose your probably pretty confused too, right Master?" She asked.

Master Makarov looked her over for a few moments before letting out a sigh of his own, "I know some of the details." He explained, earning a shocked look from Moon, Loke and Frea alike.

"You... Know about...?" Frea murmured and he nodded at her.

"I had a hunch when I saw the Magic in the sky a few nights into the Grand Magic Games." Master told her, "I've known you for so long, it would seem I would know your Magic almost anywhere." He explained. "Although, Jynx did fill in a few of the missing details for me."

Frea blinked a few times, sweatdropping. She had never considered the idea that Master might know that she had been the one to cause the 'Magic Anomaly', and she had never considered the idea that Jynx would tell him either.

"Loke explained everything to me on the way here." Lucy spoke up suddenly, hands clasped in front of her and Frea glanced her way. She had no trouble in knowing how Lucy was feeling about all of this, the blonde was shocked, surprised, awed a little... And scared. Not just for the world, but for Solana too she had to guess.

"... I knew it..." Chase sighed and Frea looked to him. He was sweatdropping with his eyes closed, not looking particularly bothered by the information he had just learned. "So, your telling me that Solana... She was human up until a few weeks ago?" He asked, and Frea managed a small smile, impressed he had put it all together in such a short amount of time.

"Yes." She answered. "But unfortunately, I wasn't aware of the fact that her soul, is directly connected to the sun." She explained, looking to all of them.

"So converting her human soul into a Spirit's soul messed things up?" Loke asked, and Frea nodded at him.

"According to Moon here," Frea continued on, flicking her head at said Exceed. "There's some sort of connection between the sun and the moon, and the balance between the two affect the world." Frea sighed, "By messing with things... I destroyed the balance between the two and that's why the world is falling into chaos."

They all nodded at her, finding the explanation believable.

"So what are we going to do, to restore the Balance?" Lucy asked. Frea fixed her with a neutral stare, she had already come to the conclusion of what she intended to do, to try and fix everything, but she needed to think it through one last time before she suggested it.

Chase looked Frea up and down slowly, his mind was filled with many questions, but he wasn't about to start pounding Frea with them right now. They had bigger things to worry about than answering his questions.

Though, he understood most of what was going on. He had always been aware that it was Frea's Magic that had spread out over Fiore that night, he had always known it, but up until recently, he had a hard time believing she had that much power. What pushed the idea for him, was what she did during the fight with the Dragons. She had proven she was powerful, she had used several different Spells that were nowhere easy to use, Spells that would drain any normal wizard as soon as they were used.

But not Frea

At this point, she was doing so many amazing and unbelievable things... He didn't have any problem in believing that it had been her to cause the Magic Anomaly now.

One thing he found the most amazing, was how strong she had seemed to grow during those short three months before the Grand Magic Games. How could anyone have gotten that strong in such a short amount of time?

Now he had pretty much put together that the Key that Frea had brought back with her, didn't exist until two days before, at the time. And he was fairly certain that whatever sort of Spell the Magic Anomaly had been, had turned a once human Solana, into a Celestial Spirit. Though why she had done so, and how, he would have to ask later.

The thing he believed the most, was the idea that there was some sort of balance between the sun and the moon, and that that balance, was directly related to the balance of the world. Being an Energy Mage, who could feel the Energy of almost every living thing within the world, and having the knowledge of how different Energies reacted with one another, it wasn't hard to consider the idea that huge things such as the moon and the sun, could hold some sort of power over everything.

The sun and the moon are two of the most constant things in the world. They've always been there, they are two sides of the same coin in old stories, so why couldn't they be in control of the Balance?

But what was the point of having a human, who could easily be killed, why would a human's soul be connected to the sun?

He narrowed his eyes at Frea, "You think there's someone like Solana." He murmured, causing everyone to look his way. "Someone else who's soul is connected to the moon...?" He asked slowly and Frea nodded.

"Honestly, its the only thing I can think of." She told them lowly, her eyes switching to Lucy, "I need to talk to Solana, she may have an idea of who it is, whose soul is connected to the moon." She explained and Lucy nodded slowly.

"Alright..." The blonde backed up a bit, and placed a hand on her keys, pulling the orange tinted one off.

Frea took a deep breath, and Chase held out a hand for her as he stood up, which she gratefully took and he pulled her to her feet easily. Her head started to swim again the moment she stood up, and she blinked a few times to try and get rid of the feeling.

"Open; Gate of the Sun Dragon!" Lucy swiped the key to the side, "Solana!"

Flickering orange and yellow light appeared before their small group, as Solana appeared, Frea stiffened when the red-head almost immediately fell over.

Loke was faster than all of them, and he was the first to steady Solana, letting her lean against him until he was able to ease her down into the bench in which Lily had been previously hiding under. The red-head's body was thin, and almost see through as her entire being kept fading in and out. Similar to Frea, the Mark on the back of Solana's hand was blazing with orange light. Loke remained by the bench, one hand resting on Solona's shoulder.

"Are you alright?" Lucy asked anxiously. Her eyes were wide, this looked almost exactly like what had been happening with Loke, before she had been able to save him.

"... Not really, no..." Solana replied quietly, in a small voice. Frea was stunned, this was getting worse, and she didn't like the fact that Solana was suffering for this now. This had been her fault, and she was going to fix it, even if it killed her.

"... Was there... Something you needed...?" Solana asked slowly, looking up toward Frea with half-closed eyes. She looked utterly exhausted.

"Do you know, who it is that has a soul connected to the moon?" Frea asked. "If there is one.." She put in as an after-thought.

"... Ah right, sorry about all of this... If I had known about it before... I would have tried to warn you..." Solana mumbled. Everyone stiffened at the words, eyes growing wide.

"You... You didn't know your soul was connected to the sun...?" Moon asked in disbelief.

Solana shook her head, "No... I figured it out only a bit ago actually... Regularly, Cosmic Souls... such as myself.." She added, with a look at Moon.

 _So Solana's soul was_ still _connected to the sun then..? Even just a little..?_

"... We don't know about the connection to the sun or the moon until we die..." Solana bit her lip, she clearly seemed to be in a lot of pain and her body was continually fading little by little, and Frea was becoming increasingly agitated with it. She didn't even register the burning on the back of her hand anymore, she only cared that Solana was paying for it now.

"So how did you figure it out?" Chase asked her.

"... It just came to me, not to long ago." Solana mumbled. "All this information just... Popped up in my head..."

"Then, you would know if there is a..." Moon trailed off, "... A 'Cosmic Soul'? For the moon, then?" She asked.

"... There are always two Cosmic Souls, one person is naturally born with a connection to either the sun or the moon... And once that person dies, someone else replaces them immediately, in an endless cycle..." Solana explained. "... The purpose of the sun and the moon having a connection to a human, is to keep a connection between the sun and moon themselves; which remain in their Cosmic positions, and the world itself; where they cannot physically go..." Her green eyes closed and her head hung a little. "... Its all to keep balance... Between everything..."

Frea and Moon exchanged quick glances, Moon had been right, and Frea was glad her new Partner was seemed to be so intuitive of the things she had little knowledge about. Moon's fighting power may not be top notch, but she was definitely smart.

"... There is another Cosmic Soul who is connected to the moon." Solana told them, but her eyes narrowed. "... I don't know who it is."

They all sweatdropped at the news, they had been relying on the hope that Solana may know who the Cosmic Soul for the moon was, so they could try to fix everything. Frea cursed inwardly, this wasn't what she had been hoping to hear.

"Child," Master Makarov spoke up, causing all eyes to turn to him. Solana looked toward him slowly, seemingly slightly surprised to have heard him call her 'Child', she didn't even know him. "Your Magic, it's Sun Dragon Slaying Magic isn't it?" He asked and Solana nodded.

"Yes." She replied softly. Frea tilted her head slightly, not exactly sure where he was headed with the question.

"Would it perhaps make sense, to assume that whoever the Cosmic Soul for the moon is, that they would use some sort of Magic related to the moon?" He asked. Everyone's eyes widened at the question, and Solana nodded again.

"Your right." She told him. "From what I know, everyone who has been a Cosmic Soul in the history of the world, they have all had Magic related to the Cosmic Power they represent."

"Does anyone know someone who can use... moon related magic then?" Moon asked allowed. All of them slowly shook their heads.

"It could really be anyone... Even someone in some other country." Lucy sighed. Frea bit her lip, she honestly couldn't think of anyone she knew of, who used any sort of Magic related to the moon in anyway...

Her eyes grew wide, and so did Chase's as they both went deathly still. They had come tithe realization in the same instant,

When they had searched Fiore together before, by combing their senses and searching farther than they could alone, they had found _something!_

They had been unable to get a good picture of it, and all they knew was that it had been powerful, something they had never felt before... _And it was ancient!_

"That had to have been it!" Frea murmured.

"No doubt, its the only thing that makes sense!" Chase agreed.

Everyone else tilted their heads, looking back and forth between the two as if they had lost their minds.

"We have to find it again!" They both said at once, eyes narrowed as looking more determine than ever. Neither of them even cared about the fact, that if they were to use their Magic like they had that day, again, right now, they might overload themselves with the World's Energy spinning around them.

In order to search as far as they would need to, they would have to stop blocking off their senses completely, or stop limiting her range in Frea's case. That could cause several issues with how all the Energy around them was right now, but they didn't have a choice and they knew it.

"Find what?" Everybody else echoed.

"We combined our Magic to cast our senses out farther a few days ago." Frea explained. "We were looking for whatever was causing the World's Energy to shift, as its been doing since before the GMG."

"Before the Shift ended, we caught on to something we didn't recognize, and it was only there for such a short amount of time, we weren't able to get a good picture of what it was." Chase took over. "It was powerful, and definitely a sort of Magic we've never felt before."

"And it felt ancient." Frea continued. "Solana, your Magic doesn't feel ancient to me, because I'm used to the feeling of it. Its Dragon Slaying Magic, and that in itself is ancient already, so it didn't occur to me that that wasn't the only reason your Magic feels so old."

Everyone's eyes grew wide once they realized where the two were going with this, and a small spark of hope flared up inside of them.

"Your saying that if your able to lock into this Energy Signature again..." Moon murmured.

"You may be able to locate the other Cosmic Soul?" Lucy asked. Both of them nodded, and everyone suddenly looked determined and slightly excited.

"... How do you intend to fix the balance, even if you do find the other Cosmic Soul..?" Solana asked quietly, Frea turned a determined smile on her and clenched a fist in front of her.

"Don't worry, I'll figure it out." She promised. "I caused this mess, I'm sure as hell going to fix it." Solana gazed up at her with wide eyes, she looked so confident...

Solana had become really close with the Energy Dragon Slayer when they had been together for three months. Frea had always been calm and collected, but she knew how confident she was, Frea hardly ever backed away from the idea of a fight, and even now, with the Balance of the world at stake, she was able to remain so calm, look so confident and strong... Solana smiled softly, she had never met anyone like Frea before. If there was anyone who could figure out how to fix this, it was going to be the Energy Dragon Slayer.

"I'm sorry I dragged everyone into this." Frea told them, looking to each one.

"Don't be!" Lucy exclaimed. "We wouldn't have it any other way!"

"Without you, I'd be dead." Solana smiled.

"And so would I, if you hadn't sent Solana to help me in the GMG, even the fight with the Dragons." Lucy smirked.

"You were bound to do something stupid eventually Teach." Chase chuckled, "But this is just how you are, and you wouldn't be you, any other way." He smirked and Moon nodded in agreement, with her own smirk.

"We're with you Frea, whatever may happen." Loke spoke up, smiling.

Frea blinked a few times, surprised to hear all of them say anything like that. She smiled a little more, "Thanks." She murmured.

"I have full faith that all of you will be able to fix things." Master told them, smiling slightly as he looked over them all. For a brief moment, his eyes lingered on Frea for a little longer. "And I do not doubt, that before long all of this will be mended. After all, all of you brats are stubborn, you won't rest until the end of this." He chuckled.

"Hell yeah!"

"Then I wish you good luck."

Frea and Chase looked to each other and everyone stepped back, as the two of them pressed their hands together, and closed their eyes. "Looks like you'll have a chance to use that new technique, kid." Frea murmured.

"Suppose so... When did you find out about it?" He asked.

"The minute you perfected it." She replied and he smiled a little, letting out a silent sigh.

_Of course she did..._

The minute they stopped blocking their senses, they were hit with the full force of the World's Energy, but they ignored it. Silver and Light Blue streams of Magic began to spiral around them rapidly, causing the interior of the hall to glow with the light given off.

"Energy Sense!"


	7. Trail

**Chapter 7**

**Trail**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

Their senses cast out rapidly, trying to lock on to that one Energy Signature they had felt for no more than a few seconds before. They had no doubt they would be able to recognize it when they found it, it didn't feel like anything they had ever come across before.

The only worry either of them could even consider right now was, just how far was this Cosmic Soul for the moon going to be? It could be so far, they may never reach this person in time, before everything truly fell into chaos.

They sweatdropped when their senses cast out well past Magnolia, and they still had not found what they were looking for.

Both Frea and Chase tensed up considerably, doing this, with the World's Energy so chaotic, was quickly taking its toll. Frea was feeling lightheaded now, and she was forcing herself to keep from shaking. Her stomach was doing summer-salts, and her head was starting to pound, now that the force and spinning madness of the World's out of control Energy was hitting her, without the slight cushion of blocking her senses off partly.

Chase was starting to feel worse as he stood there too, though he had been previously spared from all of the effects of the chaos in the Energy, because he was lucky enough to be able to block his senses off completely. His head was hurting a little, and he was becoming a little dizzy, but how he was feeling now, was nowhere near as close to how Frea was quite yet.

Far beyond Magnolia, even the few neighboring towns and cities, they finally found it.

It was just as it had been before, powerful, immense, and it felt like ancient Magic. It was eerily similar to Solana's Magic, despite the obvious differences. Solana's Energy Signature was orange and yellow in color, and it felt warm, and a little wild, a lot like Natsu's Energy Signature.

The one they had locked on to, it was both dark blue, and white in color, mixing it together so it was almost a pale blue. The nature of this Energy Signature, was inherently calm and serene... But at the moment, it was blazing and wavering out of control, nothing like its normal self.

They didn't have to have seen this Energy Signature before to know how it usually felt, or acted like. It was a sort of imprint that would never wash away, no matter the situation, or the behavior of the person belonging to the Energy Signature. It was because it was clear this particular Energy Signature was not acting as it normally would, they could safely assume that the tipped Balance between the sun and the moon, was affecting this certain Cosmic Soul, in a much different way, then it was Solana.

They didn't dare breath as they stayed locked on to it, doing their best to ignore everything else around them. Now, was the time for Chase to use the new Technique he had created not too long ago.

Frea had become aware that Chase had started to create a technique of his own, one that would prove to probably be one of the more useful moves either of them knew, or had come up with.

Far as she could tell, he had come up with a way to maintain a lock on an Energy Signature, and reveal a path, or trail that lead directly to it. She hadn't tried to figure out just exactly how he had managed this, and she didn't plan to. This was something Chase was going to prove to be very good at, and she had a feeling, this was something she would probably never grasp.

_"May I find my target,_

_That I will keep within my sight,_

_The Energy Signature in which I search for._

_Reveal to me,_

_The trail of those in which I pursue,_

_To follow in shadow or light,_

_In whatever conditions that arise,_

_Appear to me now,_

_And show me the way..."_

Chase began to murmur the words lowly, and Frea listened to every one slowly. His Magic was beginning to blaze up brighter than her own, and she was able to form the mental image, of Chase's Magic slowly wrapping around the Energy Signature of what they were searching for.

 _"Energy Lock: Trail Seeker!"_ He finished firmly, and in an instant both their eyes snapped open at once.

Chase's eyes were full pale blue orbs of light for a split second, and everyone stared in shock to see a stream of his pale blue Magic flash over the ground and out the front doors of the Hall, for a split second.

Frea swept her eyes over the Magic before it disappeared, and her hands fell away from Chase's. She looked at him and smiled, this new Spell of his, it was ingenious really.

"What was that?" Lucy asked.

"The trail of the Energy Signature we're looking for." Chase answered, glancing her way. "I can see it, and it'll lead us straight to whoever we're looking for."

Everyone smiled a little in admiration, even to everyone who wasn't an Energy Mage, what Chase had done, was actually really impressive, by doing this, it could speed things up exponentially.

"Impressive." Master smiled and Chase smiled a bit back.

Solana leaned toward Fea with a smirk on her face, "You were clearly a better teacher to him then you let me believe." The red-head told Frea lowly, well away from Chase's ears. For a brief moment, she didn't seem to be in so much pain now that her attention had turned to Chase's Spell. "He seemed to have turned out to be a great Mage!" She smiled clearly impressed with both Chase, and Frea herself. Frea smiled back, nodding a little.

Loke glanced down at the two, from where he was standing close to Solana. He found himself agreeing with the Sun Dragon Slayer, he himself would have never pegged Frea to be the teaching type. But he had spoken with Chase on a few occasions, and though he had never seen the young man in action, it was clear that he was easily one of the stronger Mages around. Frea must have been a pretty good teacher, from his understanding, Energy Magic was not easy to learn, therefore it was safe to assume that it was no easier to teach.

"Thanks Old Man." Chase murmured, before glancing to Frea, causing her to look from Solana, to him. "Problem is, how are we supposed to get there?"

Frea gave him a toothy smirk and placed her hands on her hips, looking a little too confident in that moment, that everyone sweatdropped.

"Just leave that to me!"

* * *

 

"You might want to slow down!" Moon shouted, holding on for dear life to the frame of the MagicMobile. "Your gonna end up draining yourself!"

They were traveling along at an unreal rate, Frea sat at the front of the car, holding on tightly to the steering mechanism of the vehicle, the wrist-band connected securely to her arm, pumping her Magic into the machine to give it life.

"Don't worry about that, I'll be fine!" Frea told her, eyes trained ahead as she kept her attention on the land.

"She's just a crazy as Erza..." Lucy whimpered from the inside, her voice floating out through the open window, which Moon was poking her was out of, to talk to Frea.

"You'd think I would be use to this by now..." Loke murmured.

"This is the first time I've seen her this..." Solana answered, smiling despite the obvious pain she was in. "... Reckless." She smiled nervously, she didn't have a better word for it.

Everyone besides Frea and Chase, were inside the MagicMobile, relying on both the Energy Mages to get them where they needed to go. What Solana said was sort of true, Frea was always rather collected and calm, she never really acted rashly or erratically, this was the first time in a very long time, anyone had ever seen her rushing so much.

"Even you can't keep this pace up forever Teach." Chase murmured, bracing himself as they turned sharply. Rocky and uneven land was streaming past them, they were well past Magnolia now. The rain was continually pounding down on them, but neither Frea not Chase seemed to register the fact that they were soaked.

"We have to get there as fast as we can." Frea answered. "I'm sorry the rides so rough." She called back to the four in the car, more directing her words toward Solana than anyone else. Frea was well aware of the fact that this ride was putting Solana in more pain, at being jolted around so much. She wouldn't want to put the Sun Spirit through this normally, but they didn't have a choice. She didn't want to risk having Lucy send Solana back to the Spirit World, until they had mended the Balance.

"Its fine."

Frea pushed on faster, she could feel her strength draining with the continued use of the MagicMobile, but honestly she couldn't care less. Thanks to Chase, they had a direct line to who they were looking for.

Before they had left, Chase had channeled his Magic into Frea around her eyes, so she was able to see the Trail, as he could. They were getting closer, and they had only been traveling for maybe an hour or so. It was only because they were going so fast, and the fact that they could see exactly where they were headed, that they had gotten this far in such a short amount of time.

They were quite literally, out in the middle of nowhere. No towns could be seen for miles on end, only rocky, and muddy terrain on either side.

Frea narrowed her eyes, it was a little hard to see a lot through the thick sheet of rain pounding down on them. The clouds had successfully blocked out the eerily red moon above, so everything had been cast into deep shadow. The glowing blue trail she was following was the only clear thing she could make out. She still didn't like the fact that she had managed to drag so many people into this, despite their assurances that they didn't mind. She could still see Natsu's face when their small group had rushed through the town on the MagicMobile, along with everyone else's faces who had seen them.

They hadn't any time to explain where they were going or why, and honestly, she wasn't looking forward to explaining it when they made their way back.

But then, she was still trying to wrap her head around what Master had said, right before she had left the hall.

* * *

 

_"Frea."_

_Frea came to a halt when she heard Master Makarov call her back, just as she had been about to follow everyone else out of the hall. She paused in the doorway and turned back toward him, slightly confused as to why he had spoken up now._

_"Yeah?"_

_"Please, be careful." He murmured, "I know that it was never your intention to cause any of this, and I wish for you to know that no one will think differently of you for it." He closed his eyes for a moment, and she heard him let out a low sigh._

_He clearly wanted to say something else, but he seemed to feel it may not be the best time._

_"You have many trials ahead of you." He told her, his eyes opened to rest on her once more. "But I have no doubt, that you will find a way to overcome them all." A small smile appeared across his face, "Good luck."_

* * *

 

She didn't know why, but his attitude when he had said that... She didn't like it. There was definitely something he hadn't been telling her.

_But what?_

Her head snapped up a little at the sound of something cracking. At first she assumed it was the same noise she had heard in her dream earlier that morning, but this was different. It was more gravelly then before, and her heart dropped when she realized what it was.

Ahead of them, through the gloom of the rain, the ground had split open suddenly, to reveal a large chasm that dropped down for who knows how long.

And they were headed straight for it.

"Oh shit!" She growled. Chase was frowning, they both knew they were going way to fast, to be able to stop in time.

"You guys better hold on." Chase leaned back and told the people inside, his eyes not leaving the gaping hole before them. Moon poked her head out again,

"Why?" She asked, but her eyes went wide upon seeing the hole they were headed for. "We're gonna die..." She whimpered.

"No we're not!" Frea growled, pumping her Magic Power into the armband faster. They sped up exponentially, and the ground started to shake violently as they neared the chasm.

The wheels of the MagicMobile left the ground, and they were propelled over the gap, to land roughly on the other side. Frea strained to keep the vehicle straight as they hit the ground on the other side, as it tilted and swerved dangerously for awhile, before it slowed down and straightened out again.

"Frea... I hate you..." Moon muttered, looking dazed. Frea let out a sigh,

"Your allowed to..." She mumbled. The earth was still shaking a they continued forward at a relatively slower speed. She sweatdropped, things were starting to get worse, it wasn't only the sun disappearing, the storms, the wind and the flooding now, earthquakes were starting up.

The MagicMobile faltered a little in its course, when her vision started to blur, and she shook her head furiously to get rid of the haze. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Chase give her a worried glance, but he didn't say a thing for awhile.

"Teach," Chase murmured, gaining her attention. "Why did you turn Solana into a Celestial Key?" He asked quietly, keeping his voice low so Solana wouldn't hear. It was useless though, Solana had heightened hearing, and Frea didn't doubt that the red-head would have heard the question.

"She would have died if I hadn't." She murmured in reply. "I spent that entire three months with her. She was my intended target for the job I took, but when I found her, she explained that a Dark Guild was after her, and they had a mole inside the Council. That mole was pinning the council against her, so she was fighting against both a Dark Guild, and the Council at once." She let out a low sigh, "All of Fairy Tail has had trouble with Dark Guild's before, but I've also had trouble with the Council... For most of my life."

"I decided to help her, and when we began the fight with the Dark Guild that had been after her, the Guild Master hurt Solana pretty badly." Chase narrowed his eyes at the explanation. "That scar on her chest, is where she got hit."

Frea broke off for a moment as lightning pierced through the clouds, and a booming roll of thunder echoed after.

"I was going to use Morana Drearand to heal her, but Jynx stopped me."

"How did she-?" Chase asked.

"The Limiter Seal." Frea answered simply. "She limited my Magic completely, so I was unable to use it to heal Solana." She couldn't help but feel that flare of anger toward Jynx rise up in the pit of her stomach at the memory. Even if Jynx had been trying to protect her, she was still angry with the idea that the ghost girl had been willing to put Solana's Life at risk for her.

Chase seemed to notice her sudden anger, and sighed silently. "You know she only did that to spare you from straining yourself." He put in slowly and she growled a little.

"I. Know." She hissed through gritted teeth, and Chase dropped the subject. "... After Jynx stopped me, the most unexpected person showed up."

Chase's head tilted a little, hardly able to guess who she was talking about. "Who?"

"The Celestial Spirit King." She answered simply, remaining oblivious to the astounded expression he was wearing after she had said the name.

"...w-what..?!" He whispered, ".. Now way! Nobody but Spirits ever see the Celestial Spirit King!" He told her and she shook her head.

"Wrong." She murmured. "Lucy has seen him twice, and Levy, Wendy, Happy, Carla, Natsu, Gray and Erza have met him as well." She smiled a little and Chase just stared, dumbfounded.

"How did you know about that?" Loke asked, glancing out of the window behind them, with Lucy and Moon squished in beside him.

"I know a lot more than you guys think I do." She answered vaguely, giving no other explanation.

They all exchanged glanced with one another, this wasn't the first time Frea had said that exact same phrase. Loke and Lucy stuck their heads back inside, and Moon just rest her chin on the bottom of the window.

"... To continue, Solana was stamped as a possible soul to be turned into a Celestial Spirit when she was younger." Frea continued on. ".. Now that I think about it, I think Jynx was the one who chose Solana as a possibility." She added in as an after-thought.

"In order to become a Celestial Spirit though, she had to find a GateSentry, someone who had been given the power to alter a human's soul, and create Celestial Gates as well as Keys, by the Celestial Spirit King himself." Frea went on. Moon and Chase listened quietly, both their eyes trained on Frea, who wasn't looking at them, but ahead as she continued to speed away over the land toward their target.

"I'm not a GateSentry." Frea murmured. "The last GateSentry..." She trailed away suddenly, a very dark look coming over her face. Moon and Chase exchanged glances, both of them didn't understand why she suddenly looked so... Angry. It was a hate filled look, that they had never seen Frea wear before. Sure, she had been angry at others... But this was _pure, unshielded hatred._

"Lets just say, the last GateSentry was killed a long time ago." Frea growled.

Loke pushed his glasses up his nose, and let his eyes close. He was listening quietly to what Frea had to say, as were Solana and Lucy, though the three of them weren't making their attention as obvious as Chase and Moon were.

Lucy was sitting in rather tense silence, drinking in every word with astonishment. The blonde was shocked at very detail Frea was retelling, much like himself. They had both known Frea was a strong Mage, Loke even more so, but even this was shocking to them both, and he had known Frea for longer than Lucy had.

Solana however, was slouched against the seat beside him, with her arms wrapped around her stomach, eyes scrunched closed and silent. She had hardly spoken since they had left Magnolia, as for good reason. It was clear to anyone that she was in an unbelievable amount of pain, and she was a lot weaker than she had ever been before. Her body had stopped wavering in and out of being see through and whole some time ago, instead now she just appeared thin and pale. He frowned slightly at the thought, he had gotten to know Solana while she had been in the Spirit World, even if it hadn't been for long, and he would be lying if he said he didn't care about her already.

She was his fellow spirit, even if she had once been human not to long ago, and he hated to see any other Spirit suffer like this.

He silently hoped that they would find a way to fix all of this soon.

"I'm not a GateSentry." Frea's voice reached him through the open window, slightly muffled by the sound of the rain.

_GateSentry or not Frea... You still did the impossible..._

"The last GateSentry..." Suddenly the Energy Dragon Slayer's voice trailed away, and he did not miss the slight venom that had crept into her voice so suddenly.

He tensed up a little, and opened his eyes to stare down at his hands, which were folded in his lap. He knew why she suddenly sounded so angry, because he knew who the last human GateSentry was.

Kasumi

He had only become aware that Kasumi had been the one to seal off Frea's Memories, and trap Winter and Shadow inside of her, shortly after Frea had found out herself. He had never known about Kasumi... Hurting Frea when she had been younger, before he had ever met the silver-eyed young woman, or even before Kasumi had been killed. Though he knew of it, as the rest of the Guild did as well, he didn't know any of the details about what Kasumi had done to Frea, and he suspected no one else did either.

His eyes slowly switched to the side, so he caught a glimpse of Frea's outline in the darkness outside.

"Lets just say, the last GateSentry was killed a long time ago."

Moon and Chase sweatdropped a little at the tone Frea used as she said the words, but at the moment, they weren't really willing to question it.

"Whether or not I'm a 'true' GateSentry, there wasn't any way in hell I would let Solana die. So, I was able to use a Spell I came across, for the very purpose of altering a human soul, into a Celestial soul." Frea went in, becoming more relaxed as she continued to speak. " **Celestial Energy Key Bind**. It was that Spell, that over half of Fiore saw."

Chase blinked, he couldn't help but wonder, where in the hell would Teach have found a Spell like that? It couldn't be common knowledge...

He was about to ask the question, when a shrill scream of pure pain cut through the rain, and stopped him from speaking. The scream rang clear and loud despite the pounding rain, howling wind, and boom of the thunder. It was clearly filled with agony, and it sent chills down their spines. Everyone stiffened at the noise, and Frea's eyes narrowed, the MagicMobile slowing a little. While they had been talking, they had faintly stopped paying close attention to the trail in which they had been following, and it was only now did they realize how close they had come.

They could clearly feel waves of pure Power washing over them from up ahead, Frea's nose twitched a little when she caught the scent of their target, despite the rain.

The scent was cold, crisp, faintly smelling of the night air.

But it wasn't the feeling, or the scent that caught everyone's attention, even the members of the group who were not Energy Mages. Not too far away, the clouds were see-through, so they could see the blood red moon in the dark sky, and even through the haze of the rain, they could clearly see blazing white and dark blue light spiraling around and around in a huge sphere shape. It was Magic, they had no doubt of that, and toward the edges, the Magic was begging to turn a deep, blood red color.

This was the source of an unbelievable amount of raw Power that had begun to hit them in terrifying waves of sheer force.

Another scream of agony cut through the air, and they cringed at the noise slightly.

"... We found who we were looking for..."


	8. Thought to be Dead

**Chapter 8**

**Thought To Be Dead**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

Jumping down off of the MagicMobile, their small group slowly eased toward the sphere of Magic, alert and tense for everything. There were already bits and chunks of rubble and debris being flung their way from the sheer wind and force of the Magic hitting them. Loke was leading Solana along, one of her arms draped over his shoulders, Lucy followed in front of them with Moon floating near her, and Chase and Frea leading.

They all sweatdropped when another scream of pure agony ripped through the air, far louder than the wind, rain, thunder, or the buzzing in the back of Frea's head.

"Who... Who is that?" Lucy breathed, she didn't like the sound of someone in this much pain, none of them did.

"No clue." Frea muttered, peering into the spinning mass of uncontrolled Magic, spotting the figure of a young woman in the middle. Through the Magic, she couldn't make any details. "But she's the Cosmic Soul for the moon, I have no doubt of that."

Chase nodded a little, eyes not leaving the figure in the center of the out of control Magic. "I agree... With the Balance out of control... She's gained to much power, she can't handle it all.." He winced when the young woman screamed in agony again.

Frea took a deep breath, letting her Magic bubble to the surface, and wrap around her body, hardening it. "All of you stay here, I'm going to try and get close to her." She ordered, looking back at them. Switching her gaze to Chase, she gave him a small nod.

Approaching the sphere of Magic, Frea growled as she started to push against the force of it. The Magic lashed out at her wildly, and she stiffened, managing to keep the protective shell of her own silver Magic up around her, so she wasn't hurt. Her moves were slow, she was quite literally forcing herself to push against a force so great, it was like trying to push against the hardest steel, and it was continually trying to force her away.

She winced when a small amount of the blue Magic managed to get past her own Magic, and began to cut her skin, the further she pushed her way inside the sphere.

Once she managed to get as close as she could to the girl, she was forced to a stop, and her feet wore trenches into the ground, as the Magic started to force her backward even more. By now she was having and extremely hard time keeping her Magic up, and warding off the blue Magic consuming her, and she winced again when the Magic cut her again.

The young woman radiating with the power, was on the ground, crouched on her hands and knees. She had long silver hair, was wearing torn and tattered clothes, and her skin was cut in several places. She was younger than Frea herself by the look of it, more around Chase's age (Not adding in the seven years he didnt age). The young woman screamed again, her entire body stiffening with the pain as her Magic increased again, so strong Frea was almost knocked backwards.

_How the hell is this possible?!_

She had never felt this much power from anyone before... it was choking, and extremely unnerving to be inside the force of it. Even here, she could feel this Magic Power pushing and pulling against the Energy of the World. This young woman, the Cosmic Soul connected to the moon... she was the source that was screwing with the World's Energy, for the most part.

Frea narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms in front of her, trying to block the rubble pounding into her from all sides. She hadn't the slightest clue what to do... There wasn't any way she would be able to do anything, unless this chick's power was somehow taken control of, and calmed. She needed to find a way to settle all of this madness down, before she could advance, and try to fix the Balance.

Hell if she had any clue how to fix the Balance... She would just have to focus on one thing at a time, and the first was getting this girl under control.

_Maybe my Hindering Seal?_

It was worth a shot, if she could actually get close enough to cast the Spell anyway. The Hindering Seal would allow her to compress the Magic of the young woman, if only a little, but definitely enough that she wouldn't have to continue pushing against the force of the Magic.

Frea let her Magic rise up around her even more, and she prepared to jump toward the young woman, palm open and surrounded in concentrated Magic.

Before she could move though, the young woman's head snapped up, and she lay her deep purple eyes on Frea, shocked to find her there, she had been unaware of Frea making her way toward her before now.

But the look of shock, was almost immediately replaced with a scowl, one full of anger and fury. Her face darkened, and the Magic engulfing them blazed even stronger. Frea sweatdropped slightly, this was a face... Something similar to when Erza was angry, and it was directed at _her._

_What in the...?_

In the next instant, the young woman had jumped to her feet, and swiped her arms in Frea's direction, sending several streams of heavily concentrated Magic at her.

Frea tensed, she hadn't any time to react to the attack, and her eyes widened in utter shock.

"MoonLight Rays: Strike Storm!"

"Teach!" Chase yelled out, all of them having heard the Energy Dragon Slayer let out a shout from inside the Sphere of Magic. They had done as she asked, staying on the outside of the Magic, waiting for whatever she decided to do next.

Honestly, none of them were expecting her to run into any serious trouble at this point, unfortunately, their assumption had been wrong.

The Sphere of Magic suddenly expanded, heading straight toward them.

"Energy Dome!" Chase growled, crossing his arms in front of him, and stepping between the other members of their group, and the giant wall of raw Power heading toward them, a dome of his Magic surrounding himself, and the other members of their small team. His jaw clenched when the blue magic hit his own, and his feet dug into the ground. The wave of Magic passed, and all their eyes widened when Frea was thrown from the sphere, crashing into his shield before he had time to react.

"Frea!" Moon gasped, the Energy Dragon Slayer landed on the ground on her knees, growling to herself.

"Are you ok?" Lucy asked immediately, Chase dropped his Magic, taking a small step toward her.

"What the hell was that for?!" Frea yelled furiously, glaring at the dark outline of the young woman in the center of the Sphere of Magic.

They sweatdropped, letting out sighs. "She's fine..." They mumbled.

Frea got to her feet, fists clenched and fangs bared, Magic spiraling up around her out of sheer anger. "I didn't do anything to you, idiot!" She snarled.

The Magic Sphere grew in size in a split second, before it wavered and shot up toward the sky, illuminating the dark clouds and making the moon glow an even brighter red color. It disappeared from around the girl a little, the young woman in the middle was still glowing with the light of her magic, but for the moment, she seemed to have gained some control over it.

"Your the one who almost got Solana killed!" The strange Mage yelled back, looking utterly furious, eyes burning with hatred as they stayed locked on to Frea, who stood in front of their small team.

Frea faltered slightly, before she growled lowly, not at all happy with the girl. But she was so angry, she didn't register the idea that whoever this was, had known about Solana, and what had happened, when she _shouldn't._

The rest of them however, were shocked that she had known about it. For the first time they got a good look at who it was.

She had long silver hair that reached her back, and deep purple eyes burning with hatred. Her clothes were torn, and blood trickled down from the cuts over her body. She looked to be Lucy and Chase's age, with a bust that was slightly larger than Lucy's. The dark blue traveling cloak she had on was fraying at the ends, and waving around wildly within the force of her Magic.

"There's... There's no way..." All eyes turned to Solana, who was staring at the other woman with wide eyes, tears brimming from the edges. She was trembling, jaw dropped and completely, and utterly shocked. The red-head fell to her knees, "Solana!" Several people gasped, Lucy and Loke crouched down beside her, and Frea's attention turned to her for a moment, blinking in surprise at the reaction.

It wasn't hard to feel the emotions dancing off of the Sun Dragon Slayer, most of it was pain, but the new ones were shock, sadness... And _happiness?_

"What's wrong?" Lucy asked, looking very worried for her new Spirit, and friend. She had known Solana was considerably weak and lacking any Magic Power right now, but she wasn't able to understand why the red-head was suddenly acting like this.

"I... I thought she was dead..." Solana whispered, the tears spilling over and streaming down her cheeks silently. Lucy and Loke blinked, eyes glittering with worry. "... She... She's my sister..."

They all stiffened at the words, and Frea looked back to the other young woman, who was glaring at her with a completely hate filled look. A look she would never have expected from someone she had never met before in her life.

"I don't know who the hell you think you are, how dare you put her in danger like that?!" The young woman yelled, clearly talking to Frea. "I'm going to take you down for what you did!"

"Aisha..." Solana whispered, a hand covering her mouth, completely shocked to hear her sister speak like this to anyone.

Frea closed her eyes for a moment, letting out a sigh.

"Solana," Frea murmured. "If she wants a fight with me, I don't intend to back down." She added seriously, causing the rest of them to sweatdrop. They couldn't believe Frea would be willing to fight with the sister that Solana thought was dead, could she really be that cruel...?

"I'll try not to hurt her to much," Frea continued, "I actually have a plan, one that will get her to stop, without me having to knock her out." Frea sighed a little, eyes closing as she lowly asked,

"Do you trust me?"

Solana stared up at the Energy Dragon Slayer, eyes wide and completely silent.

 _Of course_ she didn't exactly like the idea of Frea fighting with Aisha... She knew how much of a hard hitter Frea was, and having just now come to know that Aisha wasn't dead... She really wasn't willing to let her get hurt anymore than she already was.

Aisha was clearly in a lot of pain, if the screaming, and the wincing she was trying to cover up, didn't tell her that, and her sister's health was declining as her own was.

Frea had her back turned to her and the rest of their team, standing tall and still, facing Aisha calmly, eyes narrowed and expression neutral. Its seemed to her, that Aisha hadn't registered the fact that anyone else was here, besides Frea. That was most likely due to the fact, that Aisha seemed extremely angry at the Energy Dragon Slayer, and it shocked Solana how much hatred Aisha's gaze was showing for Frea at all.

This wasn't the Aisha she remembered... She had always been a timid, shy girl who was always smiling. Aisha had been kind to others, never angry... The look of hatred on her face was completely foreign, and it sent chills down Solana's spine.

_What could have happened... To change her so much..?_

* * *

 

_"Solana!"_

_Solana's head snapped up at the scream, recognizing it immediately as being Aisha's. Her heart lurched, and she started to rush through the destruction and terror._

_The buildings of their small town were being burned to the ground, the other people in the village were running, screaming, fighting, or dying._

_Strange people in dark robes and uniforms with fiery birds emblazoned on the backs, ran through the town, setting the buildings ablaze, killing those who fought back, and cutting down anyone in their way._

_One of the strange people saw her running, and went after her._

_"Sun Dragon's Wing Slash!" Solana yelled, catching him across the chest. He yelled in pain, and fell to the ground, his blood mixing with the pools of the scarlet liquid everywhere._

_"This one's a Wizard!"_

_"Get her!"_

_"Aisha!" Solana yelled out, dodging the attackers, and jumping in and out of the people trying to run away._

_A wave of force knocked her off her feet, and she smashed into a house, causing it to crumble to the ground, bringing pieces of wood falling on top of her. Stifling a yell of pain as the fire began to burn her stomach, she struggled to get out from under it._

_"Solana!" Her eyes snapped up to see a 5 year-old Aisha being dragged away by a man with a twisted smile on his face. Aisha's deep purple eyes locked with her emerald ones,_

_She looked so scared... So terrified..._

_Aisha pulled against the man dragging her away, but he only smiled more and threw her to the ground, a gun requiping into his hand as he pointed it straight at Aisha._

_Solana dragged herself out from under the heavy burning beam that had landed on top of her, and rushed toward the wagon, her Magic blazing up around her._

_"Stop!" She yelled furiously, "Sun Dragon Roar!"_

_He tornado of spinning orange and yellow Magic spiraled out toward the line of attackers standing a little but away from the man going after Aisha, not wanting to get Aisha caught within the attack. She caught sight of a man stepping in front of her attack before it could reach the rest of the strange people, her Magic split apart, completely avoiding him, and the people behind him._

_The man shook his head at her, "Damn Dragon Slayers... They're always too much trouble..." He smiled wickedly, "I'll take care of her, the rest of you have your own fun."_

_Solana stood her ground, and the man smiled wickedly at her. "You have courage girl, but I am really just not in the mood to deal with you." He laughed a bit, a cold, maniac laugh that caused her blood to run cold. "So, die within the flames of your home, burning to the ground, the last thing you will ever hear.. Is the sound of screams and crackling of flames!"_

_An unexpected amount of force knocked her off of her feet, sending her crashing through several other burning buildings. It was so much force, she hit the still stable stone chimney of a house, and her head smashed back against the burning stone._

_Her vision went dark, and she fell, piles of burning rubble and logs falling over her..._

* * *

The memory faded and Solana stared down at the muddy ground. That was the last time she had seen Aisha for all these years. After that instance, she had made her way to another town, her own having been destroyed, its inhabitants all killed... a crucified to the remnants of their homes. Aisha had been nowhere in sight, and part of her was sickened to think the piles of burning people who had not been strung up, may hold the smoldering and blackened corpse of her little sister.

It was not long after that, that she had first met Natsu and Happy. She had immediately loved the two of them, Natsu and Solana connecting on a level she had never been able to with other people, they were both Dragon Slayers after all. Happy was optimistic and cheerful, she loved the fur-ball.

Though, Solana had never told either of them what had happened to her village, she hadn't wanted to involve them in something so potentially dangerous... Even if Natsu was a strong individual.

After her village had been attacked, she had spent all her years getting stronger, until she had finally left to search out the people who had attacked her village. She had needed answers, she needed to know... _Phoenix Tear_ , that was the Guild. The very same Guild that had been the cause of so much trouble for her.

Her fingers dug into the ground under her, scrunching her eyes closed, the tears falling faster.

_They... They told me they had killed everyone... I was the only one left..._

This was clearly not true however, no matter how changed Aisha seemed to be now, she was still alive, and that was more than she could have ever hoped for.

She stiffened, and her eyes shot open, to look up at Frea, who was still not facing her.

Frea... She was asking for permission to fight Aisha...

Solana's eyes grew wide as she came to the realization, and she felt pure gratitude toward the Energy Dragon Slayer. Frea wouldn't fight with Aisha if Solana didn't want her to, she was sure of it...

It was at this moment she realized the full extent of Frea's loyalty toward her, and it caused the tears to spill faster, as a small smile spread across her face. She was glad to have Frea's friendship, it touched her to realize that Frea really was asking for her permission, that she would only dare to fight with Aisha if she herself said it was ok.

She didn't doubt that Frea would keep from hurting Aisha unless she absolutely had to, and she trusted Frea to go easy on her sister.

"Yes." Solana murmured, letting her eyes fall closed, and letting out a silent sigh. She did trust Frea, far more than she had realized before this time. She would have told Frea so, but some thing was telling her that Frea already felt that trust, even with that one word.

Frea nodded a little and straightened up, eyes locking on to the glowing figure of Aisha not to far away, the force of her Magic still batting against their small group like waves on a beach.

Frea's fists clenched at her sides, and she took a deep breath. "Alright," she answered Solana.

Loke, Lucy, Chase, and Moon exchanged glances with each other, looking between Frea and Solana in bewilderment. They could hardly believe that Solana had agreed to this, even if there wasn't much choice... It didn't seem right to have Frea fighting with Aisha like this.

"This fight is between Aisha and I." Frea spoke up, talking to the group behind her without looking their way. "You guys stay here and take care of eachother, kid." Frea murmured and Chase blinked.

"Hmm?" He murmured.

"Try to keep any... Debris, or out of control Magic away from everyone." Frea mumbled. "I may need your help after I get her to stop, be ready."

Chase blinked a few times, before nodding slowly. "Got it." He murmured.

"Ready to fight then?" Frea called out to Aisha, who scowled at the sound of her voice, her Magic blazing brighter out of pure anger.

"Hell yeah!" Aisha growled.

"Bring it then."


	9. Things Start Crumbling

**Chapter 9**

**Things Start Crumbling**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

"MoonLight Beams!"

Frea's head snapped up, and she jumped out of the way of the dozens of beams of MoonLight Magic raining down from the red moon. The beams of MoonLight hit the earth like the surest steel, destroying it on contact and sending a huge shake to travel under her feet. The sound of the earth shattering cracked the air almost as loud as the thunder.

Frea did a back handspring to avoid another beam from crushing her, barely missing it as it shattered the earth a few inches away from her. She came to a skidding halt and crossed her arms above her, eyes narrowed and glaring.

"Energy Dome!" She snapped, as her Dome of Magic sprung up around her. Five beams crushed down on top of her magic, flashing brilliantly with the silver with it's pale blue and white, with the sickly red glow.

The Beams did not break through her dome, instead they only managed to cause a few cracks to spread over the surface. Frea dropped her Magic and glared in Aisha's direction, who just glared back.

She was faintly aware of Chase putting up his own shield around everyone else, and now they were backing away from the battle zone a bit.

"How in the hell did you know about all of this anyway?" Frea called out, forcing her anger and annoyance toward Aisha down a bit for the moment.

Aisha rolled her eyes and set her with a dirty look, one she didn't appreciate in the slightest. "What a stupid question." Aisha muttered, her Magic circled around her one more time, and Frea dug her feet into the ground to avoid getting pushed back, as her Magic wrapped around her body once more to avoid getting hurt.

"Even after Pheonix Tear, and all that happened after them," Aisha called back to her, "I kept an eye on everything, on everyone I had ties with, I became rather well connected over these years. With that in mind its not hard to find things out," Aisha fixed her with a rather... knowing look, despite the obvious hatred, and Frea's sweatdropped despite her efforts not to.

" _Of course_ I easily found out the details on how Black Chimera was taken down. How my sister was mortally wounded. How she was turned into a Celestial Spirt. And who the _idiot_ is who almost got her killed in the first place!"

Frea narrowed her eyes at the young woman, she didn't not like being called an idiot, and even more so, she was he becoming increasingly annoyed with Aisha's attitude. Aisha swept her arms out before her, and Frea tensed.

"MoonLight Rays: Strike Storm!"

Frea growled as she found herself dodging again, every time she tried to get closer to Aisha, one of the attacks would stop her, or knock her backwards.

"Your the one who decided to help her with Black Chimera. You and that little ghost who lead you all the way there." Aisha hissed again, coming to a slight pause in attacking Frea. "If you two hadn't interfered with all of it, she wouldn't have almost died, she wouldn't have been turned into a damn Spirit!"

Frea sweatdropped, from the amount of power beginning to radiate off of Aisha, she had the feeling that she was about to have a huge attack thrown her way.

"I would have handled it!" Aisha yelled. "Lunar Strike!" One of Aisha's hands shot up, so her palm faced the sky. The wind picked up exponentially, spraying Frea with bits of dust and rocks. The clouds began to spin rapidly around the outline of the eerily red moon above their heads, and the lightning flashed all around.

Frea's stomach lurched, and her head spun around and around so suddenly, she couldn't stop herself from falling to one knee. Whatever Aisha was doing, it caused the World's Energy to spin and waver rapidly, so suddenly, it caught her off guard.

"I fucking hate that..." Frea hissed. She was holding her stomach, head tilted down and eyes closed, grimace pulling at her face. Everything was lost to her for a moment, she couldn't focus on anything...

"Energy Shield." Chase muttered, the light blue wall of his Magic appearing in between their small group, and the destroyed bits of earth thrown up as Aisha let loose an attack of extremely powerful beams of her MoonLight Magic. Frea managed to dodge most of them, and she held up a shield against the last ones.

Solana winced as Loke helped her to her feet, and they moved away from the battle-yard a little. She could feel herself getting weaker by the minute, and her legs shook violently as they moved off at an almost unbearably slow speed.

She was aware of Loke looking at her with a very worried expression, she could feel that he was tense, he flinched every time she winced, or clenched her jaw in pain. She was touched that he was so worried about her, and she appreciated that he was trying to spare her from as much pain as possible. Honestly, she was fairly certain he wanted to just pick her up so she wouldn't have to walk anymore, but he refrained from doing so.

She stifled a smile, he probably thought she would take it as him being a playboy, and he most likely assumed she wouldn't appreciate it. She had come to realize he had an affinity of flirting with girls, and she did not like it on most days... But she was in too much pain to even care right now.

"How in the hell did you know about all of this anyway?" Frea called out toward Aisha, catching Solana's attention despite the pain.

"What a stupid question." Aisha muttered in a tone so full of spite, Solana sweatdropped at it. This attitude from Aisha was so foreign to her, it was unnerving.

Chase placed another shield around them when Aisha's Magic came toward them in a wave, and they were forced to stop moving for a moment.

Her eyes switched to Chase momentarily, she had never gotten the chance to get to know him in all honesty. She could see the effort it took to keep the shield up around ten when Aisha's out of control Magic hit it, the way his entire body tensed and his eyes narrowed, even the small flinching when the two Magics impacted. But despite the effort it seemed to take for him, he was doing his job rather well, none of them were getting hit with Aisha's Magic.

"Even after Pheonix Tear, and all that happened after them," Aisha continued on, and they came to a halt, turning back so she could see Frea and Aisha again, "I kept an eye on everything, on everyone I had ties with, I became rather well connected over these years. "

Solana blinked at the words, again wondering just what happened to Aisha all those years after their village was slaughtered... What happened to her? How did she change so much..?

"With that in mind its not hard to find things out," Aisha went on, " _Of course_ I easily found out the details on how Black Chimera was taken down. How my sister was mortally wounded. How she was turned into a Celestial Spirt. And who the _idiot_ is who almost got her killed in the first place!"

Solana stiffened, even being well connected like that... Even the Magic Council hadn't known about anything that had happened in Black Chimera. They didn't know who was there, what happened, or what the 'Magic Anomaly' was exactly.

_Who is Aisha connected with..?_

Again, the question of just hat happened to Aisha, was pressing at her mind. The negative change in attitude and demeanor was shocking, but even more so...

She had _never_ known Aisha was a Mage. Before this instance, she had never known Aisha could use Magic of any kind, let alone be this powerful.

"Your the one who decided to help her with Black Chimera. You and that little ghost who lead you all the way there." Aisha hissed, and Solana immediately tensed at the mention of Jynx. She was a little... Afraid of her.

Well, not exactly afraid per say, she just wasn't very comfortably with her. Easy to understand if some damn ghost scared the shit out of you when you were just a kid, and stamped you with some strange mark, and you didn't know why.

* * *

 

_"You may thank me for this later, or not, it won't matter, only time will tell. This mark will not hinder your powers, it will not affect you in any way, unless you come across a very talented Maker-Magic Wizard." Jynx smiled warmly at the very freaked out Dragon Slayer pressed up against the wall in front of her._

_Solana sweatdropped, not fully understanding what this strange chick was telling her. From her scent, she knew that Jynx was not a normal human. "What in the hell did you just do to me?!" Solana snapped, feeling braver once anger started to rise up inside of her._

_Jynx only chuckled lowly at the harsh reaction, and clasped her hands behind her back. "Ah, Sun Dragon... Please do try to relax." Jynx smiled. "I know very well you can hear no lie in my voice, can you not?" Jynx asked, and Solana narrowed her eyes._

_"Sun Dragon...?" She echoed. "How in the hell do you know I am a Dragon Slayer?! And what are you?!"_

_Jynx blinked a few times, though her smile didn't fade. "I know a great many things, but if you must know, I can see your Soul." Solana found herself shying away a little, though her suspicion didn't fade. "You have the Soul of a Dragon Slayer. I am a Spirit Mage, in fact, I have been labeled as a Master." She shook her head at the thought, "I do not see myself as a Master of anything, but what am I to do about the titles I am given? Nothing."_

_Jynx looked up at the moon in the sky a moment, suddenly she seemed a little somber. "Titles do no good when you are dead."_

_Solana perked at the words, eyes growing wide, and Jynx looked back to her, smile softening a bit. "Yes, as you can already tell, I am not a normal human." Jynx continued, "I am in fact a Spirit... A ghost if you will. I am able to remain in this form after death, due to the nature of my Magic."_

_Solana narrowed her eyes again, not sure if she fully believed anyone, even a so-called 'Master Spirit Mage' may be able to come back as a spirit after death._

_If your dead, your dead.. right?_

_Jynx shook her head again and smiled brighter. "But enough about me, Sun Dragon, back to you!" Solana tensed up again, not at all excited about whatever Jynx may say next. She could still feel the dull sting of the crescent moon mark newly stamped onto the inside of her upper left arm, though it was fading now, both the pain, and the mark itself._

_"I have chosen you, as a possible soul to become a Celestial Spirit." Jynx continued, remaining oblivious to the shocked look on Solana's face. "If you wish to become a Celestial Spirit, whether out of necessity or personal want, you will need to find a GateSentry; someone who is able to convert human souls, into Celestial Spirit Souls, and create a gate for you. Only with a GateSentry, may you ever be able to enter the Celestial Spirit World."_

_Solana was silent, she felt as of this was rushed, and she wasn't fully understanding it all... She couldn't think, her head was swimming._

_"Do not worry yourself with this Sun Dragon, its simply a favor you can choose to utilize, or not. What you decide does not affect me. As I said before, this will not hinder you, should you decide to ignore it." Jynx took a step back and breathed in deeply a moment. "Maybe I will see you again someday, hmm?"_

_"Wait!" Solana stepped forward, as Jynx began to fade. The ghost quirked an eyebrow. "Why did you choose me?" She asked hastily, it being the only question she could think to ask in that one moment._

_Jynx smiled a little more._

_"That is for me to know, and you to find out."_

* * *

 

The memory faded and Solana frowned a little. Why would you trust her? Jynx had appeared out of nowhere, at night, unannounced. And after that instance, she had never seen the ghost girl again, until running into Frea.

"If you two hadn't interfered with all of it, she wouldn't have almost died, she wouldn't have been turned into a damn Spirit!"

Solana let her head hang a little, what was wrong with being a Spirit anyway? She hadn't found anything wrong with it in all honesty. Sure, she may not be able to spend as much time in this world, but the Spirit World was rather enjoyable, as were the other Spirits. Most were nice, and all of them had been rather welcoming.

She wasn't sure if it was more that she had gotten hurt that Aisha was angry, or if she was angry at the idea she had been changed into a Spirit. To be honest, she was more convinced Aisha was so stressed and caught up on her own anger for anything to make sense. Seeing Frea may have just pushed her over the edge, especially since she was having to go through all the pain of the Balance Shift.

"I would have handled it!" Aisha yelled. Solana blinked, not able to even begin to understand just how Aisha could have ever handled anything like Black Chimera and the Magic Council at once. How could she have?

_Aisha..._

"Lunar Strike!"

All heads snapped up to the sky, to gaze at what was happening with the clouds. Aisha was radiating with even more Magic Power, if that was even possible. Frea fell to one knee, looking weak suddenly and like she could hardly move.

"Frea!" Moon and Loke yelled out to the Energy Dragon Slayer, but didn't get an answer.

Solana stayed silent as she stared up at the swirling sky and pale red moon with wide, horrified eyes. For the moment she was lost for words, she couldn't make a sound.

In that same moment, Chase swayed dangerously, and was immediately steadied by a shocked Lucy. "Chase! What's wrong?" She asked.

Chase didn't reply for a moment, before he looked to Aisha with narrowed eyes. "What in the hell is she doing...?" He growled.

"She's shifting the World's Energy too much..." Moon murmured, eyes transfixed on Aisha. She seemed to have guessed what had happened, considering both of their resident Energy Mages were suddenly affected like this. But even despite that, everyone else was begging to feel something. Their bodies were tingling, they could feel something heavier in the air, and they sweatdropped.

"Aisha!" Solana yelled out, surprising everyone at the sudden outburst. "Do _not_ use that Spell!" The red-head yelled, she looked horrified, and everyone's hearts dropped to their stomachs to think of what in the world Aisha's next Spell would be.

Solana was too late though, and her words were lost on deaf ears, as Aisha completed the charging of her Spell, and called out the last words.

"Cosmic Impact!"

* * *

 

**In Magnolia-**

Everything remained in utter chaos as the Mages of Fairy Tail rushed to help the citizens of the town who were in trouble. They rushed around, panting and drenched as they fought to see through the rain, and hear each other above the boom of the incessant thunder.

The rain was having no luck in putting the blazing fire engulfing several of the houses, out. The flames kept blazing out of control, moving along from one house to the other swiftly. Natsu was doing his best to eat as much of the flames as he could, though in this instance... He was having rather hard time.

He came to a pause, panting heavily after having eaten all the flames eating away at one house, saving it from further damage. He stopped, looking into the flames of the next house and frowned.

The fire tasted _different_ , there was something _wrong_ with it, it wasn't normal... He couldn't put his finger on it, but for the first time since Tenrou, these flames were upsetting his stomach a bit, which both shocked and worried him.

None of this made any sense, the fire, the rain, moon, everything... But most of all, he was worried about Lucy.

He hadn't gotten a proper explanation when he had seen her speeding away on a MagicMobile, with Frea driving, a few hours ago now. He didn't know where she was going, but he did know who he was with.

His nose told him that Moon, Chase, Loke and Solana were with her as well, that he could tell even through all the rain.

Those six, he knew that Lucy was in good hands with everyone else, but he worried none the less.. He would have preferred to be with her and make sure _himself_ she stayed safe.

"But where the hell are they going though?"

Away on the roof of Kardia Cathedral, Laxus stood on the top most tower. His eyes were trained on the dark sky, eyes narrowed and hands stuffed in his pockets. He hardly moved despite the wind ramming into him all the way up on the tower.

A frown pulled at his face, and he was momentarily lit up by the golden light of a bolt of lightning illuminating the sky for a split second.

Dozens upon dozens of Magnolia's citizens were fleeing into the cathedral, taking shelter there as their homes were flooded or burned. Several of the other Guild Members were leading the scared people inside.

Bixlow and Evergreen were down by the front doors, ushering people forward. Freed was floating back and forth over the perimeter of the Cathedral, setting up runes and enchantments to protect the building from the lightning.

Freed's enchantments would only do so much, they were nothing compared with Laxus himself.

Laxus was up on the roof, so he could stop any of the bolts that broke through Freed's enchantments, if it was necessary. He could eat the lightning of course, take it full on, which was a little less preferable, or just simply redirect if he wanted to.

He had eaten some of it earlier, and much like Natsu, it did not taste right. It was off, unnatural, though it didn't turn his stomach as it did Natsu's.

He had been expecting this though, even in the hall, he knew that the lightning was not normal... Though he had no clue as to why.

His attention momentarily turned to the dark distance, and he quirked an eyebrow slightly.

"Now where in the hell was she running off to now?" He muttered under his breath, this was not the first time that day/night he had asked himself the same question.

He was confused and slightly annoyed, because he had in fact seen Frea rushing out of town a few hours ago, without a second glance back. He wanted to know what was so damn important, that both Frea and her annoying ex-apprentice, Chase, were leaving town now. Everything was going to hell around here, and they sure as hell could have used both Frea and Chase's help, though he would never admit it out loud.

This was a hell of a time to leave, Frea must have known that.

Even so, despite his annoyance with her...Somewhere deep down, he knew Frea would not have left unless it was truly important, and that only made him want to know where she was going, and what she was doing, even more.

Letting out an aggravated huff, his attention turned back to the sky.

Gajeel and Wendy were noticing the similar changes as the other Dragon Slayers were, even Sting and Rogue noticed, though they were far away in their own city.

The wind was not acting normally as Wendy had stated earlier, and it tasted a lot different now. It was darker, more wild and she was becoming increasingly distressed with it, though she was able to stay remotely calm.

The same could not be said for Carla, who by all standards, was quite literally paranoid at this point. She had seen a sort of glimpse of these events, and she absolutely hated that her dream had been a dire warning, a vision of what was to come. She did not know where either Frea or Moon were, she didn't even know that they had left the town. But that didn't help to calm her nerves, she was seriously afraid that something bad was going to happen to the Energy Dragon Slayer, who she assumed she had seen drenched in blood in her dream. Though, despite her obvious fear, Carla still diligently helped wherever she could.

The changes were a bit more subtle for Gajeel than the rest of the Dragon Slayers. He hadn't eaten metal, until he was forced to. The foundations of some of the building were staring to collapse, and he would eat his way through the metal beams and supports to get to the people who were trapped, or cut through when he absolutely needed to, which was most often. When he first bit down into a beam, he almost spit it out in utter surprise. It did _not_ taste like metal, not even close. But the yell for help from the man he was trying to get out, made him forget about the strange taste of the metal, and he ate it anyway. It fell into his stomach, and he shivered, he wouldn't enjoy eating it, and that did not settle his nerves. He was the Iron Dragon Slayer! Metal _always_ tasted good!

It was only until a little later, did he realize it was the metal supports in the buildings that were collapsing, and trapping people inside.

Juvia held against the wall of massive waves beating at the shores of the waterside buildings within the limits of Magnolia town. The ocean was flooding rapidly, and the waves were destroying everything they hit.

She hardly budged against the onslaught of the out of control water, as she held it back, so a great wall of thrashing and foaming water rose up in front of her, reaching close to five-stories high.

Being a rain woman, she usually had no issue in controlling water of any sort, but in this moment, she was straining to keep the water in her control. This was the first time she had ever had any issues controlling water, it was starting to strain her. Even the rain, she couldn't stop it from poring down, no matter how much she tried, and she had. The water would not bend to her will, would not listen, and dread started to fill her up.

If she couldn't control the water, what were they to do? Was there something wrong with her?

She didn't think that was the case though, she had the feeling there was something strange at work with the water itself.

She blinked a few times once she felt her body start to tingle, and she began to feel a heaviness in the air, like it was choppy... Wavering.

Then all at once, the wall of water she had formed fell apart, and she was caught in a giant wave of water she couldn't hold back. It was like her Magic was suddenly just gone, and she felt weak.

"Juvia!" She heard Gray's voice call her name before she was plunged under the water.

All in an instant, her Magic returned, and she was able to rise up out of the water once more, and create the wall again. She had managed to stop the water from reaching the houses and people, but she had been pushed back to the very edge. She shook a little this time as she held it back.

"What happened?!" Gray yelled at her above the rain.

"Juvia does not know." She called back. "It was if Juvia's Magic suddenly disappeared, and came back." She still felt weak, and the tingling in her body didn't go away. "Did you not feel anything?" She asked.

Gray fell silent, because he had felt something, in that same instant, it felt as it his Magic had disappeared, though at the time he had not been using any, so he couldn't be sure, but he had become light-headed.

"Yeah... I think the same happened to me.."

Every Wizard within Fiore felt this too, their Magic was gone for a few moments, they were light-headed, weak. But after a few moments, their Magic returned, and they were fine. None of them understood why this happened though, only the two Energy Mages in the barren lands away from Magnolia had any clue.

They had predicted it to happen, with the World's Energy so out of control, with the Balance thrown off as it was, they knew eventually that it wouldn't solely affect the weather, or Chase and Frea themselves.

It would start to affect other Mages as well, and eventually non-Mages.

_"So, got any idea what's going on? If things keep going the way they are, things are going to get worse, and eventually, it might end up affecting other forms of Energy."_

_'Other forms of Energy'_ \- as Chase had put it, and that was exactly what was happening now. They needed to put an end to this soon, or everything would get too out of hand to fix... Not that it wasn't out of hand already.

Although almost every Mage's Magic disappeared suddenly, for only a moment, all over Fiore, the same could not be said for Aisha. Aisha's Magic alone remained strong, and kept going, simply because her Magic, her _being_ , was the force tempering with the Balance of the world.

* * *

 

"Frea!" Several of the small team of six called out just as Aisha called out the name of her Spell. Their voices were lost in the wind, and they could only stare with wide eyes as the moon glowed with even more unnatural light, and things started to shake.

 _The air_ started to shake.

All at once, it looked as if stars blazing with red light were pouring down from the sky, all heading straight for Frea. Currents of cosmic light raced down along with the stars, the wind blew harder, the clouds spun faster, and they were all hit with an unbelievable amount of Magic Power, that almost knocked them off their feet.

The moon blazed through the dim, rain, and shadow. And Aisha only glared at Frea, who only took notice of the oncoming attack, when it was too late.

The attack made impact, engulfing Frea entirely in a huge spiraling column of the cosmic light, and burning red stars. The Energy Dragon Slayer was lost from their sight entirely, the ground shook violently, and the sheer force of the spell tore the ground up even more, sending huge chunks of muddy earth and terrain to the air.

"Ricochet Shield!" Chase growled, releasing himself from Lucy's hold, and standing in front of the others. His light blue shield sprung up in front of him, as he pressed his hands against it, partly to steady himself, still being light-headed, and to keep it in place as best he could.

The Ricochet Shield was not something he used hardly as often as he would like to, it just wasn't particularly logical. Anything that hit this Magic, be it other Magic or debris, would be thrown back at whoever had sent it flying his way. It was useful in many ways, but its use came with risks.

He was risking that anything that hit his shield, would bounce back and hit Aisha, but it may hit Frea too. He usually wouldn't risk it, but at this moment he had no choice.

Putting up the Ricochet Shield, was extremely easy for him to do. It was made to fit the nature of his magic perfectly. With any other type of shield, such as the ones Frea's commonly used, the ones that were quite literally almost solid like steel, and firm, if he wanted a shield like that, he would have to alter his Energy Magic in order to get that same, firm, steel-like quality that Frea's Magic had naturally.

 _His Magic_ was naturally fluid, and flexible. Changing it to be hard and firm like Frea's Magic took time, and strength. He didn't have the strength to alter it now, not with feeling as weak as he did.

The Ricochet Shield was much easier for him to cast, and keep up. And besides, the Ricochet Shield, was probably the only one he would have had any chance at keeping up against the force of Aisha's Spell. The backlash _was just that strong._

Unfortunately, they all knew that Frea had not had the time, or the strength to dodge that attack. She may not have even had the time to put up any sort of defense against it, and the thought made their hearts drop.

They couldn't see her through the Magic, the rain, wind, or flying debris. And for a few moments, they all went deathly still, as still as they could be with the giant beam of cosmic light and burning stars hitting the earth relentlessly only a short distance from them.

Their eyes went wide upon hearing the yell of pain ring out of the center of the Magic, and they knew exactly who it was, though she cut herself off after a moment, as if she hated the idea she had made any noise to indicate pain at all.

Frea's yell of pain.


	10. White Plane

**Chapter 10**

**White Plane**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

"Frea!"

Their shouts were lost to the booming noise caused by the attack, Chase stood rigid, eyes crunched closed and body tense. He was grunting with the effort of keeping his shield up against the immense force of the backlash, and the giant slabs of earth being thrown at it from Aisha's attack. Extreme heat was radiating off the Magic, odd considering no one thought of MoonLight, whether it was Magic or natural, to be hot in any way.

"This... this isn't possible..." Solana hissed, crouching on the ground. None of them were having an easy time at staying standing, the ground was shaking to much. "She cant have all of this power... She shouldn't even be able to use a Spell like that!' Solana broke off, when suddenly a huge amount of pain flared up from her very core, and she let out a small shout of pain.

"Solana!" Lucy and Loke gasped, seeing how much pain the Sun Dragon Slayer was suddenly in.

"..D...Damn... It..." Chase muttered through gritted teeth, his feet were sliding back on the muddy ground slowly, as he was pushed back by the force hitting his Magic. Everything that continued to hit his shield, was constantly being sent flying back the way it had come, and his shield bent a little whenever a hit was extremely strong. Moon floated just behind Chase, wide worried gaze locked on to the beam of Cosmic Power streaming from the sky, searching in vain for any sign of her partner.

The beam of Magic turned blood red, a wave of it fell from the sky to connect with the ground, the force of it pushed Chase back even more, but he held the Shield. Aisha's Spell faded, and the Magic and earth that had hit Chase's shield at the end, bounced back toward the area that Frea and Aisha should be standing, but was now jagged and destroyed, and covered in dark smoke that blocked their sights.

"Frea..." Moon murmured, eyes narrowed as she searched the smoke. The rain had ceased when the attack ended, the amazing amount of heat that had been radiating from the Magic had burned away all the water in the air, though the clouds remained circling around the moon, dark and occasionally illuminated by the lightning.

Chase let his Magic drop, and he stood slouched over, panting heavily with sweat dripping down his face. He was shaking, blocking the backlash had been hard, especially put on top of the fact that whatever sort of Spell Aisha had just used, it had caused the World's Energy to shake even more, and he could feel himself weakening with the Balance now.

But if just protecting them against the backlash of the Spell had been that hard, they could only imagine what could have happened to Frea, directly being caught inside of the attack.

The wind quickly blew away the smoke, and they were able to see what had happed. The land was completely destroyed, it was uneven, chunks of the earth were gone, and steam was rising up from the ground around the area. Aisha was standing not far from the edge of the destruction, eyes narrowed and... panting?

Aisha stiffened, and suddenly fell to her knees, catching herself with her arms on the muddy ground, head hanging. Even from the distance they were at away from her, it was clear to anyone she was in a lot of pain. She was stifling her wincing as best she could, but even that wasn't it, they could see how weak she looked so suddenly, and her Magic had disappeared for the time being. She was shaking, heaving... She suddenly looked very pale.

Their eyes searched frantically for their Guild Member, and what they saw, made their jaws drop, and they all sweatdropped.

Frea was standing among the destruction, arms crossed in front of her, legs trembling. Her eyes were closed as she stood, panting heavily. Around her entire body, the shell of her Magic was flaking away from the numerous cracks and holes in it, to fall to the ground in glittering silver pieces slowly. Her clothes were singed and frayed in places, the exception being her bag, which was still securely strapped to her back, and the ribbon tying up her hair, both remained free of damage, for whatever strange reason.

Her hair had come out of its tie a little, so some of the larger strands hung around her face loosely. Her skin was cut all over, and burned slightly in a few places, especially along her arms. From what they could see, she didn't have any serious wounds, she looked relatively unscathed considering the amount of power that Spell had had.

Their small team of six went deathly still, staring in utter shock at what was before their eyes. They couldn't believe it... how could anyone have managed to get through that... without more wounds? And what was more, it looked as if Frea had managed to put a shield up, and keep it mostly intact through the entire thing.

They were starting to wonder... what _couldn't_ Frea defend against? She had proven she was able to block many things, a direct attack from two different _Dragons_ being some of the things.

Solana eyes were torn away from the sight, when she suddenly let out a short scream of pain, clutching her stomach, eyes crunched closed, and she staggered backward, before she fell.

"Solana!"

Loke rushed to grab her, managing to catch her before she hit the ground. He let out a small 'tch', Solana had gone silent, and he could tell she was fading in and out of consciousness. He picked her up bridal style, flinching when the red-head hissed in pain at being moved, and continued to fidget weakly out of pain and discomfort. "She's getting worse..." He hissed, looking down at Solana as her head rest against his chest, her fangs grinding down on each other in pain.

Chase swayed and slowly slid down toward the ground, he couldn't stay standing anymore, he could feel himself getting weaker as the World's Energy continued to waver, and he knew the Balance was crumbling with it. Moon dropped down beside him, her wings disappearing as she placed a paw on his leg.

"Chase..?" The Exceed murmured. He didn't answer right away, instead he focused on blocking his senses off completely. This decreased the sudden feeling of weakness, and he could no longer feel the air wavering as much as it did, but while doing this, he wouldn't be able to use his Magic.

"I'm fine..." He breathed out, looking Moon's way momentarily, then looking back at Solana. He knew what Loke said was true, he felt it before he blocked off his senses. Solana's Energy Signature was very weak, she wouldn't last much longer like this.

"I've had enough of this!"

Their heads snapped up at the furious yell, and they couldn't help but feel a little relieved, when Frea got back to her feet easily. She was glaring in Aisha's direction, face dark and expression so serious and cold, they sweatdropped, that looked scared them, and it wasn't even directed _toward_ them.

It had been a long time since they had seen Frea looking that angry.

Frea's eyes snapped open when she heard Solana yell out in pain, and she looked over in time to see the red-head fall over, she had blacked out. A pang of urgency suddenly shot through her, she could feel Solana getting weaker, even despite the annoyance of the World's wavering Energy. She couldn't care less about that, she couldn't care less about the strain her body had just endured. She hardly even noticed the pain all over her body, despite the appearance of not being seriously wounded, she was considerably hurt. The burns on her arms stung, the scratches did too. But even more so, her back was throbbing.

She hadn't been nearly fast enough at putting up a shield, and she had paid for being so slow. A very large concentrated force of Aisha's Magic had hit her lower back. It was throbbing with pain, and sending waves of agony through her body, even as she remained still, and it hurt even more to move at all. She could feel her blood soaking through her tattered shirt, she didn't know how bad the wound was, but she ignored the pain.

She didn't care, the only thing she cared about was fixing this damn mess!

She didn't like getting people hurt because of something she had done, this was her mistake, no one else should suffer for it. She hated the Solana was in pain. She hated that everyone was so worried. She hated the fact that there were thousands of people getting hurt because of all this. She hated fighting pointless battles. On top of all of that;

SHE HATED AISHA!

The young woman was managing to piss her off quite well, and Frea was becoming increasingly frustrated with it. She would give anything to just knock some fucking sense into Aisha, but she had promised to do everything she could, to not hurt the annoying little MoonLight Mage. The attitude Aisha had, the stubbornness, the hatred, anger, she hated everything about her, and the fact was only making Frea even angrier. She never believed she could actually hate someone so much, not even Laxus, the bull-headed, arrogant, fool-hardy bastard that he was had ever come _close_ to this level of dislike from her.

As she thought about all of this, she was starting to shake more than she had. Not out of weakness, or pain, she was shaking out of _utter anger_.

She clenched her jaw and let her eyes scrunch closed again for a moment, before she snapped them open again. She pushed herself to her feet and clenched her fists, fixing Aisha with a glare fueled by her own hatred for the silver-haired woman. A glare that was so dark, so dangerous, it would have scared even Erza had she been here.

"I've had enough of this!" She snapped, earning Aisha's attention from where the woman's deep purple eyes met her own silver ones. Aisha did not flinch from the look, if anything, she looked even angrier, though she did not seem to be able to stand back up at the moment. It was clear to Frea, that the amount of Magic Energy Aisha had used, was taking its toll on her in two ways.

For one, she was weakend by expending so much Magic Power as any one normally would be if they were to have done the same thing as Aisha had done. Second, using that much Magic Power had significantly affected the Balance, and the World's Energy in turn, with Aisha being connected to the Balance as much as she was, at this point she was only hurting herself to keep fighting.

She knew Aisha knew it too.

The one thing she doubted Aisha was aware of, was the fact that while she was hurting _herself_ carrying on as she was, she was also hurting _Solana_. Despite how much she did not like Aisha, she couldn't believe Aisha would want to continue harming her sister if she knew what she was doing.

"I don't know who the hell you think you are!" Frea growled furiously, "But this needs to end now! Do you even realize what your doing?!" Frea hissed and Aisha just glared back defiantly. "You do, I know you do." Frea hissed with narrowed eyes. "Everything is falling apart, and you are doing nothing but helping the Balance crumble faster!"

"But whose damn fault is it that the Balance has been screwed up anyway?!" Aisha yelled back, as she slowly began to force herself to her feet again. Frea growled, not at all happy she was being called out on that by _Aisha_ of all people. "This is all your fault!" Frea's eyes twitched as a vein ticked on her forehead, fangs grinding down on one another out of pure anger and irritation. "You should have stayed away from all of this! If it weren't for you and your dumbass ideas, none of this would-!"

"FUTEROL!"

Aisha's jaw snapped shut immediately, her glare was replaced with an extremely confused look. She hadn't a clue what Frea had said, and in all honesty, Frea didn't have a clue as to why she had used the Dragon Language just then, it just sort of came out before she could think about it.

Lucy, Moon and Chase smiled a little, sweatdropping the slightest bit. They had heard Frea say that exact same phrase/word before, and it was odd to think that it had successfully shut up both Aisha, and a Dragon, who were very unalike.

"I'm not denying this is my fault!" Frea snapped, "I know its my fault! That's why I'm here to try and fix it damn it!"

In an instant, Frea had lunged forward as she began to run toward Aisha, who immediately tensed at the action. Frea jumped away from the rather poorly aimed attack of MoonLight Beams Aisha sent her way. It seemed to take a lot out of Aisha to do just that, but the purple-eyed woman kept them coming as Frea drew closer.

"To do that;" Frea growled, focusing her Magic around her Index Finger. "You need to stop fighting me!" She jumped toward Aisha, wincing slightly when a MoonLight Beam grazed her, and she jabbed her index finger to Aisha's arm, before she pushed back away from the woman by slamming her feet against a Beam of Aisha's Magic. A small, silver Magic Circle appeared on Aisha's arm where Frea had touched her, and the Energy Dragon Slayer landed on her feet, out of arms-length from the other woman, and curled the fingers on her right hand, as she began to concentrate her Magic there, and Aisha began to lift her arms to send another attack Frea's way.

"Energy Chains!" Frea growled, the mark on Aisha's arm broke away into glittering pieces, and two chains made entirely of Frea's Magic appeared to wrap around both of Aisha's arms, before they securely connected themselves to the ground, stopping Aisha before she could move to send her attack at Frea.

"Fuck!" Aisha cursed and started to struggle against the hold of the Chains. Frea stepped forward and brought her hand, which was blazing with her blindingly bright silver Magic, back behind her. Aisha looked to her as she stepped closer, glaring still but her strength behind the look was starting to dwindle.

"Energy Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Hindering Seal!" Frea hissed, bring her hand forward and slamming it into Aisha's chest. A magic Circle appeared under where her hand had hit Aisha, and it spun once, before the chains broke, and Aisha was thrown away the Magic Circle disappearing as soon as Frea's hand was no longer touching Aisha.

Aisha was thrown back a good ways, and hit the ground with a loud thump. Aisha coughed out, wheezing a little, and Frea came to a stop after taking a few more steps, her hand dropping to her side. She let out a long breath and let her eyes close for a moment, take a few moments to steady her breathing, while trying to ignore the wavering Energy around her as much as she could manage. It was becoming increasingly difficult to use her Magic as time went on, and it was putting much more strain on her to do so than it ever had... well, not true, when she had been dying, it had been more strain to use her Magic than this.

"What... what the hell did you do... to me..?" She opened her eyes when she heard Aisha ask the question lowly, the MoonLight Mage was still on the ground, but she had pulled herself up to sit on her heels, and she was glaring at Frea now.

"I told you, you need to stop fighting me." Frea answered calmly, but not without a touch of irritation in her voice. "This way, you can't use your Magic, and I can focus on fixing things, instead of fighting you."

Aisha scowled, "So genius, what the hell can you do to fix this shit?" Frea blinked, meeting her gaze silently and answered simply,

"I'll figure it out."

Aisha blinked, not looking as if she believed there was anything Frea would be able to do to fix things. But she had to look away when she suddenly cringed in pain, and let out a hiss. Frea stiffened, Aisha was getting worse, and so was Solana, she needed to do something quickly.

"Teach!"

"Frea!"

Frea glanced over her shoulder to see Moon flying toward her, with the rest of their small team following. Frea frowned upon seeing Solana unconscious in Loke's arms, and sweatdropped.

What the hell _was_ she gonna do?

"Are you ok?" Moon asked, Frea nodded.

"I'm fine, but I'll be better once all this is over." She answered lowly, then turned to her gaze to Loke.

"She's getting worse." Loke murmured.

"I don't think she can last much longer.." Lucy put in with wide, watery eyes, "Its getting harder to keep her in this World.." Lucy mumbled and Frea gave the blonde a sympathetic look once she realized how much energy it must be taking out of Lucy to keep Solana here in the Human World. Frea was impressed Lucy had lasted this long, especially since she had the feeling that regular Mages were beginning to be affected by the Balance Shift now.

Frea looked toward Chase, who only frowned slightly, and moved past her to approach Aisha. "Your getting there too.." Chase murmured, coming to a stop in front of Aisha and crouching down so he could be level with her. Aisha's head snapped up to look at him, and she didn't scowl, or frown at him, instead she just looked mildly surprised.

She looked away from him with a huff, "Tch... whatever.." she broke off in the middle to stifle a wince, and Chase let out a low sigh. Aisha moved her gaze to Solana, and for the first time, she looked sad, with a touch of fear in her deep purple eyes. No matter how much of a horrible demeanor Aisha had, she still cared for Solana, it was clear.

Frea looked up at the sky, eyes lingering on the red moon above their heads. She knew she needed a plan, she needed to do something fast... but what was there to do? How could she restore Balance between the sun and the moon...?

_There must be a way... the sun and the moon are connected in some way... most things are connected, but they are connected in many different ways..._

"Moon, you said the sun and the moon are connected spiritually, right?" Frea asked, she didn't drop her eyes from the sky.

"Theoretically yes."

"Spiritually..." Frea mumbled, eyes tracing the edge of the moon slowly. _Spirits... no, Souls..?_

* * *

 

_"Yes, souls, Frea." Chaitanya said softly. The opalescent Dragon's head was resting on the soft grassy ground in front of the girl. Her purple were eyes half way closed, as she gazed steadily at her adoptive daughter calmly. An almost 12 year-old Frea sat on the grass in front of her, arms resting on her knees and head slightly tilted._

_"What do souls have to do with anything?" Frea asked, she was looking confusedly at her Foster Mother. Chaitanya let out a low, long sigh, her eyes falling closed for a moment. Shadows were beginning to spread out across the grass, cast out by the setting sun._

_"The nature of Energy is directly related to the nature of Souls." Chaitanya started out slowly. "Souls and Energy have several things in common, but they are also different from one another." Chaitanya's eyes opened again to rest on Frea. "But they are both very powerful things, and should not be taken lightly." Chaitanya lift her head up, and Frea tilted her head back so she could still see the Dragon's face. The shadow of Chaitanya's face and long neck cast down upon Frea._

_Chaitanya's eyes looked toward the sky where it was beginning to turn indigo, already the stars were beginning to come out, while the sun set behind her._

_"There was a time... very long ago, where the two came hand in hand. But that time is lost, its knowledge is lost to all but those who were there to see it." Chaitanya murmured. "The study of Souls, human souls, animal souls... Dark Souls... These are things that humans no little of, things that even most Dragon's know little of... It was never something my kin wanted to learn, they never saw the point... Their abilities were not determined by souls, their Magic was not affected by souls... so why learn of it?"_

_Chaitanya let out a heavy sigh, and Frea blinked. There was an air of sadness and... regret about her Foster Mother, that she had never felt from her before. Even as the Dragon spoke, Chaitanya did not seem to be talking to Frea directly, rather it seemed she had trailed off to her own thoughts, her own memories, and she was only recalling times of the past._

_"The last of my kin to have taken any interest in souls, and all that comes with them... died long, long ago. After him, no one took it upon themselves to learn. No one could learn, we don't know enough about it..." Chaitanya paused for a moment. "I am probably the only Dragon that knows any information about Souls, and even I know very little."_

_"If the other Dragons didn't want to learn about Souls... why did you?" Frea asked and Chaitanya glanced down at her for a moment._

_"...I know ancient Energy Magic, that works only, if I am in possession of a certain amount of knowledge of Souls." Chaitanya answered after a lengthy pause. "At the time, I was unaware of how important knowledge on Souls is... so I only took time to learn what I wanted to know."_

_"...I'm still a little confused..." Frea admitted quietly, and Chaitanya nodded slightly._

_"I'm afraid that I can only explain it so well... Frea, as you know, almost everything has Energy, animals, humans, plants, the land..." Chaitanya told her, and Frea nodded. "This is very much the same for Souls. Almost everything has a soul, whether it is small, large, dark, or light... I'm sure you are aware this sounds very much like something, or someone's Energy Signature, yes?" Chaitanya asked and Frea nodded vigorously._

_"This is another way in which Energy and Souls are very much alike. But while you can see someone's power, their life-force, and their Nature as a being, seeing someone's soul is both the same and different."_

_"How?"_

_"I am not entirely sure, I regret to say..." Chaitanya sighed. "I am fairly certain that if you are able to see souls, you will see very much what you and I are able to see. But, there is something else, something only a true reader of souls can see, something you and I cannot, though I know not what it is." Chaitanya murmured. "But I can tell you this. Both Energy and Souls are connected, whether to each other, or to other things of their own kind. Everything is connected to something, some even say that everything is all connected to one single point." Chaitanya looked back up toward the almost dark sky. "Everything has connections, not every thing connects in the same way everything else does, sometimes connections are very different, and unique. But in very rare instances, the connection between things can be broken, and than the two halves will cease to exist, if the broken connection is not mended. But it is very rare for connections to be fixed, it is almost impossible." Chaitanya went on in a low voice. "If you try to find a connection between two or more things or people... well, you must first connect yourself with whoever, or whatever you are trying to find the connection between, before you can begin to mend the broken connection."_

_"How do you connect yourself with someone?" Frea asked, head tilted. She looked genuinely interested now, and Chaitanya frowned a little._

_"There are a few different ways to connect your soul to someone else's. To connect your Energy Signature, or being to another's... The only way I would ever be able to use to connect myself to someone else's soul, is a form of Forbidden Magic that I will never use."_

_"What is it?" Frea asked, eyes shining._

_"Its **Forbidden** ," Chaitanya reminded sternly. "I will not teach you, nor should you learn any form of Forbidden Magic. **EVER.** Do you understand?" Chaitanya asked, Frea was slightly taken aback by the Dragon's attitude toward Forbidden Magic, but nodded none the less._

_"I understand.." Frea mumbled, head lowering. Chaitanya sighed,_

_"My Dear," The Dragon murmured, tail sweeping around and gently lifting Frea's chin so she was looking up at Chaitanya again. "Please understand, I only snapped to protect you. Forbidden Magic is forbidden for a reason, and the use of it comes with risks, even to a very skilled Mage." Frea frowned a little, "The risks of using Forbidden Magic vary, but they are all serious in some way. I do not wish for you to get hurt, and besides.." The Dragon's lips stretched into a soft smile. "Forbidden Magic is Dark Magic, and I would hate to see such a pure soul as yourself succumb to such negativity."_

_Chaitanya moved her tail away and let her eyes drift toward the darkening sky once more, Frea dropped her eyes to the ground again. They fell into silence for awhile, Frea remained sitting, staring down at the grass and letting everything sink in as Chaitanya continued to look up at the sky._

_"Chaitanya?" Frea asked._

_"Yes?"_

_"Can there be... someone like me..?" She asked and Chaitanya blinked, looking down at her with a confused expression. "You know... someone who uses Energy Magic, only its not Energy Magic its... Soul Magic..?" She asked, unsure of how she should phrase it._

_"Yes, there can be." Chaitanya answered, and Frea perked up._

_"Really? Like who? Do you know anyone?" Frea asked hastily._

_Chaitanya did not answer for a very long time, and she only continued to hold Frea in her purple gaze._

_"... Its... rare." Chaitanya told her lowly. "There are no Dragons who can, but I do know that the Celestial Spirit King uses a form of 'Soul Magic', as you put it, though he does not use the original form." Frea's eyes widened. She knew who the Celestial Spirit King was, and she was completely shocked to think that he wouldn't use the original form of 'Soul Magic', he had to have been one of the oldest to know it, why not the first variation of Soul Magic?_

_"It is not called 'Soul Magic', it may have been once, but I have never known it as that name. I remember it as **Tyripsalma**." Chaitanya's voice changed slightly to fit the regular Dragon Language accent as she said the name. "Its true name has been lost... but in this age, I believe it goes by a different name... I do believe there is someone... a human... who uses a form of Tyripsalma that is _very _close to the original..." Frea's interest was being peaked as the Dragon continued on, but Chaitanya didn't continue or say exactly who this 'someone' was, and she sat in disappointment._

* * *

 

To this day, Frea did not understand what 'Tyripsalma' really was, or is, if it still existed in the world somewhere. But she hadn't time to dwell on it, she had only needed to remember one part of all that Chaitanya had told her that day.

_"If you try to find a connection between two or more things or people... well, you must first connect yourself with whoever, or whatever you are trying to find the connection between, before you can begin to mend the broken connection."_

She was half-way there with the first step, she was already connected to Solana, because she was the 'GateSentry' who had turned her into a Celestial Spirit. All she would need to do now, was find away to connect herself with Aisha, and then find a way to mend the broken Balance between the two, most likely by doing so through herself.

She wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea of connecting herself to the most annoyingly rude woman she had ever met, but she knew it had to be done, even if she was going to hate it.

Looking to Chase and Aisha she straightened up and took a deep breath. "Kid," she murmured, gaining his attention from where he had been looking at Aisha.

"Yep?"

"Think you can keep my Seal up?" She asked him, he blinked in shock. "I can feel her Magic pushing against it, and what I plan to do requires all of my concentration, so I can't focus on keep the Hindering Seal from breaking." She explained. He didn't answer right away, everyone had turned their eyes on her, and they looked confused.

"What are you planning to do, exactly?" He asked and she sighed.

"I'm going to build a Bridge." She answered calmly. "I have to mend the broken connection between both Solana and Aisha, that should fix the Balance. In order to do that, I have to connect myself to both of them."

"Your already connected to Solana." Loke put in and she nodded at him, but looked directly at Aisha.

"Yes, and as much as I don't want to..." She muttered through gritted teeth, "I have to be connected with you in order for this to work."

"Your not turning me into a damn Spirit!" Aisha snapped immediately.

"I wouldn't dream of it." Frea replied in a harsh tone.

"Then how are you going to connect with Aisha?" Lucy asked, sounding a little out of breath.

"I'm going to have to use a Spell..." Frea murmured. "One I'm sure Chaitanya would kill me for even considering to use..." She added in, sweatdropping the slightest bit. At some point after their conversation about Souls, Chaitanya had in fact told her a great many things about Forbidden Magic, what types there were, why _not_ to use or learn them, and specific forms that she should never, _ever,_ learn or even study.

She couldn't say she had always obeyed her Foster Mother.

"Why...?" Several of them started but Frea shook her head and took a deep breath.

"It doesn't matter, this needs to get done as fast as we can." She told them. From the corner of her eye, she couldn't help but notice the look Moon was giving her. The Exceed's paws were crossed over her chest, eyebrow raised, she looked as if she didn't like the sound of a Spell even Chaitanya would not want Frea to use. "So kid, think you can keep my Seal up?" She asked again and he nodded slowly.

"Yes, I can." He answered, then looked to Aisha, smiling slightly. "Don't punch me, ok?" He asked, then positioned himself behind the silver-haired young woman, his hands resting on top of her shoulders. Aisha bristled slightly at the action, but didn't move. Chase closed his eyes, and Frea let out a sigh when she was able to relinquish control of the Hindering Seal to Chase, once he had and poured his own Magic into her own hanging over Aisha's body.

"Lucy, I know its hard now that Solana's passed out, but I need you to keep her gate open for as long as you can." Frea said, looking to the blonde, who nodded slowly. It was clear that Lucy was losing strength fast, and Frea felt horrible for putting her through this, though it couldn't be helped.

"Of course." Lucy said, fists clenched and pressed against her chest, eyes shinning with determination she was so used to seeing from the blonde, Frea smiled slightly.

"How are you going to... 'Build a Bridge'?" Moon asked, and Frea looked to her partner. Moon was wearing a neutral expression from where she stood on the ground, she looked a lot more calm now than she had earlier.

"By sending us to... a place I never wanted to go back to.." Frea murmured, eyes dropping to the ground. "The only truly _neutral_ place I know of, and going there won't require us to move, we can stay right here."

"And where.. Tch... Would this 'neutral' place be..?" Aisha asked in a low growl, breaking off to wince harshly.

"The White Plane." Frea replied. "That's what I came to call it anyway, its where I used to speak with both Shadow and Winter, when they were still around." Aisha raised an eyebrow at this, while everyone else sweatdropped a little. "Its borderline on the edge of my mind, and yours too, if you knew how to sense it. But it exists in between this world, and the Spirit World." Frea explained. "There's nothing there, but I can probably set up a foundation there, its closer to the sun and the moon than here is, probably closer than the Celestial Spirit World is to them." Aisha's eyes narrowed at the explanation, she looked as if she was about to say something, but stopped herself. "That's where I am planning to send us, or rather, or minds and beings."

"From there, I'll set up a foundation to fix this, and mend the connection between you and Solana."

"Grr... go ahead, lets get this over with." Aisha growled, eyes closing and Frea nodded.

She held her hands out to either side of her and let her eyes fall closed, her Magic began to spiral up around her feet, it also began to spiral up around Aisha.

They stood in assembled silence as Frea went to work. The soft silver waves of her Magic began to spiral up around both the Energy Dragon Slayer, and the MoonLight Mage on the ground before her. Everyone blinked in shock, as her Magic started to spin faster, and it faded from silver, to a deep, sickly _black_ color.

They had never seen Frea's Magic be any other color than silver before, and the black it was now sent a chill down their spines. What kind of Spell was she using? It didn't look like anything they had ever seen before... it looked almost _evil._

_"From the times of old,_

_When Dragons ruled,_

_And humans obeyed,_

_Hear now my voice,_

_Keeper of sin."_

Frea began to say the words under her breath very lowly, and immediately Moon stiffened, eyes growing wide, before she scowled at her Partner.

_"Let two beings unite,_

_Bring us together as one,_

_If only for one night..."_

Frea continued on and paused, taking in a deep breath,

_"Let us unite,_

_Share each others pain,_

_Pay for our mistakes,_

_Blend our lives together,_

_Our emotions mix,_

_Our sins add up,_

_Connect us now,_

_Beings unite..."_

Frea's hands clapped together before her, and her Magic, which had continued to grow darker, and spirled higher and higher, suddenly sprung up toward the sky, taking on a reddish hue toward the edges.

_"Drenim Lenkarron!"_

Her Magic faded, and Aisha blinked at the pure black mark that appeared, circling her arm. It looked like barbed wire with horrible creatures dancing around the edges, the same mark appeared around Frea's arm.

Frea's eyes scrunched closed harder, a bead of sweat dripped down the side of her face, Moon's ears perked to hear her Partner let out a low hiss of pain.

A Magic Circle appeared under her feet, it being her normal silver this time, and it spread out to reach underneath everyone within their group. Two runes made of Frea's Magic appeared before Solana and Aisha,

Aisha blinked at seeing the rune, eyes growing wide, and sweatdropping for the first time. The mark appearing on her arm had not hurt in the slightest, but she couldn't ignore the feeling that had swept over her, as if someone had dumped a bucket of warm water over her. It was refreshing, but she frowned upon realizing the feeling must be her being connecting to Frea.

Frea murmured some words under her breath that no one caught, but Aisha's body went rigid, as her mind was pulled away toward an empty space filled with dim white light, and she found herself standing before Frea, who stood between herself, and Solana, who was looking at both of hem with wide confused eyes.

Aisha scowled once she realized where they now stood,

They were in the White Plane.


	11. Bridge

**Chapter 11**

**Bridge**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

"Frea...?" Solana murmured, emerald gaze sweeping out around the dim emptiness cautiously. She was sweatdropping, her gaze not actually landing on said Dragon Slayer she had addressed, or her sister as she continued to look around. "Where in the hell are we?"

Silence passed, Frea didn't answer, and finally Solana looked her way. Frea's head was hanging, her body was heaving with the heavy breaths she was taking in, as sweat poured down her face. Her eyes were closed, and Solana sweatdropped upon seeing how worn out Frea seemed to be.

Aisha quirked an eyebrow at the Energy Dragon Slayer, thoroughly confused as to why she seemed to be struggling so much. She was even more confused when she saw the blonde stiffen in pain.

The pain Aisha had been feeling herself had dulled considerably, though she didn't know why, and looking to Solana, she was a little relieved to see her sister seemingly not in as much pain as she had been before.

"The White Plane." Aisha spoke up, when it was made clear Frea was too out of breath to answer. Solana's green gaze landed on her, and Aisha crossed her arms over her chest upon seeing the look of sadness appear across the Sun Dragon Slayer's face.

"Aisha..." Solana murmured, but Aisha ignored the fact she had spoken.

"At least that's what she calls it anyway." Aisha went on, looking away from Solana and tilting her head in Frea's direction.

"Oh... Stop with the attitude..." Frea huffed out, causing the other two to look her way. Aisha scowled, and Solana simply looked the Energy Dragon Slayer over with slight worry.

"Frea.. Are you alright..?" Solana asked, taking a step toward the blonde, but Frea held out a hand toward her.

"Don't move." Frea ordered sharply, and Solana stopped immediately. Frea let out a long, raspy breath and stood a little straighter. "I'm fine... But I can only anchor us here so well..." She admitted, and smiled sheepishly. "It would help me out, if you didn't move around too much... Its getting really hard to use any Magic at all."

"Ok.." Solana murmured, then her green eyes looked to Aisha, and she quirked an eyebrow. "What in the hell is on both your arms?" The Sun Dragon Slayer asked, noticing the jet black barbed band stretching around their arms. Solana sweatdropped a little upon noticing the shadowy figures of the creatures dancing around the bands, she couldn't get past the feel that they seemed... Evil.

Aisha glanced Frea's way slowly, small frown pulling at her lips.

Frea caught the look, but instead looked to Solana, still seeming out of breath. "Its a sort of Connection Link, it had to be done in order to fix this." She explained. Solana raised an eyebrow, still confused as to why the mark looked so much like- "Its temporary," Frea put in upon noticing the look, "Its only going to last for as long as I need it."

"What's your plan then?" Aisha asked, arms crossing over her chest and usual scowl appearing across her face.

"I'm gonna use a Spell to mend the connection between both of you, and the Cosmic Power you represent." Frea answered, irritation lining her voice. "It's sort of like a Bridge, as I said earlier, and it'll probably have to go through me in order for the connection to be stable."

Aisha raised an eyebrow, "And you just happen to know the _one_ Spell that will fix all of this?" She asked.

"No, but I can make a Spell that'll fix everything."

* * *

 

Silence passed out among the group of six assembled inside of the Magic Circle spanning out around under Frea's feet.

None of them moved, Aisha had blacked out a soon as Frea had pulled her mind into the White Plane, and she was now leaning up against Chase, who had his eyes closed as he continued to concentrate on keeping the Hindering Seal placed over Aisha going. Even if she wasn't conscious, her Magic Power was continually trying to break free of the hold the Seal had it under, and Chase had to use all his concentration to keep it from breaking.

Lucy had slid down to sit on her heels, eyes closed and mind kept on forcing Solana's Gate to remain open.

Loke was standing still, Solana still in his arms. He was getting weaker as time went on, it was becoming harder for him to keep himself in this world, but he fought on.

Moon was standing in front of Frea, arms crossed over her chest and frowning deeply at her partner. Her eyes would not leave the black mark that had spiraled around the Energy Dragon Slayer's arm, the more she looked it over, the more unhappy she became.

Moon could feel herself growing weaker, but she didn't notice it, she was too angry to even care.

Frea was standing in the center of her Magic Circle, eyes closed and still, completely unaware of what was going on around her. Her mind had been pulled away into the White Plane along with Solana and Aisha's, though she seemed to be a lot more used to it then Aisha had been.

Moon's eyes narrowed at her partner, she had not missed the hiss of pain that Frea had let out almost as soon as she finished her connection Spell, and although she hid it well, Frea was still in pain. Whether it was entirely from the wounds she had received earlier, or something else, it wasn't clear, but Moon was not happy with what Frea had done.

She silently promised herself she would have words with the Energy Dragon Slayer when this was all over.

* * *

 

"Make a Spell...?" Both Aisha and Solana breathed, heads tilted and sweatdropping.

"Don't give me those looks," Frea sighed. "I've actually gotten pretty good at Spell Creation, so... I don't think this'll be that hard." She explained lowly, eyes falling closed. Her body stiffened in pain, and she let out a low wince.

"Then again, I might be wrong."

Both sisters looked as if they were about to say something, but Frea didn't give them a chance to do so.

"Energy Sense!" Frea muttered, hands clapping together. Her Magic rose up around her feet in soft waves, streams of it floating out around her. Two streams of Frea's Magic floated toward Aisha and Solana slowly, causing them to pause. Aisha leaned away a little of the Magic coming toward her, sweatdropping and suspicion lighting up in her purple eyes.

The streams started to spiral around both sisters slowly, their eyes following the silver glow.

Two different streams spiraled up away from Frea, splitting apart in the air and hovering a few feet above both Solana and Aisha's heads.

The world around them went dark, only illuminated by the silver light of Frea's Magic. Solana and Aisha stiffened at the sudden black around them, their eyes turned to Frea who said nothing.

_Tch... Come on... I have to..._

Her body went rigid, she was pushing her senses to the limit. Locking on to Solana and Aisha's Energy Signatures had been easy, but trying to find whatever sort of Energy Signature the actual moon and sun may have, was almost impossible.

She had been hoping that while being here in the White Plane, trying to lock onto the Energy Signatures of the sun and moon would be easier, she had been under the impression that they were closer to reach here, than in the actual world.

She was tiring out fast, getting weaker by the second. Using any Magic was hard, very hard. She felt like she was pushing against a force too great for anyone to overcome.

She hurt, both in mind and physically. Her adrenaline had gone down, and she was starting to feel the full extent of the wounds Aisha had given her. The World's Energy was quite literally unbearable now, but she had no choice but to bear with it. She felt sick, felt like she was being spun in circles, like she was drowning in the ocean, waves crashing over her head. It was hard to even breath.

But not only that, she had gambled with so much more by using 'Drenim Lenkarron' at all, and honestly, she was not thrilled with the idea of what was to come as backlash for using that damn Spell.

Its not as if she had much choice though.

She stiffened upon feeling that the space had grown darker. The air changed, but not because of the Balance Shift.

"Jynx?"

Solana and Aisha's eyes snapped to the side upon seeing the dark purple haze appear there after everything went dark. The figure of a small girl appeared there, blood red gaze set upon the Energy Dragon Slayer she stood directly across from.

Solana sweatdropped at the appearance of the ghost, while Aisha frowned deeply.

"Jynx?" Frea asked breathlessly, she didn't open her eyes to see the ghost, but she knew that she was there.

"Energy Dragon," Jynx murmured, expression serious. "You can't lock on to the Energy Signatures, you don't have enough strength to."

Frea stiffened a little at the words, "...I have to."

"Then let me help you." Jynx murmured, Frea took in a short breath at the words, she was utterly shocked, how could Jynx help...?

"How would you-?"

"Details are not important." Jynx cut Frea off before she could fully ask the question. "Not now anyway." Jynx's eyes narrowed, "You have entered my world, though only a small part of it."

Solana and Aisha blinked at the words, heads tilted and completely confused. An odd look for Aisha, apart from the scowl the MoonLight Mage had continuously been wearing.

Frea frowned slightly, a bead of sweat dripping down her face. She wasn't completely sure how the White Plane could be 'Jynx's World', but then she reminded herself that she hardly knew anything about the ghost girl at all.

"All I ask is that you relax." Jynx went on, expression turning neutral. "Let me do what I need to, I will help you lock on to the ... Energy Signatures, of the sun and the moon." Jynx explained, she sounded as if she had been about to say something different mid-way through her sentence, but she had stopped herself.

Frea nodded stiffly after a moment, and Jynx let her eyes fall closed.

Clouds of purple haze appeared over both Solana and Aisha's heads, as a Magic Circle the same color as the clouds appeared under Frea's feet, blending in with the silver of the Energy Dragon Slayer's own Magic.

Frea immediately stiffened once she felt Jynx's Magic appear under her feet. Although she didn't dare open her eyes to look; she knew there was a Magic Circle under her feet now.

She was certain of it, it was the same feeling she had gotten when Kasumi's Magic had appeared under her feet, minus the falling sensation as she was transported then.

She was not clear on how Jynx intended to help her. How could she? Jynx's Magic was not similar to Frea's in any way. Besides, Jynx didn't use any Magic specific for locking on to Energy Signatures.

_But then again, I still hardly know anything about her..._

She had stopped pushing her senses farther once Junx had appeared, and she returned to doing so now. She didn't know what Jynx intended to do, but neither did she particularly care, or even register it.

Her mind was focused on one thing, one task.

She grew weaker as she strained to stretch out farther, her body started to shake, her head began to pound even more. Her stomach twisted and flipped, she was so hot, she was cold.

Her entire body was covered in mud, sweat, rain, and blood. Everywhere hurt, everything hurt, her back and burned arms being the worst.

As she fought to keep her Magic going, to ignore the spinning forces around her, keep herself and Solana and Aisha anchored here, hell; to stay standing, she could feel black waves creeping in on the edges of her mind.

She was panting even more now, this was utterly exhausting.

If she couldn't hardly do this, just locking on to the damned Energy Signatures, how in the hell was she supposed to pull of a Spell powerful enough to mend the connection between the sun and the moon? Between Aisha and Solana themselves?

Let alone actually make a Spell for that specific purpose. Her head was pounding so much she doubted she was thinking clearly enough to even begin to come up with one...

_Damnit!_

The fact that this was so tiring, the idea she may fail... It only made her mad damn it!

_How fucking pathetic am I?! I have to do this, I can do this..! Gah! I can't be this weak!_

_...can I?_

She wanted to hit herself, no, she wasn't thinking straight, that was clear.

The breath caught in her throat, and she froze up once she realized what Jynx was trying to do, and she remembered what the ghost had said moments before.

_Relax_

She could feel Jynx's Magic wrapping around her own, blending with it, combining. She felt an extra surge of Power at the action, Jynx was using her own Magic to help push Frea's senses farther than she could alone.

This was the same thing as when she had combined her senses with Chase's.

But it was different in a way she didn't understand. It wasn't the same, but it almost felt like it was, yet it wasn't... She just didn't know how to explain it.

But without even realizing it, she had tensed up at the contact of Jynx's Magic. She had felt it before... But never like this, she had never gotten such a deep and detailed feel of it before now.

This was the first time she realized she wasn't a fan of the feel of Jynx's Magic.

No offense to Jynx, but her Magic had an inherently darker feel to it. It felt as of some of the world's light had been dimmed, which it had if she had bothered to open her eyes. It sent a chill down her spine, and she sweatdropped.

It wasn't that her Magic felt evil per say... Just like it was a sort of Magic that rarely appeared anywhere. It worked differently than other Magic, and it felt a lot different too.

It reminded her of Edolas and how odd their Magic and Energy Signatures had seemed. Though she knew that Jynx was not from Edolas, the concept was just the same.

She was suddenly hit with the realization, that Jynx's Magic felt _ancient_ , just as much as Solana and Aisha's Magic did, Dragon Slaying Magic too.

Where did her Magic come from anyway? And what was she able to do with it?

Again, she had never gotten to know Jynx very well. The only instances of the ghost's Magic she had seen... They had all been mixed. Jynx used a lot of different Spells with completely different uses and abilities.

She was able to place a Magic Limiter on whomever she wished to.

She moved around rapidly and at her own will, to anywhere she wished, like she was teleporting

She dealt with Spirits, at least Frea assumed so.

And, Jynx had been the one to wipe the memories of everyone within Black Chimera after everything had happened.

With such mixed abilities and Powers... How was she supposed to know exactly what Jynx was capable of? She was certain the ghost could do much more than she had let Frea see so far.

She scrunched her eyes closed harder as Jynx's magic continued to push her senses out farther, by now she was reaching a lot farther than she had ever done in her life. Like she was casting her mind out leagues upon leagues... Only she had no idea how far the White Plane actually stretched.

There was something else about Jynx's Magic too... And Jynx herself.

Despite the obvious difference between the ghost and her Magic, to other people and other forms of Magic...

There was a familiarity

She could feel it, just slightly. She hadn't time to actually really look into Jynx or her Magic at the moment, but she could feel that there was something similar about the Magic... About Jynx...

...They were both similar to Frea herself.

_How the hell does that work? She's so different... We couldn't possibly have anything in common with our attitudes... Let alone our Energy..._

Despite her reluctance to actually let Jynx help her, once she had felt her Magic... It would seem her own Magic had done things on its own, it had perfectly combined with Jynx's Magic without her willing it to do so... Like her body and Magic had wanted to combine with Jynx... They were coming together almost on instinct, and they were not wavering, they were not uneven or unaligned, they were perfect together.

But that didn't make any sense!

Frea's stomach flipped again, and she let out a low moan at the feeling. Shadows were wrapping her mind up now, and she was fighting to keep them at bay. She had to do this...

The image of a blazing orange sphere of light suddenly flashed through her mind, with the help of Jynx's Magic, they had locked on to the first Cosmic Power, the sun.

Frea's pressed her hands together harder, creating a stable connection between herself and the sun, her Magic having gone almost as far as it could go. As soon as she did so, she felt as if warm rays of the sun were raining down on her.

But the shadows in her mind darkened even more.

She started trembling more as she made one last push, searching for the moon's Energy Signature.

Once she had found it, a glowing blue sphere of Power appearing in her mind's eye, she felt as if someone had dumped ice water over her, and she shivered involuntarily at the feeling. The moon had an evil feel lingering over it, it was out of control, it was wavering badly and the force of its power hit her like a slap in the face, a shadow had seemed to pass over her own Magic once she had locked on to it.

This feeling, it was almost exactly what it had felt like when she had connected herself with Aisha, and she didn't like the feeling _at all._

The glowing orange symbol of the sun appeared over Solana's head, having formed from the streams of Frea's Magic that turned from their silver to the orange of the Symbol.

Over Aisha's head, the glowing blue symbol of the moon appeared over the silver haired woman's head, having been made from Frea's Magic and changed colors just as it had with the sun symbol. But it didn't remain entirely blue, around the edges the tint of red was still visible.

But both Symbols were wrapped in the purple haze of Jynx's Magic as well.

Frea swayed on her feet, but caught herself before she would let herself fall over. The second step was done, she had locked on to the Energy Signatures of the sun and the moon, albeit if it would have only been possible with Jynx's help.

She was breathing harder, Magic was exhausting to use at this point, she was getting tired, she was getting weaker.

"Energy Dragon," Jynx spoke up and Frea listened in. "The connection between things is like a rope tied to both ends. A rope that is woven from the lives of the ones connected. Memories, strength, emotion, all of these things make the connection stronger." Jynx murmured. "In my world, connections like these are amplified. Being here, will make it significantly easier to mend the broken rope between them."

"You can fix it, mend it, weave it back together... Or build a bridge to use your own words." Jynx explained. "But a bridge needs a base, supports to hold it up, without them, it would crumble and fall." Frea frowned slightly, she had been aware of that before now...

"I believe in your Power." Jynx told her and Frea stiffened in surprise. "You will be able to mend the connection, fix the Balance... You already know what you need to do, you have already sacrificed a lot to fix things."

Frea couldn't help but go rigid at the words, _Jynx knew more than she was letting on..._

"I will keep all of you anchored here, so you may focus on other things." Jynx went on, she had more control here in her own realm than she did in other places. She could easily keep the three of them here, and that would give Frea more strength to do as she needed.

She fell silent, eyes resting on the Energy Dragon Slayer.

_Show me your Power... Energy Dragon..._

Frea felt as if she could let out a long breath she had been holding the entire time, once she could stop anchoring everyone here within the White Plane through use of her own Power.

She knew, that in order to fix the connection, that bridge, the rope, it had to be woven through her own body. She had to be the base, the supports for the bridge, what would keep it from crumbling.

If what Jynx said was true, that the elements that make up the connection between things was amplified here, that would make her job so much easier.

She may not be able to use her own Magic to do anything with memories, but she could use strength and emotion to her advantage.

Both Aisha and Solana were strong, and their emotions were a lot stronger. Despite the obvious dislike Aisha had, Frea could feel the love the MoonLight Mage had for her sister, likewise, she could feel the love Solana held for Aisha.

Love was a very strong emotion, and in this instance, it was perfect for using it, along with the inner lying strength of both Cosmic Souls, to mend the connection between them.

Through herself of course.

She was slightly flustered by the confidence Jynx had seemed to have in her, yet she wasn't able to really think about it now.

With the pounding in her head, it took a few moments for her to even begin to come up to the start of a Spell, let alone the rest of it.

Usually, once she began to think of a Spell, the words and verses clicked together in her head almost automatically. In this instance though, her mind was slow, refusing to do what was normally so very easy and natural.

_Screw that damn Energy Shift!_

She couldn't keep herself from hissing lowly once a very strong surge of pain swept through her body. She ground her fangs down, she was going to regret several things later on... Hell, she was regretting them _now!_

Taking a deep breath, she let her mind fall away from the everything but what she needed. Things fell silent, all she could hear, feel... Was the moon, the sun, Solana, and Aisha..

She could literally feel everything crumbling around her, and she knew she needed to do everything _now._ Before it was too late.

She would believe in Jynx's faith in her, not sure she could trust in herself. Frea knew how weak she was right now, how fast she was tiring out...

Jynx was trusting her right now. People were counting on her fixing things!

With a deep breath, she smiled slightly once she felt her thoughts coming together. It was through sheer willpower she found herself able to do the most impossible things. Willpower, not her strength alone.

That was what her Magic was, it wasn't solely strength, it relied on both physical strength, and pure willpower _equally._

Her Magic shot up around her, weaving its way around both the symbol of the sun and the moon, making a sort of figure 8 in the air above their heads.

_"Connections made of memory,_

_Of strength,_

_Of emotion,_

_Ones that have been severed,_

_Either by death,_

_Or intervention,_

_Make them whole,_

_Mend the tear,_

_Weave the rope,_

_Build the bridge.."_

Frea spoke lowly, voice echoing oddly around them, her Magic growing brighter within the darkness around them.

_"Fragments of the bond,_

_Pieces of the parts..."_

Frea's body tensed up again. She could feel it, in her mind's eye, she could _see it._

The bonds between the four of the beings she was trying to reunite. The bond between Solana and the sun remained intact and whole, likewise for the bond between Aisha and the moon.

But the bonds between the sun and the moon, the one between Aisha and Solana, they were shattered. Where they had once connected they had snapped, been torn, destroyed, and she sweatdropped slightly to feel her own lingering Magic Imprint on the broken bonds, another reminder that this was all her fault.

She could mentally picture her Magic wrapping around the shredded bonds and pulling them together, weaving through them..

" _Let emotion and strength be the tools,_

_And I will be the base!_

_Build the bridge through my body,_

_Mend the connection,_

_Fix the Balance...!"_

_"Healing Link: Balance Restore!"_

While Frea had been reciting the lines of her Spell, her magic had only continued to grow and burn brighter and brighter.

Aisha and Solana's eyes fell closed, they could feel something tugging at their bodies, their Magic, their beings. They got the feeling of being pulled into clearer, cooler air. They felt themselves strengthening, their pain was receding completely...

* * *

 

Frea's Magic seemed to explode, though it didn't bring any force behind it. It passed over their group of six harmlessly, hardly even stirring their clothes or hair as the light of it engulfed them, and everything around them.

It rippled out around Frea like a stone being thrown in a pond. A massive, sheer, see through wall of pure Magic that spread out over everything, rushing out over the land around them.

The Magic rippled out for a few miles, before it arced upward toward the sky and the mass of dark clouds covering the entirety of Fiore. The wave of silver faded as it reached the clouds, until it disappeared.

For a few moments, the entire world seemed to grow silent, nothing moved, nobody moved.

Then it seemed, and felt as if everything was being rewound.

The winds died down completely, the rain stopped, the temperature stopped changing, the air itself stopped shaking. The lightning and thunder didn't show again, and the moon faded from sickly red, to its normal appearance.

The oceans calmed, the fires died down, and the earthquakes stopped.

For the people of Fiore, they suddenly felt stronger, they weren't growing weaker anymore. The Mages let out sighs of relief at the feeling.

Cracks of glowing silver suddenly appeared over the mass of dark clouds, as of they were a concrete wall in the sky. All eyes turned toward the sight, as the people and Mages of Fiore stood in awe.

For the second time, something utterly shocking was happening all around Fiore. This was the second Magic Anomaly to happen in the course of only a few weeks.

Though no one was around to see the wall of Frea's Magic spiral out around where she stood, having been fairly far from anyone but themselves, everyone could see the silver cracking across the clouds, until the glowing light engulfed the dark clouds entirely.

They seemed to burst with a small, low whistle, carried around by a none-existent wind, and the clouds that had been there, fell to the earth in millions of shimmering silver pieces of magic.

The pieces sparkled and fell to earth over everyone within Fiore, leaving everyone speechless as it fell around them harmlessly.

The deep black of the unnatural light began to brighten as the sun appeared and the moon left, the first rays of the sunlight shimmering across the fragments of silver, lighting everything up in a spectacular way.

The sparkling fragments beautifully contrasted with the sky, and the people of Fiore who had been in panic and disarray for hours, they suddenly smiled at the calm beauty of it.

They cheered, laughed, and applauded as they stood underneath the rain of silver falling around them slowly, like soft snow.

The chaos was over, the Balance had been mended.

Frea's arms fell to her sides as her mind left the White Plane, and she let her eyes open halfway to see the the rain of Magic falling toward them from the sky, where the moon was leaving and the sun was returning.

She was breathing even harder, she was shaking, covered in sweat.

All in all? That had definitely been a lot harder to do.. Than she thought it was going to be...

She swayed on her feet, unaware of anything as her vision darkened, and her mind was completely engulfed in black.


	12. Speak No Evil

**Chapter 12**

**Speak No Evil**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

A few minutes.

She had only blacked out for a few minutes at best, only five or so... But she still felt like she was going to pass out again.

She didn't like blacking out, especially not around other people. It was a sign of weakness, and she didn't like feeling weak in any way.

But if there was ever a time she felt weak, it was now.

She was hurting, the pain from her wounds had begun to throb horribly, and the mental and physical strain she had put herself through was slowly taking its toll.

Not to mention the after affects of the World's Energy wavering as much as it was... And the backlash from Drenim Lenkarron.

Frea frowned down at her legs, eyes half-way closed and closing more every minute. She was slouching heavily in the seat next to Moon, in the very front of the MagicMobile, arms crossed over her stomach, shoulders hunched, chin resting on her chest and legs propped up on the guardrail in front of the drivers seat.

Moon was sitting beside her silently, paw resting on the control module for the car, armband securely around her arm, pale blue eyes fixed forward as the Exceed drove the MagicMobile back to Magnolia.

Moon had been the only one of their team to hardly use any Magic Energy at all, and so she had insisted to take the wheel so everyone could rest a little.

This was fairly ok with the rest of them. Lucy and Chase were tired, not wounded though.

Aisha, she was exhausted, and not without her own wounds.

Frea... Well, she was the worst off of all of them, to say the least.

Lucy, Aisha and Chase were inside the car, completely silent. Lucy had dozed off on one seat, while Aisha and Chase had dozed off on the opposite the blonde, Aisha leaning against Chase as she slept on peacefully.

Chase hadn't seemed to mind having Aisha sit with him, and Aisha likewise hadn't seemed to be so tense around him.

They were all tired, and Frea didn't blame any of them for falling asleep. She herself wouldn't mind falling asleep... But she couldn't.

Solana and Loke had gone back to the Celestial Spirit World, so they could rest there. Solana had been doing considerably well after the Balance was fixed, and the connections mended. The red-head had promised to come back fairly soon, Frea had no doubt the Sun Dragon Slayer wanted to talk with her sister.

Frea winced silently. She was still bleeding a little, but she hadn't let anyone worry about her before. All she needed was to go back to Magnolia and sleep... For a very long time.

Her arms hurt, her back hurt, her whole damn body hurt, inside and out. Her head was still pounding and she felt sick. It felt like she was going to throw up, and she was fairly certain she was going to end up staying home sick for a few days after this...

From the corner of her almost closed eyes, she noticed that Moon was giving her a very... Angry look?

"Frea." Moon murmured lowly, low enough not to wake anyone in the back up, but Frea did not miss the slight venom in the Exceed's voice as she spoke her name. She had noticed it before, but Moon was definitely angry with her for something, she just didn't know what.

She looked Moon's way from the corner of her eye. Moon didn't look at her, instead she kept her focus on where she was going.

"I cannot believe you even dared to consider using that Spell." Moon hissed, Frea blinked at the words.

_Spell...?_

Moon looked her way, eyes narrowed and glinting with barely controlled anger. Frea wasn't sure where... She stiffened once she realized, Moon... She must be talking about...

But how would she even...?

"Don't give me that look." Moon growled, Frea stayed silent. "If you had forgotten, I spent more than half of my life in a Dark Guild." Moon said lowly, her eyes narrowed more and Frea sweatdropped slightly.

"I know what Forbidden Magic looks like when I see it!" Moon snarled, voice still low.

Frea looked away quickly, suddenly unable to meet her Partner's gaze.

_Fuck... I forgot about that... I suppose Chaitanya wouldn't be the only one mad at me then..._

"Its dangerous to use it!" Moon went on. "It can kill you if your not strong enough to handle it!"

She dared a small glance at her Partner, but Moon had let her eyes closed, teeth gritted and paw grasped around the control tightly.

"No wizard, Dark or Light should ever use Forbidden Magic. It doesn't matter why you used it, you shouldn't have!" Moon hissed. "I am so ashamed of you! Do you even realize what its going to do to you?!"

Moon's eyes snapped open to set a deadly glare on Frea, who only stared back calmly, saying nothing. Moon narrowed her eyes at the Dragon Slayer,

"I saw you wince before, and it wasn't because of the wounds." Moon growled, "You better hope that the backlash isn't too bad, because I'm going to hurt you myself!"

Frea slightly flinched, Moon's tone was icy and filled with deep set anger. Apparently, Moon had a deep set hatred for anything Dark Magic related, understandable on all accounts... She had the feeling Moon wasn't going to let this to for a very long time.

Frea looked away, letting her eyes drop to her legs again and she could hear Moon let out a low hiss of irritation.

She returned her blue gaze to the road ahead. "This is going to be a stain on your being, on your Magic, one I doubt will ever go away." The Exceed went on, forcing herself to calm down slightly. "Please, don't ever use Forbidden Magic again." She muttered. "... If the backlash is very bad, please don't try to handle it alone. I don't want to risk you getting any more hurt than you are, or worse..." Moon added in after a moment.

Frea appreciated the fact the Moon was worried about her safety, something she assumed was the reason she had been so mad. She loved the Exceed for the compassion, and she would admit she would feel the same way of Moon had put herself in harms way as she had.

She understood why Moon was mad, accepted it... She just wasn't going to be happy about being scolded for a very long time to come.

Frea let her eyes fall closed, a wave of tiredness passing over her. She barely stopped herself from letting out a hiss of pain when a particularly large wave of it passed through her entire body.

For a split second, flashes of fire and blood appeared within her mind. Memories she didn't want to see, or experience...

Memories that were not her own.

Moon glanced Frea's way again once the Dragon Slayer didn't say anything in return. She could had snapped at her Partner more than she had, but she knew no amount of yelling or scolding would have stopped Frea from what she did.

Why would she? Frea hadn't even been deterred from the idea that Chaitanya, _a Dragon_ , would have been furious with her having used Forbidden Magic. If Frea wouldn't have stopped knowing that, nothing Moon could have said would have made a difference.

She sighed silently at the sight to her Partner, the blood that covered her. How wounded she was, how exhausted she was.

It didn't take an Energy Mage to know that Frea was void of any of her Magic Power right now, she had spent it all. How could she not have? Moon was fairly certain that they were bound to hear of the 'Second Magic Anomaly' by the time they made it back to Magnolia.

She looked away, Frea was going to have to explain everything now, there was no way she could get out of it at this point. People would want answers, the Guild... And the Magic Council.

She was fairly certain Frea would not want to speak with the Council, based on her history with them, and she didn't want to be around when she was forced to, it was not going to make her happy.

She was pushing the MagicMobile to go as fast as she could manage, wanting to get someone, preferably Wendy, to look Frea over and start to heal her wounds.

For the backlash from using the Forbidden Magic, no amount of Healing Magic was going to help Frea with it, something both Moon and the Dragon Slayer knew fairly well.

Moon flicked her ears a little, the silence seemingly heavy and she closed her eyes, before looking Frea's way again.

"Hmm..." She murmured, realizing for the first time since they had begun to make their way back, Frea had not said a single word.

Frea had her eyes closed now, and Moon looked away with a heavy sigh.

"... Speak No Evil then..?"

* * *

 

Frea sat on a stool behind the bar, hands resting on the seat in between her legs, and head hanging, shoulders hunched and eyes closed. Her bag had been dropped down beside her on the ground, and her hair pulled out of the ribbon, so it could fall around her shoulders loosley.

The entire Guild was fairly silent, apart from a few hushed whispers, all eyes turned toward her.

Her back was turned toward the rest of the Guild, shirt pulled up so Wendy could work on the very serious burns and wounds on the Energy Dragon Slayer's lower back.

Usually this would have been done in the infirmary, but Frea had not wanted to take another step, and had just opted for sitting down where she was, she was too tired to even think about walking to the infirmary.

Wendy had her eyes narrowed in concentration, but she could not hide her shock.

Hardly anyone could, they were speechless.

You would be to if you saw your Guild-Mate come back as wounded as Frea was.

Moon, Chase, Aisha and Lucy sat on the same side of the bar, only they were facing the Guild, and a little ways away from where Frea and Wendy were behind them. Chase, Lucy and Aisha were slumped over and completely exhausted, the sleep they had gotten on the ride back had done them good, but they were still tired as hell.

Moon sat atop the counter, Master sitting next to her, both their eyes closed and arms crossed over their chests.

Natsu and Happy were hovering around Lucy, casting looks back and forth between the blonde and Frea, still trying to come up with what to say.

Many people had noticed Aisha at the bar, her arms crossed on top of the counter and head resting in her arms, purple eyes narrowed suspiciously at all of the Mages in front of her.

Carla was standing beside Wendy, eyes narrowed and a bead of sweat dripping down her face at the sight of Frea. The memory of the Dream still fresh on her mind. She had been assuming it was Frea who was in that dream, covered in blood... But looking toward the stranger in their midsts, who had completely silver hair... Her suspicions of it being Frea in the dream were beginning to fade.

Magnolia was glistening in the sunlight, the rain in the streets and on the buildings shimmering in the light. Though, the water paled to insignificance of the earlier sparks of the silver pieces that had fallen from the sky an hour or so earlier.

The townspeople, not including those hundred or so who had gotten hurt, were left relatively unscathed despite the damage some of the Buildings around town had taken.

Magnolia had all in all fallen back into a calm state, people beginning to repair what had been destroyed. It would take time to fix everything, and for everyone to heal, but things could have been much worse.

Several of Fairy Tail's members were tired, though since everything had calmed down, they had felt themselves grow a little stronger.

Mirajane had come up behind Wendy as she worked, a role of bandages in her hands as she gave the Energy Dragon Slayer a look over, worried frown pulling at her lips.

It was Mira who spoke first, eyes scanning over the wounds slowly, "How did all of this happen?" She asked lowly.

Frea's eyes opened at the voice, and she glanced over her shoulder at Mira slowly, and said nothing, but she did look toward Aisha, slight scowl pulling at her lips upon laying eyes on the silver-haired young woman.

Aisha seemed to sense Frea was scowling at her, and simply let her eyes fall closed with a huff.

Mira noticed the look Frea gave the stranger, as did several others, including Master who had opened one eye to look Frea's way when Mira asked the question.

Several eyes turned to Aisha, all of them burning to ask questions, but not doing so quite yet.

"Hmm..." Master sighed, "May I ask, who you are?" The Old Man said calmly as he looked to Aisha, who opened her eyes to look his way slowly. Master had his suspicions of who she was, but he wanted to hear it from her.

"I'm Aisha." She answered lowly. "Cosmic Soul for the moon." She added in a quieter voice, and Master nodded in understanding.

"Cosmic wha-?"

"What are you doing here?"

"Where did all you run off to?"

"What happened?"

Several questions were suddenly voiced after they had heard Aisha's name. They poured out all at once, Frea let her eyes fall closed again, hardly listening to them.

One voice in particular caught her attention though, being able to hear it clearly above most of the others. "Would you like to explain why your Magic was coming down from the sky?"

Laxus called the question out, he was leaning against the wall of the Guild, arms crossed over his chest and eyes directly locked on to Frea.

Several people stopped, eyes growing wide. They hadn't realized it before Laxus asked... But that _was_ Frea's Magic! But... How could she had cast so much? And why?

Frea knew the question was directed at her, and she knew he was looking at her. Looking over her shoulder again, she blinked once.

Wendy had stopped what she was doing, the reality of the question stunning her.

Frea didn't answer though, and Laxus raised an eyebrow at her silence.

"She can't answer you." Moon spoke up suddenly, eyes opening to rest on Laxus. "At least not for a few days."

This caused a few people to gasp, and they all turned confused looks on both Moon and Frea, who had turned away again and let her eyes fall closed once more.

"And why the hell not?" Laxus asked.

Moon looked away and sighed, everyone looking to her for an explanation. Master Makarov was glancing at her from the corner of his eye, eyes narrowed.

"Side affect of using a certain type of Spell." Moon answered simply. "She won't be able to talk for a few days," the Exceed's eyes switched to Frea, "Or use any Magic." She added in, earning a small nod from Frea.

People blinked, not fully able to understand. What kind of Spell would keep Frea from talking or using Magic for a little while? Let alone, what had she needed a Spell for anyway?!

Master Makarov's eyes narrowed more at the vague explanation, and he briefly set a stone cold glare on Frea, before looking away from her again.

Frea sighed upon sensing Master had glared at her, _yay... Add Master Makarov to the list of people who will probably lecture me about using Drenim Lenkarron... Damn it..._

"... Then would someone like to explain what happened?" Gajeel spoke up gruffly, taking into consideration Frea would not be explaining anything without argument.

Moon paused, not sure if it was her place to explain anything. She looked to Frea, who gave her a small nod, and Moon took in a breath.

"Alright; if I'm going to explain things, we're doing it my way." The Exceed explained, letting her eyes close and lifting a paw out in front of her. A golden Magic Circle appeared before her paw, and everyone blinked.

A few people jumped back when the floor of the Guild Hall fell away, leaving it to look like trees beneath them. With the floor seemingly gone, they did not fall, and people cast weary looks at Moon.

The walls of the Guild Hall were suddenly gone too, giving way to rolling hills and a deep night sky stretching out all around them. Looking to the left, the sight of Crocus could be seen, where many of its people were up late, drinking, laughing, celebrating.

Everyone looked to Moon, eyes widening once they realized what she was doing.

Chase glanced Moon's way, blinking a few times before looking toward Frea, who had her eyes closed. He looked away, knowing all to well that Frea would only be seeing the Guild Hall, not what the rest of them were seeing.

"This is the memory of the first night of the GMG." Moon explained. A few people nodded, others just looked around the sky they stood in.

Lily crossed his arms over his chest, everything within this memory was so detailed... Looking to Moon he smirked slightly, she definitely had a lot more skill and Magic Power than she had let on before.

"This is the night the first Magic Anomaly appeared."

The huge beam of silver light suddenly shot up into the sky, the Magic Circle stretching across the clouds and sky for hundreds upon hundreds of miles.

They all remembered seeing it, how could they not?

"Frea was the one to cause it." Moon went on, ignoring the shocked faces and gasps, "It was her Magic over half of Fiore saw, just because of the Magnitude of the Spell she was using." Moon's eyes opened to rest on them. "The same goes for what you saw today."

"... N... No way!"

"That's not possible! That thing was huge!"

"Why...? Would she have...?!"

Bewildered shouts were thrown out among the crowd of Fairy Tail Mages, all of them sweatdropping, shocked beyond belief at what they were hearing. Several of their gazes had turned to Frea, who they knew couldn't answer any of their questions.

Wendy had paused in her work and turned to see the memory too, eyes wide and arms pulled to her chest.

"Let me explain further." Moon told them, though, she didn't look as if she believed she should be the one explaining this. If anyone should, it should have been Frea, but she couldn't, not for a few days anyway and none of the Guild was going to wait.

Moon's swiped her paw to the side out in front of her, and the scenery changed again.

The roaring of crowds rose up around them, and they were left to see the very end of the Naval Battle of the GMG. They looked behind them to see all of their Memory-Selves standing there, and sweatdropped.

That was sort of weird.

 _"Sorry, but I won't let you touch my KeyHolder."_ An all too familiar voice reached their ears, and they looked toward the water to see a young woman with fiery red hair.

This caught Aisha's attention, and she opened her eyes to see the Memory of her sister.

 _"It seems Lucy had one last key still in her possession after all! Now one of her Spirits have come forth to protect their Master!"_ The announcer's voice rung out around them.

"What does Solana have to do with...?" Natsu murmured, looking toward Moon with a confused expression.

"Solana is the reason she caused the Magic Anomaly." Moon replied evenly. "It was Solana's life that Frea was saving, the Spell she used... It turned her into a Celestial Key."

"WHAT?!"

Shocked shouts and gasps echoed over everyone again, this time even louder at how incredibly unbelievable the words were.

**That. Was. Impossible.**

"That can't be right..."

"That can't even be possible...!"

"Its very possible." Moon continued. "Usually, you have to have a special gift in order to create a Celestial Key, be given permission by the highest power, the one who allows you to change a human soul, into that of a Spirit's."

The Exceed's blue gaze landed directly on Gray, Natsu, Happy and Erza. They all stiffened upon seeing her looking at them in particular.

Wendy cast a nervous glance at Frea, sweatdropping with wide worried eyes. She could not see the Energy Dragon Slayer's face, but she could feel the tenseness coming off of her.

It seemed like a chill had fallen over the area around Frea, and both Wendy and Mira shivered involuntarily upon feeling it from her.

"The ability to create Celestial Keys has been named as a very powerful form of Maker Magic." Moon went on, eyes narrowing.

Erza, Natsu, Gray and Happy visibly froze at the words, eyes growing wide and looking almost horrified.

They understood why Moon had been looking at them, understood why her words had such an impact. They had heard of a wizard like that, heard her voice, and worked against all hope to try and save their Guild-Mate from her grasp, trying to save Frea before she was killed.

Many other members were starting to piece together the information as well. The mention of it bringing them to a darker time of their lives, a time they had mourned the death of one of their Family members.

Sevaral people's eyes dropped to the ground, beyond shocked, their minds working sluggishly as they tried to fully understand what they were being told.

A few of the more perceptive members had turned their sights to Frea, and they could almost literally feel the cold sheet of frost that had fallen over the silent Dragon Slayer.

"Wizards who use this sort of Magic are called **GateSentrys**. They are chosen and given their Power by the Celestial Spirit King himself." Moon said, eyes falling away from the four.

"Frea... Used the Magic that... Kasumi...?" Natsu mumbled, voice low and barely audible. Unfortunately, even if he was speaking quietly, Frea could still hear him clear as day.

"Not entirely." Moon told him, chasing everyone to blink. "Her Magic is not inherently dark as Kasumi's was, and Frea is not a true GateSentry." Moon's voice dropped slightly as she said Kasumi's name, almost as if it was taboo to do so.

In all honesty, it might as well be taboo with Frea around, someone she knew all to well did not appreciate bringing the monstrous woman up for _any_ sort of reason.

Moon looked to Frea, smiling sympathetically. "From what I understand, she was only able to use the Spell through sheer stubbornness alone."

The words caused a few people to smile a little bit, finding it slightly comforting that Frea was still so stubborn, she was able to break the rules of the Celestial Spirit King himself, and use a Spell so unique she would have never been able to use.

"Why did she need to save Solana's life?" Lisanna asked, head tilted.

"Because she went and decided to try and get my sister killed."

It would seem Aisha couldn't remain silent when the question was asked, and all eyes turned on her.

Aisha still had her head resting in her arms atop the counter, she was glaring daggers at Frea's back from the corner of her eye.

Many people sweatdropped at the amount of pure hostility in Aisha's gaze toward Frea, the Energy Dragon Slayer seemingly aware of the glare, but not bothering to move or react to it.

"Your... Sister...?" Natsu and Happy breathed, blinking rapidly at Aisha, completely thrown off guard by the statement. Master Makarov quirked an eyebrow at this, slightly confused as to why Solana wouldn't have mentioned her sister earlier... He would need to get the full story later.

"Teach did save her though." Chase reminded her softly, sitting up and rubbing the back of his neck, eyes closed.

"By turning her into a damn Spirit!" Aisha snapped up at him, gaze torn away from Frea.

Chase seemed to pause, and let his eyes open to rest on her, calm and completely neutral. "Would you rather she be dead?" He asked in an even tone, causing Aisha to stiffen a little.

"She wouldn't have needed to be saved, if she had just left Solana alone!" Aisha growled, not willing to back down. "She wouldn't have nearly died!"

Everyone cast nervous glances back and forth between Aisha and Chase, all of them very confused, not knowing all the details.

Moon sighed, letting her Magic drop once she realized she didn't have anyone's attentions any longer. The familiar walls and floors of the Guild Hall came back into view with a soft flash of Moon's golden Magic.

Chase set a steady and level gaze on the seething Cosmic Soul next to him. Aisha's temper was slowly rising, a temper that seemed to be considerably short.

Chase did nothing to react, he didn't even blink. He was not seemingly bothered with her anger in the slightest, instead he just soaked it in silently.

"Your not entirely angry." He said simply, the words causing Aisha to blink, recoiling from him slightly, eyes wide. Whatever it was about him saying that, it had hit Aisha in a whole different way than what she had been expecting.

Chase smiled slightly, "You know I'm right." He told her, looking away and letting his eyes close. "I can feel your emotions you know." He pointed out gently.

Aisha frowned at him, not really looking so much angry now as she looked annoyed at what he had said.

"You... You little-!" She growled, her head lifting up from her arms.

"Alright, that's enough!"

Aisha froze at the voice instantly, not ever believing she would hear _her_ say anything in such a tone, a very angry tone.

In a shimmer of yellow and orange, Solana appeared just behind Aisha, hands on her hips and scowling profusely. She was glaring at Aisha with an angry look, something she wouldn't have used on her recently found alive sister had Aisha's hate-filled words had not been relentlessly tearing at Frea.

She was done with Aisha constantly snapping at Frea, tired of her sister taking her anger and hurt out on the Energy Dragon Slayer.

"You and I, need to talk!" Solana snapped, grabbing on to the back of Aisha's shirt and dragging her from her seat, toward the back doors of the Guild Hall. Crackling orange light was flickering around her body out of pure agitation and anger,

Aisha wasn't able to do anything other than let herself be dragged outside by Solana, for once, looking relatively scared.

Solana seemed to hold an authority over Aisha they had not seen earlier.

Frea smirked a little; she was under the impression the mood swings Solana was prone too, was something Aisha had actually come to fear.

Through her travels with Solana, she had become aware of just how fast the red-head's attitude could change from one thing, to something entirely different the next moment. Solana could be scary if the moment was right for it, and she couldn't say she wasn't happy that Aisha might actually get hounded by the extremely pissed and almost demonic personality of an angry Solana.

"Moon, you have my memories, continue one with explaining while we talk, won't you?" Solana called behind her in an almost sickly sweet voice, causing said Exceed to sweatdrop.

"Alright..."

The back doors slammed shut behind the two sisters, leaving the rest of them in a stunned silence.

Frea let her eyes fall closed after a moment when the doors were slammed shut. Moon hesitated a moment before continuing on with the explanation, telling everyone how Solana had been being chased by the Magic Council, and Black Chimera all at once. How Frea herself had decided to help her, while Solana helped her train for the GMG, and all the things that happened after with the battle.

She didn't listen to her Partner's words though, and she was faintly aware of Moon's Magic enveloping everyone as she replayed Solana's memories one after the other, explaining things as she went along.

She did not hear the voices of the memory, and she would not see the memory were she to open her eyes.

Moon's Magic would not work on her under any circumstance, so she was left to search out the voice of Solana and Aisha in relative silence.

She silently thanked Moon, glad the Exceed was willing to explain everything in her place, though it may not be as detailed. She was sure to have to answer in more detail once her voice came back, and she felt considerably better...

For whatever reason, she sort of felt it was better this way, to have Moon explaining it all.

She hadn't been looking forward to it.

"... S... Solana..." Aisha's voice stammered from somewhere outside, Frea having to strain her ears just to hear her.

"You need to stop." Solana growled. "Stop blaming Frea for everything, if you hadn't noticed, she did save my life, she did fix everything, she mended the Balance!"

"You wouldn't have almost died if she hadn't helped you to try and fight Black Chimera." Aisha said lowly, "I was going to handle it."

"How?" Solana asked. "Aisha, I haven't seen you in years; I thought you were dead..." She paused for a minute. "What happened to you?" Solana asked quietly. "What happened to make you like this? You are not the Aisha I remember."

"People change." Aisha murmured.

"Why?" Solana pressed.

Silence.

"... I'd rather not go into it." Aisha said after a very long time.

"You don't need to tell me all of it." Solana told her, "I only want to know some... Just help me understand... Lets start with why I never knew you could use Magic?"

"... My Powers developed after our Village was attacked." Aisha said. "When I had gained my abilities, I had fought my way out of captivity with Phoenix Tear." Aisha's voice dropped a little. "I'm guessing my Powers only emerged when the previous Cosmic Soul for the moon died."

"Alright... You were a prisoner to Phoenix Tear?" Solana asked, "How... How long..?"

"A month or two." Aisha answered simply, not seemingly willing to go in to detail about her time with the former Dark Guild.

"After that, I've been traveling and collecting information. Making connections with several different places and people... As an Independent Mage."

Frea sighed a little, so Aisha was working along the same lines as Jellal, being Independent... Only not with other people, she was all on her own.

But she couldn't be all alone, she had said she had made ties and connections.. That meant she had other people helping her from time to time.

"Keeping tabs on people close to you." Solana murmured. "Why didn't you ever come to me, if you knew I was alive?"

"... I never thought I should." Aisha replied quietly, so quite that Frea had a hard time hearing her. "Things... They were complicated after Pheonix Tear... I had my own things to worry about... You had your own things to worry about... I would have just gotten in the way..."

She was faintly aware of Chase taking over the explanation about the Balance Shifts.

"I didn't let you know I was alive because... Because things can never go back to the way they were before we were separated." Aisha's voice suddenly got a lot stronger. "Like you said, I'm not the same as I was before, and I never will be again. I couldn't give you hope things would go back to normal, they can't. I'm not who I was before, and I didn't want you to be crushed in hoping for things that can't happen. So, I stayed away."

Frea let her eyes open, and she stared down at the floor.

She'd give Aisha a little credit, she was definitely a lot more concerned for Solana than she had originally thought.

How painful could of have been? Forcing yourself to stay away from your sister for years on end? Just because you were the one thing that might hurt her?

She cast a glance behind her once Wendy went to work healing her wounds again, before turning her attention back to Solana and Aisha.

"... Aisha..." Solana murmured, not seeming to know what to say in response.

"You wanted an answer, that's it." Aisha went on. "Before you ask, I know your going to want to know how I planed to take care of Black Chimera."

"Well... Yeah..."

"One of my connections was inside of Black Chimera, a spy who had infiltrated their ranks." Aisha explained. "He fed me information, information I in turn fed to the Council."

Frea stiffened a little at the words, this just got a whole lot more confusing.

Black Chimera had a mole in the Council...

And the Council had a mole in Black Chimera...?

She was surprised the two hadn't caught each other at some point along the way.

Wait, who was Aisha giving information to within the Magic Council?

"I work as an Information Broker to the Council." Aisha explained. "They don't know my name, they don't know who I am, they have never seen me. Instead I work under a fake name and in the shadows, merely passing along what I have learned." Aisha sighed. "My plan had been to get enough information on Black Chimera, all their illegal business and actions, gaining the Council's attention so they would act."

"You and Frea took matters into your own hands before I could finish."

Frea sighed a little; it would seem she had also finished Aisha's job unintentionally by giving the book of records on Black Chimera to DoranBolt, exposing all their activity, and even the few choice details of a mole within the Council.

But; Aisha's plan had been more or less solid, despite the fact she probably had not been aware there was a mole within the Council for Black Chimera itself.

_Well damn... It looks like the Council is just a bit more sneaky than I thought it was... Who would have thought?_

"I was never sure why I had such a hard time clearing your name." Aisha admitted. "I never figured it out until I found out that there had actually been a spy for Black Chimera within the Council..." Aisha trailed off. "... It would seem that Frea... Exposed that spy..." Her words sounded as if they had been said through gritted teeth, like she hated to admit that Frea had actually outdone her in her own territory, so to speak.

Frea couldn't help but feel like she had earned a point against Aisha in that instant.

Frea +1 - Aisha 0

"What are you going to do now...?" Solana asked.

After a few more moments of listening, Frea found herself scowling once the end of the two sister's conversation came to a close, and she ground her fangs down on one another in annoyance and slight anger.

That point she had won? Well Solana just gave Aisha two more to trump her.

Frea 1 - Aisha +2


	13. Stunned

**Chapter 13**

**Stunned**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

The explanations came to a close, sending everyone within the hall into a dead silence.

They were beyond shocked, beyond stunned... Beyond _everything!_

All of it was just so much to take in, how could all of this been happening right under their noses?! And how in the hell could any of it even be possible?!

Frea... She couldn't be as powerful as what was described! She couldn't have been strong enough to pull of two different Spells that almost all of Fiore saw!

 _No one_ could be that powerful! No one could have that sort of power or skill!

This... This was the moment it actually hit all of them. The moment they began to finally see just how strong Frea could be.

To them, Frea had always been strong. She had always been one of the top Mages in the Guild.

She'd been the one everyone knew could go head to head with Laxus, the one who fought him for fun.

She was the one who blocked impossible blows, from other Mages and Dragons alike.

She was the one who continually surprised them with everything she did.

To very few of them, they had seen her do the impossible first hand.

But until now, they had never actually given her credit for her strength. Never taken into account hat she could do.

Frea was the one who did well under pressure, the one who prospered under harsh conditions. This was the same for most of the Dragon Slayers, the ability to rise when someone was pushing them down.

But Frea... She could very well have hit a whole new level of strength with what they had just learned.

But in time; they would all come to realize that what they had seen; the amount of Frea's Magic that had shown up each time, it was really more of an exaggerated lightshow.

More like special affects than a measure of real power.

For all the Magic they had seen, how massive it had looked, it was never really meant to be taken as a measure of how powerful someone would need to be to cast the Spell. Nor was it a measure of how Powerful the caster or the Spell were. In the long run, she had actually been pouring a lot more effort into the Spells than she probably would have needed to; had she known how to properly execute them. Nothing Frea could be blamed for really, she was more or less improvising the whole time, and she had done exceptionally well for not having any sort of regular guidance.

After a moment, they started to shake off their shock, and they smiled a little.

They were impressed.

Frea slowly got to her feet, Wendy and Mira having finished doing what they could for her. Bandages were wrapped around her arms and back, Wendy healing the burns as best she could, though she wasn't up to full power having been healing the injuries of the townspeople for the better part of the day.

Frea picked up her bag, and gave Wendy and Mira a little nod of thanks.

She grabbed something from behind the bar, a LightPen.

_"I'm going home before the Magic Council shows up wanting answers. I'll probably just stay home for a few days, see you guys later."_

She wrote the words in big letters so everyone could read it, and placed the pen back behind the counter.

She paused a moment when the back doors opened, and Aisha and Solana came in.

With that, Frea walked out of the Guild Hall, a few people calling out things like, 'see you!' Or 'hope you feel better soon.'

She waved behind her as the doors shut, and they turned their attentions to Solana and Aisha.

"What can I do for you, child?" Master asked, upon noticing Aisha was looking his way a little nervously.

"Uh... Well..."

* * *

 

Frea walked through the streets slowly, eyes closed. One hand holding on to her bag, the other hanging at her side limply.

She could hear the townspeople moving around, brooms sweeping against floors and roads, hammers knocking against nails. She could smell paint and fresh cut wood, metal being cut and melted.

"What the-?" She opened her eyes to glance sideways. A young man was moving a destroyed beam to a scrap pile, he had paused to stare at the bites within the metal. "It looks like somebody started eating it!"

Frea smiled a little, and kept walking.

The citizens of Magnolia were slowly putting the town back together...

She sighed and frowned, they wouldn't have needed to be doing this had none of it happened in the first place.

She veered down the road that would lead up to Fairy Hills, more or less assuming it had remained free of too much damage. There were some minor enchantments placed over the building to keep it from too much harm, and hopefully those enchantments would have down their job.

When she reached Fairy Hills, she found it free harm, and silently breathed a sigh of relief. She really was just too worn out to have even tried dealing with the any damage the building might have taken. All she wanted to do was sleep, for a very long time.

But unfortunately the idea of sleep wasn't entirely appealing, she wasn't looking forward to going through the memories that had been crammed into her head.

 _Aisha's memories_. Another backlash of Drenim Lenkarron.

She would be forced to sift through Aisha's worst memories as a result of using Forbidden Magic. She would be forced to feel every emotion Aisha would have felt at the times the memories occurred; and she was fairly sure Aisha had a lot of bad memories. She didn want to see any of it. Hell, she didn't want to have anything to do with Aisha at all.

But this was the price she would have to pay, and she wasn't going to like it.

She wasn't exactly sure how clear the memories were going to be, if anything they could just be fragmented pictures, and she may only feel the emotions.

Aisha would not have the same problem, only Frea would have to relive the silver-haired Mage's life. Frea's own memories were safely kept away from Aisha, she had no intention of letting anyone ever look at her past.

She made her way up to her room, pushing the door open without needing to unlock it, she hadn't locked it this morning when she had been rushing to get going.

Or was it yesterday? She couldn't even think about what day it was, her mind was refusing to function.

Sleep first, thinking later.

Dropping the bag in the chair at her desk, she stumbled toward the bathroom.

No matter how much she wanted sleep, no later how much her body was yelling at her to do so, there was no way she would fall asleep in the dirty, blood stained clothes she was wearing now. Even a shower wasn't out of the question; but she let out a groan.

There was no doubt in her mind, the next few days, even possibly the next week were not going to be any fun.

Pulling some pajama's from her drawers she slowly made her way into the bathroom and turned the shower on, leaning against the counter for a minute, letting her eyes close.

Her mind flashed back to the conversation that Aisha and Solana had had. It had been educational; it definitely straightened a few things out, and let her know that the Council was definitely not as straight forward then she originally thought.

They got outside help; and help from Aisha no less... Even if they didn't know who she really was.

She groaned again, speaking of the Council, she was almost completely certain that someone would be sent down to look for whoever caused the 'Second Magic Anomaly'. They would come to Magnolia, question the Guild...

Or; they could be a lot smarter than last time. They may have actually figured out that she had been the one to cast the first and second. It was possible, considering more than a few Rune Knights had actually felt her Magic before, been affected by it.

Yes, one of the relatively _smarter_ Council members might have recognized her Magic.

Either way, she was in for a visit from the Council, something she never enjoyed, whether or not it was the Old version of the Council from when she had still been labeled as a Demon; or this new, slightly less annoying version.

Though; the new Magic Council had definitely lost points with her because of the whole Tenrou Island fiasco.

She shook her head a little, better not to get worked up about it now.

She sweatdropped slightly, she was not looking forward to going back to the Guild,

_Damn it Solana... You just had to suggest that didn't you...?_

* * *

 

Master Makarov blinked once at the request, holding Aisha in his gaze steadily.

She was staring at the floor; not seemingly comfortable with meeting his eye.

Solana was standing beside her, looking to him a little hopefully. It was clear to him that this was more Solana's idea than it was Aisha's.

Chase was stunned, as were Moon and Lucy.

How in the world could Solana possibly think that was a good idea?

Yeah, this was _definitely_ not Aisha's idea, she in all honesty probably would have never considered the idea had her sister not mentioned it.

Or, Solana was forcing her to do it.

...it... It was risky, irrational. Who knows what Frea would do if she knew about this?

 _Probably tear the Guild apart fighting with her..._ Moon thought; sweatdropping a little as she imagined the damage her Partner would do to the newly reclaimed Guild Hall.

Master would not be happy.

But, Master did not know that Aisha had attacked Frea. They had left that part of their explanations out, deciding it probably be better to keep the Guild from pouncing on the silver-haired Mage should they come to realize she was responsible for Frea coming back as injured as she was.

Then again... He might actually know after all. If they recalled, he had caught the scowl Frea gave Aisha when Mira had asked her how she had gotten hurt.

If that was the case; then he was seemingly willing to let it to for now. He probably understood why Aisha would have attacked Frea, any rational person would had they come face to face with the person who had almost gotten your sister killed.

Though, if he decided yes to her request, they assumed he would speak with both Frea and Aisha when he had the time, referring to the matter of _not_ trying to kill each other.

The Guild had gone silent again, everyone looking between Aisha and Master. Some looked a little enthused, while others held Aisha in a serious gaze, feeling something was a little off about her. Most of them were those who had seen Frea's scowl at the silver-haired young woman. They were putting it together in their heads, and starting to believe that Aisha had been the one to wound Frea; and that need left a good impression on most of them.

But they would all wait for Master's judgment; it really was up to him after all.

Besides, if he said yes, that would definitely give them some time to question Aisha themselves.

"If that is your wish, so be it." Master said at length, causing several people to blink in surprise.

"After all, Fairy Tail is open to all who wish to join."


	14. Sick

**Chapter 14**

**Sick**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

"Frea?" Moon called out softly, paw resting against the closed bathroom door.

She didn't get an answer; but she cringed slightly at the noise of someone retching inside.

Her ears folded back against her head at the noise, sweatdropping slightly. She sighed; letting her eyes fall closed for a moment.

More retching.

"... Frea..." She mumbled under her breath.

It had been three days since they had gotten back to Magnolia after everything that had happened with Aisha and Solana. Three days of silence from Frea. Three days the Energy Dragon Slayer had not gone back to the Guild, had hardly ever left Fairy Hills.

Three days since Master Makarov had allowed Aisha to join the Guild.

But Frea wasn't getting better any time soon, and her voice and Magic still had not returned. She was starting to get sick, an effect of using Drenim Lenkarron.

Moon allowed herself a little hiss of anger, she was still not happy Frea had used Forbidden Magic, but her Partner was really not in any condition, nor was she probably in the mood to be lectured again.

The room was dim, the light from outside trying to get in past the closed curtains. Frea's bag was still in the chair at her desk where she had left it, as was her cloak from where it was hung over the back of the chair.

The toilet flushed; and Moon's ears perked to hear stumbling footsteps approaching the door.

She stepped away, and the door opened. Frea slowly made her way out, head hanging and eyes closed.

"Frea?" Moon murmured, following the Dragon Slayer across the room, where her Partner collapsed on top of her bed, arms sliding under the pillow, chin set atop it and laying on her stomach.

Moon hopped on to the bed beside her, but Frea's eyes were still closed. She set a worried glance on her Partner, Frea definitely did not look good.

"Would you like me to get Wendy?" Moon asked lowly. "She might be able to help."

After a very long pause, Frea cracked one eye open to look Moon's way.

Silence.

Not for the first time, did Moon wish she could read Frea's mind, she wouldn't have to rely on silent signals that way. Frea couldn't answer the question, well not unless...

Frea drew a hand out from under her pillow, and reached toward the windowsill, where a notepad and a pen sat.

Moon blinked, Frea had thought ahead.

The Energy Dragon Slayer wrote down a few words on the paper, and slid it across the bed to Moon, before burying her face in her pillow with a low moan.

Moon looked to the writing,

'Don't bother, we both know there's nothing Wendy would do that would help me. I'm just going to have to suffer through it, until it clears up.'

Moon glanced from the writing to Frea, who still had her face in her pillow.

Of course she knew Frea was right, she just didn't like it.

Due to the nature of any kind of Forbidden Magic, the backlash's of using it were often severe. But, no matter what anyone tried to do to prevent being hurt, there as nothing to be done.

With the amount of strain Frea's body had been out through in the course of just a few hours, it was more surprising she wasn't in worse shape.

Frea had already been affected by the World's Energy wavering so much, the extra stress of fighting, using Forbidden Magic, and using Spells so powerful any normal Mage wouldn't have been able to pull them off, it had done a number on her.

Aisha had too. At the time, it hadn't seemed like Aisha had done any serious damage to Frea, even after she had been caught under the 'Cosmic Impact' Spell. But, she had in fact taken quite a bit of damage from it, despite her efforts to shield herself as best she could.

Her entire lower back had been hit with an extremely large amount of concentrated, fiery hot power. The burns and impact wounds were serious, and they were going to be the ones to take more time to heal.

While the rest of Frea's body had been hit, her arms burned considerably, along with a shallow scratch she had gotten from one of the MoonLight beams, those were fairly mediocre to the damage on her back.

Wendy had been great help in healing Frea's wounds the first day, and Moon would like to have the little Dragon Slayer come by again, but she knew Frea didn't want to see anyone right now, and while she didn't agree with it, she wasn't going to push Frea into doing something she didn't want to do.

But Frea was, in Moon's opinion, suffering from two other things despite her wounds.

Using Forbidden Magic was putting a mental strain on her Partner, Forbidden Magic was Dark Magic, in most instances, if someone were to use a Magic that was opposite their own, or come into contact with it, they would succumb to some Negative effects, such as fatigue, physical pain, or a mix of the two.

Frea's Magic was not inherently 'dark', it was for that reason, Forbidden Magic such as Drenim Lenkarron was having such an adverse effect on her.

Moon had seen the Mages in the Dark Guild she had served for years, use Forbidden Magic all the time. Mages in Dark Guilds were almost always inherently dark or evil, so the effects Forbidden Magic had on them were not as serious should a 'light' Mage have used it.

Though, there was always a price to pay for using Forbidden Magic, but for Dark Mages, the price wasn't as bad as it would be to a 'light' Mage.

The second thing, she was a little concerned that some of this sickness; despite being caused by Drenim Lenkarron, she thought it might actually be Magic Power Deficiency Syndrome.

A little less likely, but not impossible. Frea had used up Massive amounts of Magic Power all at once; spending large chunks of her supply over and over until she was completely out.

Frea had not felt like this when she had used her Celestial Key Binding Spell on Solana, and not so much when she had her Magic Power stolen by the Eclipse Gate... But given the fact that Drenim Lenkarron had already weakened her, she may have developed MPD a lot easier for those circumstances.

Moon sighed again and let her eyes fall closed, she hated seeing Frea so sick and hurt, and she hated knowing there was nothing she could do to help.

Frea was strong, she didn't doubt that she would get through this alright; but she just didn't know how long she would be feeling like this.

Frea looked to her after a moment, one eye halfway open. The Dragon Slayer slowly lifted a hand up and placed it on top of Moon's head, smiling slightly.

Moon blinked a few times in surprise at the action, not understanding what Frea meant by it.

Frea rubbed the top of Moon's head gently, whether or not she was able to say it, she really was thankful to have Moon around. She was very glad she had met the Exceed, and even in their short time together, she was already very protective of her Partner.

She wished she could say it aloud, but her voice was gone,

_Thank you, for everything Moon... I'm so very glad we became Partners... And friends..._

She rubbed the top of her Exceed Partner's head once more, still smiling, before she pulled the notepad over and wrote down a few words again.

'Head over to the Guild, relax, have some fun, I promise I'll be fine.'

Moon read the words, eyes narrowing as she looked over worriedly, but Frea just smiled in reassurance.

Moon hesitated, before giving in, "You sure you'll be ok?" The Exceed asked quietly,

Frea smiled and nodded, she pushed herself to sit up, and pulled Moon toward her.

Hugging Moon to her chest, she held her close for a few moments. Moon stiffened slightly at the action, before relaxing and smiling a little.

Frea placed Moon down on the floor, gently nudging her toward the door, still smiling.

Moon started walking, and cast one last look behind her, only to see Frea waving at her, small smile crossing over her face.

_Have fun.._

* * *

 

Moon walked into the Guild Hall slowly, a little worried but becoming more relaxed when she heard the sound of conversation floating from inside.

A few people glanced over when she came in, many called greetings.

"Moon!" Happy cheered, floating over with Lily and Carla in tow. Moon smiled and waved a paw at him,

"Hey guys." She smiled; the three other Exceeds landing in front of her, their wings disappearing.

"Good morning." Carla smiled,

"We haven't seen you in forever!" Happy said with a cheeky smile.

"Its only been three days." Moon reminded him with a smile.

"How are you?" Lily asked, Moon shrugged.

"I'm fine." She replied.

"How's Frea?"

They glanced up to see Wendy walking toward them slowly, Gajeel and Levy following slowly. Moon sweatdropped slightly at the question, but kept a neutral expression.

She wasn't going to tell Wendy that Frea was sick, she knew all to well that the little Mage would want to go help. But Wendy wouldn't be able to help, Moon would have to tell her that, and then there would be more questions. Moon was fairly certain Frea would not want hardly anyone to know she had used Forbidden Magic.

"She's ok." She replied calmly, "Still exhausted, she's sleeping right now." She explained, that was more or less true.

"What's she been doing? Sleeping everyday away, just like after the Dragon Fight?" Gajeel huffed, arms crossed over his chest.

Lily shot Gajeel a scolding look at the same time Levy did, causing the Iron Dragon to sweatdrop and look away.

Moon sighed silently, _no,_ after the Dragon Fight, Frea had slept through two full days. Frea however, was not sleeping non-stop this time, she was too sick to continually sleep.

"Something like that." Moon answered.

* * *

 

Frea stared at the curtains pulled over the window, eyes halfway closed. She lay on her side, facing the wall, comforter pulled over her halfway. She had opted for not laying on her back for a few days, it hurt too much to do so, with the wounds and all.

She was tired, super tired, but sleep wasn't necessarily enjoyable right now, with having to sift through Aisha's memories every time.

For what it was worth, the memories she had gotten from using Drenim Lenkarron to connect herself with Aisha, had not been very detailed so far. It was all fragments of unrelated parts, all the details were missing, none of it made any sense.

She was assuming this lack of detail with the memories were due to the fact that any mind related Magic _usually_ did not work on her.

Frea sighed, letting her eyes fall closed.

_Now if only it had kept the memories from entering my head at all..._


	15. Why?

**Chapter 15**

**Why?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

A soft breeze blew through Magnolia. Birds glided lazily overhead, the air tinted with the calming scent of water. Sunlight rippled off the newly rained on streets, the breeze making everything smell like rain and wet grass.

The citizens were up and touching up the last few repairs that still needed to be done, everyone smiling, everyone happy.

It was a beautiful afternoon, and most everyone were enjoying it.

Some worked, others talked, some walked around. A few went to SouthGate Park, others sat down by the river running through town, fishing or laughing.

Fairy Tail's Guild Hall was not exempt from the happy moods going around, most noise was actually coming from the inside. A lot of it was laughing and conversation, but the most noise was undeniably destruction.

The Mages were brawling again, and the townspeople passing by sweatdropped and smiled, some of them remembering this behavior from the Guild those Seven Years ago.

This was a very pleasant change from the chaos earlier in the week, about six days ago now.

This time the rain had not been wild, it had been light and soft. The sun was shining, the clouds were wisps of white in the blue sky, the ocean was hitting the shores in calm waves, hardly rising up the sand.

No one was panicking, no one was afraid.

Everything was peaceful.

Frea was laying down on a bench set by the canals on the far side of town, away from most everyone, away from the center of town, away from the Guild Hall.

This part of the town was free of noise, free of people. The water slid down the canals through the spread out houses slowly, rippling slightly every once in awhile.

She lay with her head leaning against the armrest, knees propped up, one arm resting over her stomach, the other on the bench beside her.

She was dressed in simple jean shorts, a loose black tank top, and some flip flops. Her hair was loosely tied back with her usual ribbon from Virgo, some of the strands and her bangs left to fall around her face.

She looked up at the sky as the birds flew over head, eyes halfway closed and silent.

She had come out for a short walk that morning, not feeling up to staying in her room anymore. The fresh air was good, the scent of the rain was the best part.

She was rather fond of the air after it rained, it smelled fresher, cleaner.

The peace and quiet in the part of the town she was in now was relaxing, enjoyable. She wasn't sure she wanted to talk to anyone, let alone go to the Guild.

She didn't want to be asked questions. She didn't like questions, and she still did not feel 100% even now. She wasn't sure if trying to deal with the Guild with how she was feeling now was a good idea.

Though, she had gotten a lot better since three days ago. She had stopped retching, her wounds weren't hurting as much, and her head had stopped pounding.

Her body didn't even feel as beat up as it had.

Still... She wasn't 100% quite yet, she doubted she would be for awhile.

She still felt strained, sore, and she was tired as hell. Having to go through those damn fragmented memories every time she fell asleep wasn't helping anything, and she hated it.

She wasn't going to make sense of the memories, she knew that for a fact. They weren't detailed, they weren't whole or complete, just flashes of different things, mostly fire and pain.

Another reason she didn't want to go to the Guild, she knew Aisha was going to be there.

She frowned slightly at the thought, feeling a surge of anger and annoyance. She knew Master would have agreed to let Aisha join, Fairy Tail was open to all who wanted to, that was just the way it was.

But hell of she was going to actually like having Aisha in the Guild.

From what Moon had told her, most everyone was actually getting along with, and warming up to Aisha. She didn't think it was possible personally, but then again...

Maybe Aisha was just going to have a bad attitude toward _her_ personally.

She was sure she would never see Aisha's true attitude, there was a just a huge rift in between them, that honestly, neither of them were probably willing to overcome.

No, they would continued to dislike each other for the rest of their lives.

It did make her feel a little better that some people were at least a little wary of the MoonLight Mage. She had been hoping at least some people would have enough sense to realize that Aisha wasn't all sunshine and rainbows.

Short temper, bad attitude, and trust issues being some of her problems.

Frea had a short temper herself, but it was nowhere near as short as Aisha's was.

Frea sighed and let her eyes fall closed.

She knew she would have to learn to live with having Aisha around the Guild; she was fairly certain Aisha wasn't going anywhere, anytime soon. Plus; she sort of felt she owed it to Solana to try and get along with Aisha at least a little. No, she wasn't going to try becoming friends with the woman, but she would at least try to refrain from fighting her.

A fight between the two of them? She wasn't sure the Guild Hall would be left standing, considering they would not want to hold back on each other, as you normally did when brawling with your Guild-Mates.

On another note, she had not seen Jynx since encountering her within the White Plane... With the ghost's 'domain'.

She wasn't sure what to make of the silence from her to be honest, she had been expecting something... But then she reminded herself, Jynx had not shown up to say anything when she had used the Celestial Energy Key Bind on Solana.

She wasn't about to forget what it had felt like to really get a good look at Jynx's Magic. How foreign and perfect it had felt mixed with her own, how dark it seemed to be... Just how off if had felt in general.

She had been deciding on whether of not she should ask Jynx about it. Would it be a good idea? Or would she end up finding out something she didn't want to know? Jynx might even get defensive about it...

Jynx was quite literally, a complete mystery to her.

She sighed again, she wouldn't figure Jynx out anytime soon, she was sure of that. Well... At any rate, Moon was at the Guild Hall, the Exceed deciding it better to leave Frea alone for the time being. Frea didn't like being hovered around, or worried about.

Besides, Moon liked going to hang out with the Guild, with the other Exceeds. She had certainly warmed up to everyone quite fast, and Frea was thankful for it. If Moon was going to be around any Guild after her past, she was glad it could be around one of the friendliest Guild's in all of Fiore.

Now on to the note of the Magic Council.

She had not been hoping to have them stay away, in fact; she hadn't expected it at all. She knew they would come. She knew they would want answers, and she was fairly certain they had figured out who had caused the two Magic Anomalies.

She just hadn't been expecting them to take this long to actually seek her out.

She knew there was a Magic Council member here in town from time to time, he had been showing up over the last few days before leaving again, she had felt his Energy Signature flare up inside the town. Now, what was he doing? She hadn't been approached... So had he gone to the Guild first? But wouldn't Moon have told her if he had?

And if not, what in the hell was he waiting for?

With yet another sigh, she banished the thoughts from her head. They were getting her worked up, and she really just didn't have the energy to right now.

Think about it later, no use questioning it now, she wasn't going to get any answer anytime soon.

She was snapped from her thoughts when somebody suddenly sat down on the bench at her feet, causing her to pull her legs toward her a little more to make room. She opened her eyes; only now realizing there was a familiar Energy Signature beside her, along with an easily recognizable scent.

But she was surprised that he of all people was here.

_Laxus?_

He didn't look her way, instead he had his eyes closed with his arms crossed over his chest.

Silence

He didn't say anything, and she shrugged slightly, if he was content to just sit in silence, so was she.

She stretched her legs out over his lap and propped her feet up against the armrest on his other side, eyes closing.

She didn't care if he was going to protest, she didn't even wait to see if he would. If he was going to sit down next to her, he was going to deal with it.

She was faintly surprised when he didn't say a word, in fact he didn't even move...

Laxus opened his eyes to glance her way at the action, but he didn't make any move to throw her off, or argue with it. He wasn't in the mood to argue, and he was sure Frea wasn't either.

He was sort of surprised he had run into her out here, he was even more surprised she was out and about at all.

Frea had not come to the Guild Hall the entirety of the six days since she had come back to Magnolia, since everything was explained.

He wasn't sure if she was avoiding everyone, or if she had actually been in a lot worse shape than she had been letting on... He was assuming a bit of both.

He himself had been walking around the town, not being in the mood to listen to the Old Man yell at the idiots back in the Guild for destroying everything. He hadn't been walking in any particular direction, he had just walking and thinking, until he had run across Frea.

He looked her over slowly, face neutral. She didn't seem to have her usual energy about her, a sure sign that she was still not recovered just yet. And besides, he could smell the sharp tang of sickness on her, so he knew for sure she was still in bad shape.

His mind wondered... Why would she have kept everything a secret?

It hadn't made any sense, Frea had in fact more or less lied about everything since she had come back from her Training Trip. She had lied about what happened, lied about where she had came into possession of Solana as a Celestial Key... She even lied when she told the Old Man she hadn't known what the Magic Anomaly had been.

In all the time of knowing her, he had never considered Frea to be a liar. He had never believed that she lied about anything... Kept anything from the Guild.

And why would she? What had she been afraid of in telling everyone the truth?

He frowned slightly, no he don't like that word; 'afraid'. It didn't feel right to use it to describe Frea in any way, because in all honesty, he had never seen Frea _truly_ afraid.

'Reluctant' was a better word, so to ask the question again; why had she been reluctant to tell everyone the truth?

His mind flashed back to seeing the Magic in the sky a few nights into the GMG. He remembered standing on the balcony of the hotel he had been in, remembered looking to it as most of the city had.

He remembered the color, the feeling of raw power radiating from it even though he was very, very far away from the source.

It had never occurred to him that it was Frea's Magic, simply because he had never believed her to have that much power. Now, it was easy to see that it had in fact been her Magic... How often did anyone come across a Mage who used bright silver Magic like she did?

However, six days ago he had immediately recognized the Magic spreading out across the clouds as Frea's Magic. He knew it, somewhere deep inside of him. He could feel it, sense it, smell it even. It was her Magic no doubt, though the amount of Power she must have used then, was nowhere near as much as she had used the first time.

He wasn't sure if that was because the Spell had been easier to cast than the first one... Or if she had figured how to use less Magic to do something she didn't need to use an insane amount of Magic for. With that in mind, it was very possible she may have been pouring an excess amount of Magic into the first 'Magic Anomaly' than she would have needed to complete the Spell.

Laxus looked away, letting his eyes fall to the ground.

He was surprised about... Almost all of it.

He was definitely surprised to have found out she had been the one to cause both Magic Anomalies, who hadn't?

But he was even more surprised, at just how strong she had grown in such a short amount of time.

He had known Frea for years, and even though they had been at each other's throats the entirety of their time knowing one another, up until recently... He had thought he knew her. He had thought he knew her limits, knew her tricks, knew how strong she really was.

That idea had been shattered when they had run into each other up on the mountain, when Frea had been tracking down Rified.

He could still remember how shocked he had been to see her, the Mage he had thought dead, and he sighed silently at the thought.

* * *

 

_Laxus walked along the dirt path slowly, eyes closed and headphones on his ears; playing away his favorite music. His hands are stuffed into his pockets under his cloak, and he only continued to head forward, not particularly caring where he was going._

_This was what he had been doing since he had been expelled, traveling around Fiore, occasionally picking up a few jobs, and taking on a few monsters in his travels._

_Since leaving Magnolia, he had had a lot of time to really think things through, clear his head, realize his mistakes..._

_He came to a slow pause, eyes opening. The trees had begun to thin out, and the land had started to flatten under his feet. He didn't know where he was, nor did he really care._

_He pulled his headphones from his ears and hung them around his neck, trying to lock on to what had caught his attention once more._

_He could of sworn he heard the sound of cracking twigs and rustling bushes, along with a snarl from some sort of animal._

_He perked, a roar pierced the air, but I wasn't directed at him._

_Through the trees, he could make out the outline of someone dodging away from a half wolf, half bear creature, that he was sure had been the thing to go crashing through the trees._

_From where he was, he couldn't get a good look at who was being attacked, but he didn't stop to look._

_He had run across a few people on the road in his travels and had come to helping anyone out who needed it along the way. He was fairly sure whoever was dodging the creature, had no intention of fighting back._

_"Shit!" He heard the person, a young woman from the sound of it, hiss under her breath, the creatures claws almost reaching her._

_He rammed into it before she could be hit, and sent it flying into the trees, coming to a stop a good ten feet from where the person he had just saved stood._

_He paused a moment to make sure the animal wasn't coming back, before letting out a sigh and turning back toward the woman, eyes fixed on the ground._

_Creatures like that were way too easy, he sort of missed fighting stronger opponents._

_"Laxus?"_

_He came to a dead stop, eyes growing wide upon hearing his name. He had assumed she was a stranger... Wasn't she..?_

_He looked up and his eyes grew even wider._

_His gaze became level with the silver eyes he knew so well, silver eyes that had often been narrowed in anger and annoyance at him._

_Silver eyes of the one Mage he had thought he would never see again._

_This wasn't possible, it couldn't be..._

_He had been there, unbeknownst to the entire Guild... He had been at her funeral, standing in the shadows and listening silently._

_She was dead_

_He couldn't process it for a moment, but her voice snapped him from his thoughts._

_"Laxus, what are you doing here?"_

* * *

 

He couldn't say it hadn't been a nice surprise to find out she was indeed alive, in all honesty he had been happy with it. He hadn't liked the idea that she had died so easily, and he was glad that she hadn't.

He would never admit that out loud mind you.

But that had been the day he had learned the full story. That had been the day, he found out she was a Dragon Slayer like himself.

No, she was not the Energy Mage he had grown up knowing, but the Energy Dragon Slayer she had always been, unbeknownst to him.

That had also been the day she had done the impossible.

The two Magic Anomalies she had caused? The two Spells a large portion of Fiore had seen? He had labeled those as impossible, but he hadn't meant it in the normal way.

Spells like that were not impossible, they had simply seemed impossible for someone like Frea to cast, though that had been proven wrong. They would have needed an extremely powerful Wizard to cast those Spells.

The the Spell she had done that day, no one, not even Zeref or the most Powerful Mage of all History should have ever been able to do.

What she had done that day, was literally, completely and totally _impossible._

What Mage on earth could cast a Spell so powerful, it could save a life? But a Spell they had cast with **No. Magic. Energy. Whatsoever.**

Let's not forget she had been dying at the time.

That was the definition of impossible, yet she had done it.

She was a lot stronger than he had ever known, though he would admit she didn't always seem so. It was only at certain times, she surpassed the vicinity of normal. It was only at certain times she stepped up into the ranks of Wizards who were beyond normal, who are labeled Powerful, who were labeled truly strong.

At any other time? Frea seemed to most to just be a very, very good Mage. She had strength, she had skill, she had power, a power above that of regular Mages sure, but she was definitely not always seen as _extremely_ powerful.

She was not always seen to be as powerful as she had been in certain situations. Such as the two Magic Anomalies, her wide-spread Spell over every Mage during the Dragon Fight, and that day on top of the mountain.

Her true power was hidden to everyone almost all the time, he had come to realize this only in the last few days. Yes, Frea was definitely a lot stronger than he had ever imagined, and he was slowly starting to rebuild his image of her with what he knew know. He was going to understand her as best he could,

She was surprising him more and more very day, he wanted to see how far she could go.

He looked to her again, realizing they had been siting in silence for a long time as he was left to his thoughts. She had not moved, had not opened her eyes to look at him.

He faintly wondered if she had been able to feel his emotions the entire time.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" He murmured lowly.

She didn't open her eyes to look his way, didn't move, didn't do anything.

Silence.

He looked away, realizing she must not have her voice back yet.

"I don't know."

His gaze snapped back toward her upon hearing her say the words. She was not looking at him, but she had opened her eyes to look up at the sky.

She avoided meeting his gaze upon answering the question. It felt off to actually talk, not having been able to up until yesterday.

But her answer was the truth. She hadn't any clue as to why why she really hadn't wanted to tell the Guild about everything, she just hadn't.

It had been this deep set emotion against the idea of telling the Guild the truth. An emotion she didn't understand. At the time, she had supposed it was because she didn't like the idea that kind of Power... It may hurt the Guild if she ever got out of control.

This had happened before, when Shadow had still been part of her, when the Dark Demon had taken control and went on a rampage through the town. The time it had taken hours to stop her, and injured countless members of her Family.

She didn't like the idea that the Power she had, the Power to pull off two impossible Spells, may she become a threat to her Family in anyway.

But that was not the real reason she hadn't told anyone. It really wasn't, because she knew she would do everything in her power to keep herself from becoming a threat to her Family ever again.

The real reason for her silence was unknown to even her.

"What do you mean?" Laxus asked quietly.

"I don't know." She answered again, feeling a little aggravated at her own uncertainties. "I don't know why I didn't tell anyone, I really don't..." She paused, "... I just didn't..."

Silence

"...In the long run did it matter? Did it really affect any of you not knowing?" She questioned this time, still not looking his way.

"We deserved to know." He answered immediately.

"Did you really?" She asked quietly, and she could feel him tense up.

Had the Guild really deserved to know? Because in truth, it hadn't affected them, hadn't hurt them, hadn't concerned them.

They could have been just fine never knowing.

"None of you would have been hurt had you never known." She told him. "It hadn't concerned any of you." She mumbled. "It had only concerned me, and Solana..." She let her eyes fall closed.

"Not true."

Her eyes snapped open, and this time she did look at Laxus. He was giving her a neutral stare,

"You shouldn't keep secretes from the Guild." He told her. "I'll admit, no one tells everyone everything, but something as big as that should have been shared, because it didn't only affect you and the red-head."

She blinked.

"It affected the world. You did screw the Balance up, you know." He pointed out. "But it affected everyone at the Guild even more." He sighed, "They were worried about you. They are _still_ worried about you." He gave her a hard glare. "This is almost the exact same mess you have yourself in, as the last time."

She blinked in confusion; not exactly sure what he meant by the words.

_The last time...?_

"When you kept the fact that you were dying from everyone." He went on, "You don't seem to realize how much of an effect this is having on all of them. You don't realize how much it hurts them to see you come back so wounded, you don't see how worried they get about you..." He trailed off and looked away. "... Your too worried about keeping all of them safe, you stop trying to keep yourself safe, and it only ends up hurting everyone and you."

Frea stared in utter shock at him, never believing he would ever have been able to read the situation like that, let alone put it into words and actually say it aloud.

This was not something you saw from him everyday, this was the side of Laxus that had been hidden for years. The side that understood, the side that could easily read people, the side of him that always seemed to know what to say.

"Your gonna have to learn that you can't keep everyone from getting hurt all the time, and your gonna have to learn that keeping secrets doesn't help anything." He finished with a finalizing tone, eye closing and she stared.

This... This was the Laxus she wished everyone could see. The Laxus that had learned his lesson, the Laxus that had learned from his mistakes, and become a much better person.

She smiled, her eyes closing and head resting against the bench again.

"Your right..." She agreed quietly.

"Of course I'm right." He huffed.

"Why don't you act this smart all the time?" She asked in a slightly teasing tone.

"What the hell is that suppose to mean?" He growled. She opened her eyes and lift her head to look his way again, still smiling as she gave him a very meaningful look.

"You know what I mean." She replied evenly, and he blinked, before looking away quickly, not seemingly comfortable with the look she was giving him.

"Tch.."

She let her eyes and head fall back again, feeling rather successful, upon feeling the flustered and embarrassed emotions start dancing off of him at her words.

Oh yes, he knew very well what she meant.

She sighed, _Thanks for... Just being you, Laxus..._

They fell into silence again, the sun had started to sink by the time they had finished their conversation, neither one of them moving or saying anything. They just remained in content silence, both thinking what the other said over, before Laxus broke the silence again.

But this time he didn't do it with words, he instead had found himself looking her over slowly.

Frea had actually looked to have dozed off a little, and he was hit with the realization of just how tired she had looked. He had noticed it before, but for Frea to actually start to doze off? It wasn't normal.

Then he thought back to the scent of sickness hanging over her.

No energy, falling asleep... She was sick? Like _seriously_ sick?

Without even stopping to think about it, just because his own curiosity got the better of him, he reached an arm forward and pressed his hand to her forehead before she had any time to react.

Frea's eyes snapped open at the action, staring up at him in shock.

She was hot to the touch, and he frowned slightly at the realization. "You know you have a fever, right?" He asked, drawing his hand away. She looked away,

"I'm very aware..." She mumbled.

That was surprising for him. In all the years he had know her, he had never once seen her get sick, never have a fever, nothing. Not even once.

Then she really did get hurt a lot more than he had thought..

"You think its a good idea to be out of bed when your sick?" He questioned, face neutral.

"I'm fine." She mumbled. "I'm just tired is all, and I couldn't stay in my room anymore, I have been there for the past six days straight." She sighed at the skeptical look he have her,

"Did you think about asking Wendy to help?" He asked and she shook her head. "And why not?"

"Because Wendy won't be able to help." She replied honestly. "I'm sick for the same reason I lost my voice, its an after-affect of using a certain Spell." He quirked an eyebrow, "Its not something Wendy's Magic would be able to fix, and I thought it better to just get over it on my own."

"And what Spell would that be?" He asked, and she looked away, falling silent for a long time.

"... I used Forbidden Magic..." She mumbled under her breath, and he perked upon catching the words.

Forbidden Magic? He wasn't even under the impression Frea would know any... Let alone could ever use it.

However, Forbidden Magic would account for the sickness, and losing her voice. Laxus himself had never used Forbidden Magic, or bothered to learn any, he didn't see the point. But he did know of it, and he knew the basics of what would happen to any Mage who used it.

On the account of losing her voice, it was more or less a choice of four;

**_-Hear No Evil_ **   
**_-Speak No Evil_ **   
**_-See No Evil_ **   
**_-Do No Evil_ **

It was one of there four choices a Mage would have to choose as a sort of 'punishment' for using Forbidden Magic, especially for a 'light' Mage like Frea.

She had clearly chosen **_Speak No Evil_** , considering she hadn't been able to talk for awhile.

But he knew that there were other backlashes to using Forbidden Magic that were more specific to the Spell in which someone would use, and although he didn't know all of them specific for the one Frea had used, he guessed her getting sick was a part of it.

If that was the case, then she was right, and Wendy's Magic would not help her.

"...are you ok?" He asked, he felt he should considering using Forbidden Magic was dangerous for anyone, and she was clearly not doing so well.

Frea blinked in pure surprise at him, jaw dropping slightly and he quirked an eyebrow at the expression, not sure what to make of it.

"Your not going to lecture me?" She breathed, and he shook his head a little.

"No... Why would I?" He replied, "Its not as if I can keep you from doing stupid shit."

Frea stared, seemingly both shocked, and maybe a little relieved she would not be receiving a lecture, though he had to wonder who had actually given her one..?

She let out a sigh after a moment, and dropped her head to rest against the bench once more, eyes closing and smiling slightly.

"I'm ok." She replied quietly, "I'm actually doing a lot better, earlier this week... Well, not so much."

He nodded and glanced away, figuring that Moon hadn't been telling the truth of how Frea had been doing. The dark grey Exceed had come to the Guild Hall on occasion throughout the week, and when questioned of her Dragon Slayer Partner, she had remained vague.

He assumed Moon had been trying to keep everyone from worrying too much, and probably was trying to keep them away from a very sick Frea; who would want nothing to do with them.

He shook his head at the thought, before glancing toward the sinking sun, and darkening sky behind them.

"Come on." He murmured, causing Frea to open her eyes again.

"Hmm?"

"Its time you went home." He told her, "Its almost dark."

Frea paused a moment, before giving in and sitting up, removing her legs from his lap.

Laxus stood up and turned toward her, holding out a hand to help her up. She took the offer and climbed to her feet with a pull from him.

With that, they both headed back into the town in silence.


	16. Favorite Element?

**Chapter 16**

**Favorite Element?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

"What's up?" Frea smiled, standing in the entrance to the Guild Hall, one hand placed on her hip, while the other waved at the members already inside. Her smile grew wider at the surprise looks she got from everyone, before they all smiled.

"Welcome back!"

"Good to see you got your voice back!"

"How are you feeling?"

"Been awhile!"

Frea chuckled slightly at the shouts going out around the Hall; she could immediately feel the mood lighten, and the Guild's positive emotions only helped to make her feel a lot better.

Right now, she didn't care she was going to be questioned, she felt a whole lot better now, she felt like she could handle anything.

Two days ago had been when she had spoken with Laxus; and in the day that had followed, her fever had gone, and she didn't feel sick anymore.

She and Laxus hadn't talked while they had walked back into the center of town together, rather they had only continued along in content silence, both of them seeming to feel they had said all that needed to be said.

Now, she had felt today was the day to go to the Guild, answer any remaining questions, and spend some time around the people she loved.

"Frea!"

A blob of blue fur ran into her chest, smiling widely and looking overjoyed at her appearance. She hugged Happy a little, smiling a bit more at his antics. "We missed you soooooooo much!" Happy told her, and she tilted her head.

"I didn't leave you know." She reminded, "I was just home sick for a few days."

"More like a week." Moon reminded gently from where her Exceed Partner stood beside her.

Frea nodded a little to show she had heard, though she didn't look Moon's way. Happy released himself from her grasp and floated in front of her, smiling from ear to ear.

"How are you feeling?" Wendy approached her slowly, with Mira and Carla in tow.

Frea looked to the small Dragon Slayer and smiled at her, "I feel a lot better." She replied truthfully, earning a relieved smile from Wendy and Mira alike.

"That's good to hear." Mira smiled,

Frea looked around the Hall, she had noticed it before she came in, Aisha was not here. This did nothing but make her happy, she hadn't been looking forward to seeing her today. But now that she payed more attention... Chase was missing too.

"What happened to Chase?" She asked, eyes sweeping the hall. She didn't know why she bothered looking, she knew his Energy Signature was not in the Hall.

"He went on a mission with Aisha." Mira replied and Frea stiffened in surprise, gaze snapping back to the white-haired Mage. Moon's jaw dropped a little, and Frea stopped her jaw from doing the same.

"Seriously?" Both Frea and Moon asked at once, the statement seeming to shock both of them beyond belief.

Mira nodded.

"I couldn't believe it either." Lucy sighed, appearing beside Frea within moments, sweatdropping slightly. "But... Chase does already seem to have a knack for getting along with Aisha." The blonde admitted.

The statement from Lucy had less of an impact on her. Frea knew first hand that Chase was rather good at getting along with all sorts of people; and if she was being completely honest, she wasn't surprised that he may actually get along with the MoonLight Mage fairly well, even despite what had happened between Aisha and herself.

She was just shocked he would _want_ to try and get along with her, let alone go on a job with her.

With a shake of her head, Frea let out a low sigh and did her best to push the thought to the back of her head. She didn't want to think about it, and she wasn't going to.

With a shrug she walked forward and took a seat down on top of the bar, turning to face the Guild. She took notice that Master Makarov was not where he usually sat on the bar, she guessed he was in his office.

Fixing the Guild in a steady gaze she tilted her head toward them.

"Alright, let's answer all of your questions now, shall we?" She invited. She wanted to get this done as fast as she could, so they could really start to move on.

She was not surprised at the amount of questions still left, and she tried to come up with a way to answer them to the best of her ability.

* * *

 

As the questions came to a close, things in the Guild went back to how it normally was; rowdy.

Gray and Natsu were brawling in the center of the hall, though she had opted for staying out of the fighting for now, not exactly feeling up to it.

She had actually moved to a table beside Gajeel, Levy, Moon, Wendy, Carla, Lily and Lisanna siting at the same one, with Cana on top of a table behind them drinking a barrel of liquor.

Lisanna and Levy were talking away happily, while Moon and Lily did the same, Wendy and Carla listening in with small smiles and adding their own words occasionally.

Frea was listing to the conversations silently, feeling very content to just sit there and listen. But she did cast a glance sideways at Gajeel, who sat beside her with a plate full of different types of metal parts,

Gears, scraps, springs, bolts

He was eating his meal in silence, eyes locked on to Levy's conversation as he continued to chew quietly.

Without a word, she reached over and snatched a gear from the top of his plate,

Gajeel stopped chewing immediately and rounded on her, "What the hell do you think your doin'?!" He snapped, and she glanced his way calmly.

"Does it matter? Its not like this is the only one you have." She replied calmly.

"So?! What the hell do ya want it for?!" He snapped again, by now earning everyone's attention at the table and nearby. "Its not like you can eat it!"

Frea blinked once, before she smirked at him.

She bit down on the gear, her fangs easily sliding through the metal, and chewed, giving the Iron Dragon Slayer and amused look once his jaw fell and hit the table top.

This reaction was duplicated by other Members who had glanced over at the commotion, two people being Natsu and Gray who had seemed to forget they had previously been fighting.

"WHAT?!"

She finished chewing and swallowed, looking to Gajeel with an even more amused smirk, because he had been left speechless, unlike others.

"Why can you eat it?!" Natsu demanded, appearing beside the table in an instant with Gray and Lucy following closely.

"I thought Energy was your Element..?" Wendy asked in a low, awed voice.

Frea looked to Natsu, eyebrow quirked. Had he already forgotten what she had told him..?

_What an idiot._

"I thought I already told you, Natsu." She sighed. "I can eat more than one Element." She shook her head at the bewildered look he gave her, "Remember? I ate your fire when I was fighting Senna, and I explained it to you after I woke up?" She reminded, and he finally remembered.

"Oh yeah!" He grinned, "I didn't think you could eat iron like the Metal-Head though!"

"I didn't know you could eat any other Elements..." Wendy breathed, before giving Frea a very impressed and awed look, her eyes wide an shining. "That's amazing Frea!"

"I agree; even other Dragon Slayers get sick when they eat something that isn't their Element!" Levy smiled, with a look at Gajeel and Natsu. Both male Dragon Slayers looked away with huffs.

Natsu had become quite sick after eating Laxus' Lightning, and even Gajeel had been sick to his stomach after eating Rogue's Shadows.

Frea shrugged, "I can only do it because Chaitanya made me practice eating things besides Energy." She paused, "And because my Magic allows me to." She added in, just in case Natsu or any of the other Dragon Slayers decided to do something stupid.

She glanced to Gajeel, who had not said a word, but she had been aware of him glaring at her. Upon seeing her looking at him, he spoke up. "Just because you can eat it, don't mean ya get to go stealing my food!" He told her firmly and she smiled softly.

"I was hungry." She replied. "As I said, you have plenty. Can't you learn to share?" She asked in a teasing tone.

"Hell no! Its my food and I'm gonna eat it!"

She sighed and shook her head, "Tch... Fine, but you don't have to keep yelling." She muttered, not in the mood to argue back and forth with him, when it was clear he wasn't going to let it go.

With one last huff, and in an act of stubbornness, Gajeel stuffed all of his food, plate and all, into his mouth, like he was preventing her from snatching away any more. She shook her head at him and rolled her eyes, he was really touchy about his food, she would remember that in the future.

Because in the future, when she finally felt fully healed, she was gonna steal some of his food again, and then she would fight with him over it.

She didn't plan to fight now, so she decided to give it up.

"I've always wanted to ask," Levy spoke up, and Frea turned her attention on the Script Mage. "Does Energy occur naturally like fire or iron does?" Levy asked. "I've never seen you actually eat any Energy."

"... Not in the same way." Frea told her slowly. "It does exist on its own all over the world, but its never in physical form where I would be able to eat it." She tapped her nails to the table a few times. "Everything has Energy in some form, Magic is an example of Energy... But its not pure Energy." She took in a breath. "I can eat all sorts of Magic, and other Elements because of the Energy inside. But there isn't any form of Energy in the world I could just go out and find like Iron or Fire. My Magic, and Chase's Magic however, are pure forms of Energy in a way. Its still Magic, but its still Energy.." She smiled sheepishly. "Its a little confusing, I apologize."

"So your Dragon was making sure you could eat other things to gain Power, by making you eat other Elements?" Carla asked. Frea nodded,

"Yep, that was her plan." She told the Exceed.

"And you don't get sick from eating any of the other Elements?" Wendy asked.

"Not entirely." Frea admitted. "I can only eat some, I can't eat them all. Some of them just don't agree with me, and if I eat them, I will get sick. But, I tend to keep from eating things that'll do that to me." She said with a meaningful look at Gajeel and Natsu.

"That seems to be an advantage." Lily commented. "You would have the opportunity to regain your strength in battle more often than other Dragon Slayers, and with the risk of it hurting you being considerably less." Levy, Wendy, Gray, Cana, and Lisanna agreed, with a few other people spread out around the hall who were listening in.

Natsu tilted his head, "So what's your favorite thing to eat?" He asked.

"Energy, obviously." She answered with a look that seemed to say,

'What a stupid question'

The look was duplicated by many of the others, but Natsu didn't seem to care about it.

"I meant other than Energy." He continued. "What other Element besides Energy do you like the best?" He seemed considerably interested, and so did many of the others once the question was asked.

All eyes turned toward Frea, and she sweatdropped slightly, not particularly sure she liked the question.

She knew what her answer was; almost immediately and without having to think about it... But she didn't actually want to tell them what it was.

"I... Wouldn't know, I haven't tried all of them." She replied after a moment, earning a disappointed look from several of the members.

Moon looked toward her curiously, being attentive enough to have seen how uncomfortable her Partner had become at the question. She wasn't sure what Frea had become so tense, and when she looked at her closely, Frea almost seemed...

Embarrassed?

Moon was not the only one to notice the sudden, yet subtle, nervous behavior of the Energy Dragon Slayer.

Mira, who had come to stand behind Lucy was watching Frea with narrowed eyes, knowing very well that the Energy Dragon Slayer was avoiding answering, for whatever reason. She would like to know why, but she knew asking Frea directly may not be the best idea.

Mira tapped a finger to her chin, thinking of what she already knew. She had seen Frea eat both fire and iron now, and she had never seen her eat anything else. That meant whatever her answer might have been, would have to be something Frea had probably eaten before joining Fairy Tail... The answer being something that would effectively make her nervous about doing the truth...

Mira smiled a little wickedly when one thought popped into her head.

 _Oh..._ She was certain she knew what Frea's answer was going to be, and she knew what she hadn't told them what it was...

Mira couldn't keep herself from giggling a little, feeling rather amused by the Energy Dragon Slayer. She would never understand why Frea had such a hard time showing her feelings about most things... But she only found it funnier.

A certain blonde haired man was leaning against a pillar on the second floor, looking down toward the table where Frea had just quickly changed the subject. He had his arms crossed over his chest, one eyebrow quirked at the Energy Dragon Slayer.

He had been listening to the conversation at the table for awhile now. It both confused, clarified, and amused him.

He wouldn't forget Gajeel's expression when Frea had eaten the iron gear; but at the same time, he had been shocked she had done such a thing.

He had not known that she was able to eat other Elements before this instance, having been absent for when Senna had attacked Fairy Tail so long ago now.

He was surprised, and at at the same time he wasn't. It wasn't hard for him to understand that Frea was not like all other Dragon Slayers, that had become increasingly clear to him.

So why wouldn't she be able to eat other Elements with ease?

He had been a little surprised that she had given up arguing with Gajeel so easily, but he was sure she wasn't in any mood, or condition for that matter, to argue or fight with the Iron Dragon Slayer.

But it was her reaction to Natsu's question that intrigued him the most. The way she had become nervous about it, embarrassed even, he had to wonder what had gone through her head to make her react that way.

Though she hadn't actually given an answer to the question, he had the feeling she had kept herself tom saying what she really felt.

But... Why though?


	17. Let's Destroy Things

**Chapter 17**

**Let's Destroy Things!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

"Alright! Who wants to brawl?!"

The front doors of the Guild Hall were thrown open to reveal Frea standing in the entrance, smirking as she cracked her knuckles. Her eyes immediately landed on the Member who would probably want to brawl with her.

Natsu jumped to his feet immediately, looking pumped up for the oncoming battle. "Hell yeah!" He grinned. He sprinted toward her, fist encased in fire. "I'm all fired up!"

Frea smirked more and readied herself for his attack, glad someone had immediately accepted her challenge.

She was in an extremely good mood, having just come back from a Job she had taken half a day ago, and finished it with sooooo much ease. She felt good, her wounds were healed, and even better;

She was back to full Power, and she loved it.

It had been about four days since she had spoken with Laxus, and she had healed considerably well in such a short amount of time. And, she had stopped having to sift through Aisha's memories, which was a plus. Even better, her visit with the Council had happened, and was over. It actually hadn't been as bad as she thought it would be...

* * *

 

_"DoranBolt..." Frea murmured, coming to a pause in her walking, before turning around to see him approach her from behind. She had been taking a late-evening stroll through the forest, close to where the Guild's Hall had been for those seven years the Tenrou Team had been gone._

_She had been aware of his presence the minute he teleported into the trees a ways behind her, and had just been waiting for him to actually talk to her this time, instead of keep his distance as he had been doing for the last few days._

_He appeared between the trees, approaching her slowly and wearing his normal Council attire. He wore a neutral expression, and nodded his head to her a little._

_"Frea.." He murmured, coming to a stop in front of her._

_"You've come to ask about the Magic Anomalies, right?" She asked first, before he could say anything further._

_"Yes." He murmured. "The Council wants to know exactly what you were doing, expending that amount of Magic Power without warning has concerned them." He paused. "Also... I would like for you to explain why you decided to keep your name a secret." His voice lowered, and Frea blinked._

_That last request for an answer... That sounded a little personal to her, it was something he himself wanted to know, not the Council itself. She could even feel several different emotions flicker off of him in that instant, confusion, anger... And worry?_

_She nodded slowly, "Alright then, that doesn't surprise me." She murmured, and he just stared, waiting patiently for the answers._

_He remained in silence as she explained what the two Magic Anomalies were, and why she had caused them. She expressed it on a few different occasions,_ again _, that neither of them threatened anyone in Fiore, or Fiore itself. A little repetitive, but something she felt she needed to get across._ _She had had her own trouble with the council before, more than her fair share by most standards, and she really didn't need to be arrested, or even reprimanded for what she had done._

_DoranBolt listened, only interrupting on a few occasions to clear up a few details. His reaction to the story did not surprise her, and yet it did._

_He was thoroughly shocked, just as the Guild had been, but even then, his shock faded almost instantly. She assumed this was because he must have pieced a few things together himself before asking._ _Even if it was fading fast, shock was the one emotion she could feel clearly from him. She could only wonder how the Council leaders were going to react once DoranBolt reported the details to them._

_She sweatdropped slightly, even if DoranBolt may believe that she had not meant any harm with her Spells, she was sure a few Council leaders were going to react to it in a completely different way._ _She may be a labeled as a threat, someone they saw had too much Power. She could be arrested, and hated by the Council... Not that any of that would be new, because in all honesty she knew even this newer version of the Magic Council were still wary of her for having been a Demon all those years ago._

_"As to why I chose to keep my identity hidden..." She trailed off, she felt as if she should voice her thoughts on not wanting to be labeled a threat, but something told her DoranBolt had already considered that, and that answer would not do. He wanted to know something else, and she was slightly confused by it. "I didn't want to labeled as anything other than who I am. I didn't want Fiore or the Council to see me as a Danger." Frea paused, watching his reaction carefully._

_"I understand that." DoranBolt answered calmly, and his eyes dropped to the ground. "I... wish to know, why you thought disclosing your identity to me, would have been even less preferable, than revealing it to the rest of the Council..." His voice trailed off._

_Frea stiffened, eyes growing wide in surprise. She blinked a few times, trying to register what he said._ _He... He was worried about her faith in him? Her ability to trust him? That was... Surprising, to say the least._

_She had never grown to know DoranBolt, never bothered to. He didn't even hardly know her, outside of a few sparse encounters and dealings. They had no reason to trust each other..._

_But what she had written in that note back at Black Chimera had been true. She did trust in him, surprising considering he was a Council Member._

_But she didn't trust him because she had gotten to know him, because she had learned things about him, and built a relationship through working together._ _She trusted him, because she could tell he was a truly honest man, one who would lay down his life for what he believed in. He was someone who would stand up to authority should he need to, and break rules should the need arise. She did not sense evil in him, nor did she sense dishonesty from him._

_It was because she could sense what sort of person he really was, she had decided to, and felt she could trust him._

_"DoranBolt, you think too much into things." She sighed slightly, and he blinked in confusion. "You're reading the situation wrong, its not a question of whether or not I felt I could really trust you." She gave him a level look, "I do trust you."_

_He blinked a few times, not really sure what to make of the words. "I can sense that you're honest, I trust you because I feel I truly can. But remember, it wasn't only you and the Council I kept my identity and actions from, I kept it from my Guild as well." She looked away. "My silence wasn't an issue of trust... I was only trying to keep people from worrying... But keeping it secret was the wrong thing to do." She rubbed the back of her neck and smiled a little sheepishly. "That point I actually had someone pound into my head until I understood keeping it a secret was wrong. I hadn't ended up keeping people from worrying, instead I had made them worry more... The Guild, everyone... Including you it would seem." She looked back to him and smiled apologetically._

_"Please relax, alright? It wasn't anything you did, all of this was solely me, and my own doing."_

_DoranBolt stared at her for a long while, the words processing in his mind slowly. When at last he managed to reply, she could feel his mood lighten, and a sense of relief wash over him, a feeling she smiled at._

_"Thank you," He told her softly, pausing. ".... truth be told, I came here on a lead. The Council doesn't actually know it was you who caused the Anomalies, as of yet..... and they don't have to know it was you, either." Frea blinked, her head tilting slightly. "I know the Council isn't very fond of you.... if you think it better, I'd be willing to report back that my lead fell through. You don't have to be connected to any of this, if you'd rather not be."  
_

_Frea blinked, before smiling slightly. "Thank you... I think it'll work out better if they don't know." He nodded in understanding, smiling slightly.  
_

_"Until we meet again then?" He asked and she nodded,_

_"I look forward to our next meeting, DoranBolt."_

_He turned to start walking away, but before he did so, he paused and glanced over his shoulder toward her again. "I forgot..."_

* * *

 

"Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!" Natsu grinned, jumping into the air as he neared her, arms alighting with his flames. He slashed down,

"Energy Dragon Wing Attack!" She countered his move with her own, jumping into the air toward him, her arms blazing with the light of her own Magic.

The two of them met head on, their attacks sending out a wave of mingled Energy and Flame throughout the Hall. They smiled at each other, liking the idea of a challenge. They separated, landing on their feet and smiling even more. They were oblivious to the yells sent out by other Members who had barely avoided getting hit with the Magic, and they didn't seem to care about the overturned tables, of burning/destroyed furniture.

Whoever may have wanted to join in, suddenly re-thought that idea, finding it a bit smarter to stay out of it this time. The amount of damage both Frea and Natsu had done only a minute into the fight had convinced them it was better to refrain from destroying any more the two were bound to.

One thing was for sure, once Master found out, he was going to be pissed.

But for the meantime, the other Members backed off the two to give them room, not looking to be caught by any out of control Magic.

Frea sprung toward Natsu in seconds, fist brought back and blazing with Magic. "Energy Dragon Iron Fist!" Natsu barely managed to avoid the hit, twisting out of the way. But he was instead hit in the back when Frea whipped around, getting behind him in seconds. She slammed a hand to the center of the Fire Dragon Slayer's back,

"Energy Force!"

Natsu was sent flying toward a wall, slamming into it hard enough so he made a crater, and the stone began to crumble, burying him under it.

A wave of force and air spiraled out toward the watching members, it hitting them, and their eyes widened to realize how much Power had been put into that attack.

Frea grinned the the rubble, both fists clenched in front of her. Her entire body was surrounded by her Magic, blazing up around her wildly, glowing with bright silver light. "I thought you said you were fired up, Natsu?!" She called out.

The rubble was sent flying in a flash of brilliant flame, Natsu jumping to his feet, engulfed in his flames a lot like Frea as engulfed in her own Magic, fists clenched and eyes burning in determination. "I am!" He shouted back. Frea raised a hand to him and gestured toward her, smirking,

"Come at me then, Flame-Brain!"

"Hehe! You got it!" Natsu ran at her, his flames singing a few tables nearby.

The center of the hall was suddenly engulfed in a large amount of light, both Fire and Energy combining as they continued to brawl, both Dragon Slayers looking extremely pleased all the while.

"Oh my.." Mira murmured, hand pressed to her face and smiling nervously at the destruction quickly being inflicted on the Building. "They certainly seem to have a lot of energy this morning, don't they?" She asked.

"That's an understatement..." Gray mumbled.

"Juvia is surprised Frea was so quick to fight." Juvia murmured.

"They're destroying everything..." Wendy whispered in a low, slightly shaky voice, looking a bit off-put by all the destruction.

"They're going to bring down the Building on us!" Carla scolded in a disapproving tone.

"Well Frea's certainly feeling a lot better." Lisanna smiled nervously.

"No kidding." Elfman told her.

"Natsu sure jumped in fast, didn't he?" Happy mumbled around the fish he was chewing on. Lily nodded in agreement from where he stood atop the bar counter beside the blue Exceed, paws crossed over his chest.

"I wonder where Moon is though?" Lily asked, noticing Frea's seemingly missing Partner.

"She wasn't with Silver when she came in." Gajeel huffed, several of them looked toward the open doors for the grey Exceed.

"Hmm.."

"Frea! You promised you wouldn't destroy everything when we got back damn it!"

Everyone's eyes snapped to the center of the Hall, where they sweatdropped upon seeing a very furious Moon floating nearby the fighting Dragon Slayers, fists clenched and fur on end, vein ticked on her forehead as she glared daggers at her Partner.

They blinked, not having seen Moon come into the Hall at all.

Moon was ignored though, and several people winced upon hearing the impact of Frea's fist against Natsu's face. Natsu was sent through the back wall of the Guild, completely destroying said wall, only adding to the growing destruction.

Moon was shaking with anger, and she closed her eyes. "What an Idiot I swear!" She hissed, clearly not happy that her Partner was so destructive. She gave up scolding her Partner, and floated over to plop herself down on the Counter beside everyone else, vein still ticked on her forehead and paws crossed over her chest, letting out an aggravated growl as she did so. Several people smiled at her, knowing all to well that there wasn't a chance Frea was going to listen, being as pumped up as she was now.

Even if that meant the Guild Hall was torn down.

"Welcome back." Mira told her, "How did the mission go? It seems like Frea still had a lot of pent-up energy." The barmaid said with a smile, her usually cheery demeanor remaining even though the Guild Hall was being destroyed around her.

"Apparently, taking down an entire Thieves Guild couldn't satisfy her." Moon replied dryly, her words holding an air of annoyance.

Several of them blinked in shock at the words, an entire Thieves Guild? Taken down only by the two of them?

"So it wasn't very hard then?" Mira asked.

Moon sighed a shrugged, "No, a couple hundred low level Wizards who mostly used Requip and Holder Type Magic." The Exceed explained, a few members jaws dropped.

_A couple hundred?!_

"Definitely not even close to be a challenge for Frea, considering she was blowing through them like nothing, she didn't seem to have any fun fighting them at all." Moon explained, and Mira nodded a bit, along with Erza who had walked up to the counter. "They weren't exactly the brightest people, and none of them shielded their minds in any way, so I wouldn't say it was hard for me either." Moon gestured a paw toward the Energy Dragon Slayer, "But as you can tell, she couldn't wait to fight someone who would be more of a challenge for her."

"Now hold on!" Gray spoke up suddenly, Moon glanced his way, eyebrow quirked. "Did you say a couple hundred?!"

"Yes... I would say about 200 in all." Moon told him slowly, not sure why he looked so surprised. She then noticed the shocked faces on (most) everyone else,

"And you got it done in half a day?!" Several of the surrounding Members shouted.

"Yes." Moon looked away. "Like I said, they were low-level Wizards, and easy to take down despite their numbers." She flicked her ears in their direction once it was clear that they were not convinced. "You should all know very well Frea can fight a lot of Mages when she has Energy to spare." She looked back to the fighting, frowning. "The pay wasn't even very high, and now she's going to end up blowing through it paying for all this damage."

"Energy Dragon..!" Frea leaned back a little as she sucked in air, cheeks puffing up. "Roar!"

Natsu was engulfed in a huge spinning tornado of silver that cut straight through the center of the Building. Several members blocked their faces with their arms from the wind and rubble flying up at the them from the force spiraling out from the attack.

Moon sweatdropped, looking suddenly downcast. The attack had taken out the entire back section of the Guild Hall, and she knew that they wouldn't have any money left from their mission after this.

But even more so, Master was not going to be happy, but she was a little surprised that he hadn't come out of his office to yell at Frea yet.

Frea paused a moment, the fight was going to continue outside, knowing Natsu had been launched out of the building from her Roar. But she blinked a few times, as if a thought suddenly occurred to her.

"Oh, Wendy." Frea called over to the small Dragon Slayer, causing Wendy to jump out of her skin, not expecting her name to be called by the very person who took out half the building with one Roar.

"Y-yes?" Wendy stammered.

Frea smiled a little, "I forgot to tell you," she explained. "DoranBolt says 'hi'." She smiled; before she took off outside to continue her brawl.

Wendy blinked, that not having been what she had expected to hear. "DoranBolt...?"

Carla turned to Moon, "When did Frea talk with him?" She asked.

"And why?" Happy spoke up also.

Moon tapped a paw to her chin."Well, we knew the Council was going to want answers eventually. It just turns out that DoranBolt was the one who showed up to question her... That was about two days ago." Moon shrugged. "I think he wanted to know a few things himself, that's why he showed up instead of a Rune Knight."

"What the hell happened?!"

Everyone's gazes snapped up to the second floor balcony, where they sweatdropped upon seeing Master Makarov leaning against the railing, eyes wide and bulging slightly. He was staring at the amount of destruction that had been done to his Guilld Hall. Chairs and tables smashed, smoldering and destroyed. The floor was torn up, a few patches of wall crumbling, and a large section of the back wall was completely gone, and they could very well hear the fighting going on outside.

The Old Man started shaking with anger, and his eyes closed, vein ticking on his forehead, fists clenching at his sides. Suddenly the room darkened, and a deep shadow passed over the figure of Makarov, here his eyes seemed to glow faintly. "YOU BRATS!" He yelled in a booming voice. He stomped down the stairs, going into his Titan Form and went outside to chase down the two responsible.

Moon sweatdropped and shook her head, no, they would definitely be broke once Master made them pay for all the damage... They might even have to earn more money...

Something told her Frea wouldn't care, the Energy Dragon Slayer only really cared about getting her energy out, and no amount of expenses or being yelled out was going to put a damper on her mood.

_Damn Dragon Slayers... They always seem to be so destructive..._


	18. Mission Level: Above S-Class

**Chapter 18**

**Mission Level: Above S-Class**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

Frea stared at Master Makarov with slightly wide eyes, sweatdropping the tiniest bit.

That... How in the hell could he think this was going to be a good idea?

She couldn't understand it, how could she? The last time he had sent her on a mission similar to this, it had not turned out very well. Sure, they got it done, but she hadn't enjoyed it, if anything, she had only been angered by it.

Moon looked between Master Makarov and Frea, her own eyes wide from where she sat in the Energy Dragon Slayer's shoulder. She couldn't believe it had been suggested, having seen the memories of what happened between the two of them before. This wasn't something Moon had anticipated to happen, and why would she? It was clear to her that it was not a good idea, and she knew Frea wasn't going to like it.

It had been four days since Frea had torn up the Guild Hall with the help of Natsu. As Moon had predicted, they had lost all their recently earned money for the Thieves Guild job to pay for the damage the Energy Dragon Slayer had caused, and then some.

On a different note, Aisha and Chase had still not come back to the Guild Hall, and she was starting to wonder what Mission they had gone on, and when she asked Mira about it, the only answer she had gotten, was that Master himself had sent them on the Mission.

Anyway, the Guild Hall was fixed now, and everything had gone back to normal. Surprisingly, Frea had not been lectured about it as much as she had assumed she would be, but she wasn't going to complain about it.

This though? She might just complain a little.

Master only gazed at her calmly, taking in her reaction silently. He had been expecting her to yell as soon as he had finished speaking, yet she hadn't.

"You can't seriously think this is a good idea." She told the Old Man after a moment, finally getting over her shock. "You know things didn't go well last time we went on a Mission together." She muttered.

"As much as you two may have fought, you did complete the Mission within a short amount of time, and with little problem." Master reminded. "Besides, I was under the impression the two of you were getting along better nowadays." He said with a meaningful look and she looked away.

"Sort of..." She mumbled.

"All I ask is that you work together to get the Mission done," Master explained. "It'll be difficult, but I have no doubt should you two get along, you can take down the target." He said, giving her a look that was full of calm serenity, she knew he believed they could get this mission done no problem, but only if they were willing to work together.

She wasn't going to decline, she wasn't going to tell him no. She wasn't going to tell him she wouldn't take on the mission. She couldn't, a sort of flaw, she had never once openly admitted to anyone she wouldn't be able to do a mission, no matter what it was.

Maybe it was just her pride, something she couldn't let happen, should it damage her self esteem in anyway.

None the less, she would never tell Master Makarov no, never had been able to when he asked her to complete a mission for him, and even though she wasn't happy with who he was partnering her up with for this, she still wouldn't tell him no.

Letting out a soft sigh, she rubbed the back of her neck and met his gaze steadily. "Alright, I'll do it, but I can't promise we won't fight." She replied truthfully and he smiled softly.

"Thank you, your train will leave at 8 tonight, better not to miss it." He told her. "Thank you for this, it's of the utmost importance this creature is taken care of it, the Council itself has asked me to have it disposed of."

Frea nodded on understanding, she knew how important this was to the Council, even if she didn't really like them, this was something she agreed with. It was for the good of the people of Fiore.

"Right." She murmured and headed out,

"Good luck." Master called as she reached the door, and stepped outside,

"Thanks." She replied,

"Make me proud..."

She had almost gotten the door completely closed when she heard him murmur the words under his breath, almost too low for even her to hear, as if he had not wanted her too. She faltered slightly, before actually closing the door all the way. Moon noticed the falter, and cast a questioning gaze her way, but didn't ask. Frea walked toward the main part of the Guild, eyes narrowed and staring at the floor.

_'Make me proud'...?_

"You seem to be taking this well." Moon commented as the Guild came into sight. Frea glanced her way slowly, before looking away.

The Exceed was smirking.

"How am I supposed to take it?" Frea muttered, eyes closing. She walked across the empty second floor and stopped at the railing beside a pillar, resting her hands on the wood

"I don't know." Moon replied. "I expected you to yell, or complain at least."

"... Not this time." Frea murmured, and Moon blinked, ears flicking a little. The Energy Dragon Slayer's eyes were fixed on the first floor.

Moon quirked an eyebrow, not understanding what she meant completely. She assumed she had meant she wouldn't complain about Master's Partner assignment for her this time around as opposed to the first time... But she had the feeling there was more to it than that.

Frea watched the members on the first floor silently, some of them brawling, others talking, more drinking. She hardly registered what they were doing though, and their voices were just noise in the background.

Not for the first time recently, she got the feeling that Master was acting off, he was keeping secrets, and not telling her everything. He had been this way for awhile now, since the end of the GMG and the Dragon Fight. She had thought nothing of it, knowing that if Master believed it to be important, he would talk when he was ready.

But she wanted to know what he had going through his head. She wanted to know why he was acting so off, especially around her. Even this Mission didn't seem normal, there had to be some ulterior motive for him to send her on this Mission... She let out a long sigh, eyes falling closed for a moment.

"Hello Energy Dragon."

Frea's eyes snapped open at the voice, and Energy Signature flaring up next to her suddenly. She looked right to see Jynx sitting atop the railing, smiling slightly as the ghost glanced her way.

"Where in the hell have you been?" Frea muttered. Jynx had been nowhere in sight since the day the Balance tipped, the day everything had been chaos. She had not seen, nor talked to the ghost, not once since then, and it was Jynx's silence that bothered her the most.

Because Jynx was an absolute mystery to her, and she didn't really like it.

"I have been settling things back into their normal state within the 'White Plane' as you call it." Jynx replied calmly. "Not surprisingly, there were several issues that needed to be resolved, even after you cast your Spell." Frea raised an eyebrow at the ghost, and Jynx smiled reassuringly. "All things I could handle fine on my own mind you, and none of them exceptionally serious."

Frea glanced away, not particularly in the mood to ask about what sort of 'issues' the ghost had been dealing with.

"I have also been checking up on Chase and Aisha." Jynx spoke and Frea looked her way again,

"You have?" She asked, receiving a nod. "How's the kid? And what are they doing anyway?"

"They are both quite alright." Jynx replied, earning an annoyed look from Frea for having added Aisha into the answer. "And while I cannot go into the details regarding their mission, I can tell you its an Information Retrieval assignment."

Frea frowned slightly, assuming it had been Master Makarov himself that asked Jynx to keep Chase and Aisha's mission a secret, at least until he wanted to share it.

_Again with the damn secrets, what a pain in the ass._

She however, was not all surprised that the mission had something to do with gathering information, taking Aiaha's past and possibly even her present day side-dealings with the Council as an Information Broker, into account. It was very likely a speciality for her, and she was under the impression Master had found out about it.

That left the question in why Chase had been sent to go with her.

Her assumption was, Chase was good at getting along with all sorts of people. He had a high-tolerance level for many things, and already he had been showing a sort of knack for handling Aisha's rather... Unique, attitude.

Master Makarov liked to make everyone of Fairy Tail's members feel welcome, and sending someone as level headed and accepting as Chase on a mission with her, was a smart and calculative move. She had no doubt that Chase was going to find a way to get Aisha to relax around him and open up, he may even be able to help her overcome some of her hatred and darker feelings, having already had experiences with his own hard past.

Even giving Aisha this mission was a way to get her to trust in the Guild more. Master was trying to get her to understand that he was willing to trust her with important things, and that way she may feel a lot more relaxed around here.

"Well then, alright..." Frea murmured, eyes falling closed.

Silence.

Moon fidgeted a little, glancing between Jynx and Frea slowly. She could feel a sort of tension between the two, something she didn't understand, and had not expected to feel. To her, Jynx and Frea had gotten along fine, even though she hadn't seen the ghost girl very often.

But now? I was like both of them were waiting, just waiting for the other to say something. If she didn't know any better, she would say the two of them were sharing words within their heads.

Frea remained silent, not moving, not speaking, nothing. She was going to give Jynx the chance to speak first, just on the off chance the ghost might actually choose to explain something. She knew what she wanted to know, and she was under the impression the ghost knew exactly what she wanted from her.

This was the waiting game, the push, the dare. She was daring Jynx to come out and tell her, to get straight to the point, to explain everything.

_Why was your Magic so dark? And why did it feel so perfect intermingled with mine? But at the same time, it felt so very wrong?_

That was not something she would ever consider normal, the feeling... It bothered her, _a lot._

Jynx seemed content to simply stay silent as well, and Frea couldn't help but feel the ghost was doing the same thing she was.

They were both playing the waiting game now, and neither one of them were willing to give up just yet.

"You should prepare for your mission." Jynx said at length, and Frea stiffened at the words, eyes snapping open to look the ghosts way.

_How would she...?_

Jynx's eyes fixed on the first floor. "You shouldn't be late for your train." She explained. "... I suggest you be ready, this will be a hard trial, one I have faith you will overcome." The ghost's red eyes closed, and she smiled softly. "I have seen your power, Energy Dragon, I think its time you let everyone else see it."

Without another word, Jynx disappeared in a haze of purple, leaving Frea to stare at the place she had been, eyes narrowed and sparkling with confusion, mouth slightly open, she had been about to ask Jynx what she meant...

Moon blinked, tapping a paw to her chin lightly, Frea didn't move, she just remained completely still...

_What did she... Mean...?_

* * *

_"Are you ready, Energy Dragon?"_

Frea's eyes opened, glancing around, searching for the ghost, whose voice she recognized immediately. Within the mostly empty Train Station, she could not spot the ghost, could not feel her Energy Signature.

The breeze flowed through the station, ruffling her clothes and hair, a few leaves flowing along with it before her. She watched the green leaves float by slowly, keeping sight of them from the corner of her eye, until they had disappeared into the deepening night sky.

She looked toward the shadows for a moment, arms crossed over her chest and leaning up against a pillar.

The air was cool, calm... it was silent, unmoving, as if the world around her were holding its breath. Even the breeze was holding back, the air was adamant, noises dimmed to the point of non-existence...

She blinked, sweeping her gaze over everything slowly, nothing was wrong, yet...

_I feel like everything is waiting, waiting for something..._

"Are you alright?" Moon's voice snapped her from her thoughts, and she glanced down toward her Partner slowly, where the dark grey Exceed stood beside her. She nodded silently, face neutral, Moon blinked, and looked away.

_Waiting..._

"There you are, let's get going."

Her gaze moved over to her assigned mission partner, a certain blonde Dragon Slayer. She pushed herself off the pillar, and nodded in silence, assuming it better not to argue with his orders now, no use getting into a fight before they even began the mission, right?

Laxus lead the way on the train, the car was dark, and empty. Being as late as it was, hardly anyone took trains that ran this late into the night. Laxus took a seat, and she took a seat down across from him, Moon settling down beside her. Frea leaned back, looking out the window into the shadows beyond.

_Everything was so... Still..._

"Any idea what sort of monster this is going to be exactly?" She asked quietly, still looking out the window.

"No." Laxus grumbled. "Nothing more than what the Old Man explained." He left it at that, and Frea nodded slightly, only half-listening.

 _This is anticipation..._ She thought slowly, the feeling of waiting for something to happen, something important, something big... Special even. She felt as if the world were aware that something was about to happen, and it was holding it breath, just waiting for it to begin, calmly, silently...

This was the first time she had felt anything like this, it was odd.

_Calm Anticipation, quietly waiting for something important to begin..._

The Train moved off after a few moments, none of them said anything further, instead they just sat in silence, eyes closed and expressions neutral. They would wait for the train to stop, and the their mission would begin.

A mission so dangerous and difficult, Master had chosen to send both Frea and Laxus, two of the Guild's heaviest hitters, to take care of a nuisance, and creature unlike any other. This was no ordinary request from the Council, this was an order, do it and succeed, or die. One wrong move could kill you, one misstep could seriously injure you.

Kill the target;

A Demon from the Book of Zeref.


	19. Demon Fight

**Chapter 19**

**Demon Fight**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's and Ideas**

**.:+:.  
**

Frea came to a slow pause, eyes narrowed and lips pulled into a tight line, gaze fixed ahead on the drop in front of them. Laxus came to a slow pause in front of her, once he realized she had stopped walking, and Moon did the same "What's the deal?" Laxus murmured. "Scared?" He asked.

Frea closed her eyes, "Tch..." She let out a low growl under her breath, then looked to him again. "Hell no." She hissed at him. "That thing's a lot stronger than I anticipated, that's all. We can still take it down." Laxus glanced away, gaze sweeping over the drop off but a hundred feet in front of them.

He didn't need to be an Energy Mage in order to understand what she was talking about, even he could feel raw power radiating from the bottom of that small cliff they were headed toward. It was a drop off in the center of the land, huge, massive, and in the shape of a circle. It was lower than the rest of the land around it, with sheer cliff faces surrounding it on all sides. At their level, was a thick, deep forest not so far from where Cait Shelter used to be.

This was where the Demon was.

Frea could feel its Energy Signature, but that had not been what she had been relying on to find it, Laxus either. Both of them had been following its scent, a strong, acrid scent of Dark Magic and stone.

They had been traveling for hours now, since they had gotten off the train. All the while, her agitation with Laxus had been growing increasingly fast.

She didn't know what it was, but sometimes he was so easy to get along with, and other times, he just annoyed the shit out of her so fast and so easily, she wanted to punch him through a few trees.

She had managed to keep her temper under control so far, but he was really starting to wear on her nerves. She didn't know why, but it as almost like he was trying to make her mad, and she was under the impression he was not really in a good mood to begin with.

"I'm definitely not scared." She growled, eyes fixed ahead. "I'm never scared of going into any fight, regardless of whatever, or whoever I may be fighting." She said lowly, evenly.

Laxus didn't say anything in reply, and she took that as a sign he accepted what she said to him.

"I can't make out anything from its mind." Moon informed after a moment, ignoring the tension between the two. "It's not exceedingly smart, and I don't think it knows we're here yet." Frea nodded a little, eyes narrowing. She started forward again, dropping her cloak off on a boulder along the way as the trees cleared out around the cliff-edge. Coming to a pause, she also sent her bag back to Fairy Hills with a small swirling form of her Magic, and tied her hair up into a ponytail.

She had chosen to wear what was becoming her normal mission attire, slim black pants, a dark grey tank top, with a sleeveless black leather shirt over it that zipped up the middle, with a collar, and a strap on the inside that buckled around her neck. Her usual black combat boots, and the ribbon from Virgo to tie up her hair.

This time, she decided it better to leave the cloak off, not wanting it to get caught by the Demon. And sending her bag, and the Enogora Magrea book back would cut down on weight, she didn't want to be carrying it while she was fighting. She doubted she would need the book, or anything inside of it, until after they had finished.

She rolled her shoulders, glancing to Moon to see the Exceed still looking the way they would be headed. Laxus had begun to follow her as she walked, and she tilted her to head toward the edge.

She hadn't felt anything this truly evil since Acnologia, though it's Power was nowhere near to that of the black Dragon's. But it was not fair to say it wasn't powerful, she knew it was, and she knew this wasn't going to be easy, even with both Laxus and herself doing most of the fighting, while Moon tried to find its weakness.

A more or less solid plan, if you looked over the part where they had no idea what exactly they were to be facing. She had never gone up against any of Zeref's true Demons before, and she honestly never expected that she would. She knew that Deliora had been one, but she herself had never faced the creature.

Acnologia wasn't really a true Demon of Zeref in her mind, considering he had once been human, a human who had bathed in the blood of too many Dragons, and had been turned into the monster he now was as a result.

But she knew it was going to be strong, powerful... And really big, she hadn't felt an Energy Signature that size in a long time, it rivaled the immensity of that of a Dragon's Energy Signature.

They reached the edge of the cliff, and looked down.

She had soooo called it.

Below them, the circle sunken into the ground at the bottom of the cliffs surrounding it, was barren, dotted with rocks, boulders, stone, and bones. It looked as if the entire thing had been cast under a deep set shadow, and it almost was.

That thing was massive, easily as big as a Dragon, maybe even bigger. It looked like a bear... No, maybe like a werebear, covered in scales, spikes running across it back and long, thick tail. Its teeth glowed a sickly red glow to match its eyes, and its entire being seemed to be covered in a pitch black cloak of shadows covering every inch of it. It's claws dug into the ground, paws caved it, and its weight shook everything as it moved.

Frea frowned slightly, wrinkling her nose a little when the stench rose up just at their feet, the scent coming up from the bottom of the giant sunken in hole, it smelled of rotting flesh, spoiled meat, the undeniable stink of death that oh-so reminded her of Naraka's own breath, only just a little worse, considering the piles of rotting, unrecognizable bodies littering the ground at one end of the Demon's nest.

She had to wonder how many of those rotting bodies were human, and she suddenly understood why the Council wanted this thing taken down so badly.

But why wouldn't they have just fired Etherion at it? It wasn't as if it was near any settlements or towns, it was quite literally out in the middle of nowhere, and probably could have easily been destroyed had they tried to do that very thing...

"It knows we're here." Moon muttered, Frea and Laxus glanced her way in surprise. Moon gazed at them seriously, "It was just waiting until we reached the edge."

Frea's gaze snapped back to the Demon, to see its jaws open with red and black Magic rising from the pits of its stomach, looking straight at them.

She sighed, time for the fighting to begin. With a quick glance at Laxus, they both jumped to the side to avoid a massive amount of Magic being hurled at them from the Demon's open maw, a resounding roar from the creature echoing out over the entire forest.

Moon flew her down to the bottom of the hole, and Laxus appeared a moment later after having traveled in his Lightning Form. The three of them separated as the Demon's tail swung toward them, and Frea ran toward it, holding her arms out to the side, before jumping high into the air once she got close to it.

"Energy Dragon Wing Attack!" She flipped, her Magic encircling her arms like silver wings, and started to come down with a lot of force on the back of the Demon.

She narrowed her eyes, the shadowy matter surrounding it sprung up toward her as she did so, and she felt a wall of pressure hit her, so she was sent backwards, landing on her feet, but feeling like the wind had been knocked out of her from the impact.

As soon as the deep black got close, Her Magic was destroyed completely, causing the silver to fade and swirl away as if it were powder being caught up by the wind. She growled lowly, she knew her attack had done nothing to it, she hadn't been able to touch it before the shadow matter destroyed her Magic.

_So maybe this fight is going to be harder than I anticipated after all... How annoying._

She stiffened, eyes growing wide. She snapped her head around, attention removed from the Demon for a moment, her eyes scanned the area, the bones, rotting flesh, boulders, cliffs...

_Where the hell are Laxus and Moon?!_

Both the Lightning Dragon Slayer and her Exceed partner had disappeared, leaving her alone at the bottom of the surrounding cliffs with the Demon.

Alone.

"Let me go damn it!" Her attention snapped up to the top of the cliff they had previously been standing on, to see Laxus standing at the very edge, Moon clutched in his arms, faintly glowing yellow from coming out of his Lightning Form again. Moon was struggling to get out of the Lightning Dragon Slayer's grasp, but she was unable to get free of the hold.

"Laxus! What the hell are you doing?!" Frea shouted up to him, spinning around to face the direction he was in, fists clenched.

Laxus have her a neutral stare, "Your gonna have to take care of it." He called back,

"By myself?!" She snapped, baring her fangs.

"You got it, it only seems right I let you take down something as weak as that, it would out be a waste of my time." Laxus said evenly. Frea glared, eyes burning with pure, unshielded anger.

Now he had really pissed her off, he had made his last mistake, and she was going to make him pay for it!

_What the hell is the thought process here!? What the hell is he doing?! And why?!_

It didn't matter how much of an ass Laxus was, she had never figured him to be someone to skip out on any fight, regardless of the opponent. Sure, he may stay out of the brawling back at the Guild, but on a mission? A mission where he was _told_ to fight this demon no less?!

She narrowed her eyes, he looked so calm, like he didn't believe he was doing anything wrong...

"What the fuck Laxus?! Are you cra-!" She yelled furiously, only to be cut off once the Demon's tail slammed into her, and she was thrown away, barely managing to twist and land on her feet, sliding back over the ground a little. She hissed under her breath, having been so angry with Laxus, and confused at his actions, that she had completely overlooked the presence of the Demon. She held her ribs, feeling like some of them had been cracked; and she winced slightly at the sharp stab of pain for a moment. Damn her, she shouldn't have completely forgotten the fact that Demon was here just because of Laxus! She set a furious flare on the Demon, mad at it, herself, and most of all that stupid Lightning Dragon Slayer.

This was deliberate abandonment here, he was disobeying orders, he was leaving her to fight alone, what Guild-Mate would do that to another Guild-Mate?!

She growled, now she knew this was going to be a lot harder. She didn't have any time to yell at Laxus some more, or even try to get to him, she had to stay focused on the Demon going after her, or she might just die.

One wrong move and your dead.

"Try not to get yourself killed." Laxus called down calmly, Frea's eyes twitched the flat tone he used when he said it, as if it was some reminder to take out the trash, or even wash the dishes... He was taking it so lightly damn it! "And don't take too long, I don't want to have to sit here forever." He went on, and she clenched her jaw.

"You're a real bastard you know that?!" She yelled, and she didn't get a reply. Instead, she busied herself with dodging a swipe from the creatures claws, barely avoiding the razor sharp edges.

She promised herself she would kill him when she was done with this demon... If she wasn't killed first.

Leaning back, she sucked in air, her cheeks puffing up as she did so. "Energy Dragon Roar!" A spinning tornado of silver spiraled out toward the Demon. The tornado being a lot bigger than it normally would be, because she put a lot more power into the attack than normal.

Her attack never reached the Demon, the shadowy matter surrounding its body streamed out toward her Magic to collide with it. In seconds, her Magic had been destroyed, and the shadowy matter continued to stream out toward her.

She jumped, twisted and turned to avoid getting hit. She curled her fingers, Magic blazing around them and streaming off of them like steam into the air. "Energy Dragon Claws!" She hissed, striking down at the black power that got too close, only to let out a grunt of pain, when her fingers rammed into the matter as it it were solid steel, her Magic being destroyed as soon as she got near.

She jumped back, stumbling slightly and shaking her hand in pain. That hurt damn it!

She looked toward the Demon, the shadowy matter was proving that it could easily destroy her Magic should she get close enough, it was like her Magic was just disappearing as soon as she got close... She growled, no, that's exactly what it was.

Whatever that shadowy matter was exactly, it was using a type of Nullification Magic, if she got close to it, or even touched it with her Magic, it would disappear instantly. Only now that she really focused on it, that's what sort of Magic she recognized it to be, having encountered it a few times over the years. Although, she had never come across any living thing that could use Nullification Magic, all she had ever seen of it was with Weapons or Devices, not actual living things... Just one reason a Demon from the Book of Zeref was especially unique, she supposed. Man did she hate this...

She took in a deep breath, eyes narrowing even more as she stared the Demon down, and it just glared right back with its glowing red eyes.

Nullification Magic only worked to an extent. Based on how strong the Magic was for the particular creature, device, weapon.. whatever, it couldn't nullify a large amount of magic all at once, she knew that, but the amount she would have to put into any one attack would have to be pretty large.

For example, the Dorma Anim back in Edloas had been made of a type of metal that had a minor Nullification Enchantment over it. Any small attacks she and the other Dragon Slayers had used would not work against it, but their larger attacks had done damage. The power of the Nullification Magic of the Dorma Anim and the the Demon were significantly different though, she would be using a lot more Magic to fight the Demon than she normally would need to.

Its a good thing she grew stronger since her time in Edolas, isn't it?

Moon struggled and wriggled in Laxus' grasp, trying in vain to get out of the hold he had on her. He was holding her tightly in his arm; pinned between it and his chest, his arms being crossed as they were. It was very uncomfortable, and she hissed in frustration when she couldn't get free, finally giving up and glaring toward him.

His eyes were fixed on the Demon's nest below, expression neutral, not seemingly worried about Frea, or perhaps he possibly just didn't care.

"What the hell is your problem?" Moon growled lowly. "Are you trying to get her killed?!" She snapped, mind immediately flashing to what Master Makarov had said.

_"This is a dangerous mission, you make on wrong move, you may be killed. I need the two of you to work together, only with both of you can this Demon be defeated."_

He was going to get Frea killed damn it! He should be down there, helping her, fighting alongside her!

She wanted to scratch his eyes out for this, make her threat to Nadi the first day she had met Frea a reality. That in itself was rather violent for her, but right now she was too worried about Frea, and too angry with Laxus for leaving her to fight alone, to care about her own behavioral changes.

"Not at all." Laxus replied evenly, gaze remaining fixed on where Frea was now avoiding another hit from the creature's tail. Moon narrowed her eyes, ears flattening against her head.

"Then what the hell are you trying to accomplish here?!" She yelled, her patience running low. This was madness! Complete and utter madness!

"Pipe down already, there's no need to yell." He answered with a bored sigh. "I'm just doing what I'm supposed to be doing." He replied, still not looking her way, his aqua gaze still fixed on the Energy Dragon Slayer desperately trying to dodge several different attacks.

Moon blinked, not sure what he meant when he said he was doing what he was 'supposed' to be doing. Why the hell would he be 'supposed' to leave Frea, grab her, and force her partner to fight the Demon alone? How did that make any sense?

It _didn't_ make any sense. There was something else going on here, something she nor Frea knew about. Laxus must have been told by someone to do this, she wasn't under the impression he was doing it because he wanted to.

No, from what she had learned of Laxus over her time at being in the Guild, and the collective memories she had scanned, she was under the impression Laxus was not one to back out of a fight. He didn't hardly ever decline a challenge, and she couldn't see him turning down a mission Master Makarov had given him.

And, even if he and Frea were supposed to be rivals and 'hate' one another, she couldn't ever believe he would dislike Frea enough to leave her to die. So what was he doing then ...?

She frowned, before reaching out with her Magic, and quickly scanning the Lightning Dragon Slayer's memories before he had any time to reject it. She skimmed through the last few days, who he had talked with, what his plan was... Her Magic failed the minute she found her answer, and she stared up at him with wide, shocked eyes. This really was crazy..!

"You get it now?" Laxus asked, seemingly having sensed she had used her Magic on him, just how she had been looking through his memories without his consent, something she normally wouldn't do. "I'm doing what I was told to." He muttered.

Her jaw dropped slightly, "That's... That's crazy." She murmured, unable to say anything further.

"What? You afraid she won't be able to handle herself?" He asked, Moon shook her shock off as best she could and frowned again, eyes narrowed.

No, she believed in Frea, she believed in her Partner's power and skill. Frea had proven how strong she was, how powerful she was. Frea had become a symbol of Power, the Energy Dragon Slayer had done what was thought impossible several times over. Even alone, against something as powerful as this, she believed Frea had a chance.

"No," Moon muttered. "I think she has a chance of killing that Demon, even on her own." She explained, "I would be more concerned about what she's going to do to you after she's killed it." She said in a warning tone. Honestly? For this? She wanted Frea to go after Laxus, she wanted her Partner to knock him in to next week for this stupid plan.

For the first time, Laxus finally looked to her, and she could tell he had not considered the consequences of his actions until just then.

Several black Magic Circles appeared around Frea, hovering in the air around her in a circle outline. She stiffened, easily feeling the immense power of the Magic the Demon was about to use on her.

It was huge, something that she felt could easily rival one of Hades' Explosion Bullets.

She cringed inwardly at the thought, remembering just how hurt she had been when she had gotten hit by one of those things. She didn't want that to happen again, unfortunately she didn't really have a lot of room or time to dodge.

With an earsplitting roar, the Magic of the Circle activated, and speeding orbs of powerful Magic shot from every Magic Circle toward her. She managed to twist and duck out of the way of most of them, curling her fingers, she easily sliced through two more that got close.

This Magic was not the same as the shadowy matter surrounding the Demon, so this time her Magic was effective to an extent.

She yelled out in pain when one of the orbs struck her from behind, and she was sent through the air from the heavy, high-pressured explosion that went off as soon as it hit her. She scrunched her eyes closed, and grunted in pain when she hit the ground, _hard._

Oh yes... That definitely hurt, just as much as Hades' Explosion Bullet, possibly more. But this time around, she was stronger than back on Tenrou, and she could take damage a lot easier because of it.

Odd, considering most people assumed that being stuck in time for seven years, ultimately made you weaker nowadays, considering you did not improve in all the years everyone else did. This was true for many of their members unfortunately, even she had been considerably weak after coming out of Fairy Sphere.

But then again, what were those three months of training before the GMG meant to do anyway, if not make everyone stronger than seven years ago?

Her training had been considerably normal up until the very end, where it had gone out of control, and Frea herself had grown considerably stronger in the course a few short weeks afterward. That all started with her Celestial Energy Key Bind Spell, that had set in motion a chain of events that ultimately made her grow stronger beyond a rate any normal Wizard had ever endured.

Frea knew she had grown stronger, she could feel it, how much more Magic Energy she had compared to back on Tenrou, how much more damage she had been able to take since then as well.

Back on Tenrou, a few good hits from Tomaru had been an issue, and one hit from Hades, however powerful that Spell may have been, had effectively knocked her out of the fighting until she had taken time to regain her strength, and heal her own wounds. Even her Magic Energy Supply had been dismally small, she had run out of Magic Power so easily, so fast.

To her, what happened on Tenrou had been an embarrassment. Looking back on it now, she hated how weak she had been, how easily she had been knocked down, and how much of a toll the hits she had taken were to her. She hated how she was back on Tenrou, because in her mind, that was a reminder of just how weak she had been.

Comparing what happened then, to everything that had happened since coming out of Fairy Sphere, it all dimmed in comparison to just how much stronger she had gotten.

Thanks to Solana and Jynx, over their three month trek, she had grown considerably stronger. Her hand to hand skills had become top notch, brawling constantly with someone like Solana who used her fists like a pro had done wonders.

And Jynx, even though the ghost had protested to the idea before, even though she had argued that Frea had 'immense amounts of Magic Power', she had been a good help with building up a larger Magic Energy Supply, and in the end, a Second Origin, something she hadn't even realized she had built up until her fight with Naraka.

The fight with Naraka, that had been a show of just how much stronger she had become. During that fight, she had easily taken on a lot of Damage, spent massive amounts of Magic Power over and over, and had even cast a city wide Spell over everyone of the Mages fighting for good measure.

Not to make it sound more impressive than it was, because she still got hurt to the point she could barely walk, she still found herself drained of power, and even in the end;

She still had not been able to beat Naraka.

That fight was a failure, but at the same time it wasn't. She may not have been able to beat him, and even though she was still disappointed with herself for the fact, that fight had proven she had gotten stronger, and that was all she could ask for.

She was still angry with herself for not being able to defeat Naraka, and she was not happy with herself for letting her Magic Energy get stolen by the Eclipse Gate. Not to mention, just how hurt she had gotten while fighting Aisha...

She growled under her breath and slowly started to pick herself up. Her eyes snapped open, she could hear the claws of the demon slicing through the air toward her, before she ever saw it.

In an instant, she had jumped back up to her feet, wincing in the process, and avoided the attack.

The fight with Aisha was angering her even now, because how much trouble she had had with the young woman, and how hurt she had gotten while fighting her was unacceptable. So what if the World's Energy and the Balance Shift had been messing with her, and her Powers? She shouldn't have let any of that get to her as much as it did, and she sure as hell shouldn't have had Aisha hand her ass to her like she had!

Because however much she really hated to admit it, Aisha was _not_ weak, she was _not_ someone to be taken lightly. Because Aisha was strong, she could very well be at the same Level Frea was, and she really didn't like it. Sure, the annoying Moonlight Mage may have been overpowered by the effects of the Balance tipping during their fight, but she had gained control over all that power, and she had used it in tremendous ways. Aisha may be primarily and Information Broker for the Council, a job that usually didn't require too much serious fighting, but Aisha was someone to be reckoned with, and she was someone who could kick your ass if she wanted.

Frea growled again, fangs grinding down on each other. Now she was even more angry, and it wasn't even solely toward Laxus anymore. She was angry at him, at Aisha, at Hades, Tomaru, Naraka, the Eclipse Gate, everything and everyone who had showed her just how weak she was, of how inadequate her skills had been at the time.

But most of all she was mad at herself. However much she trained, how ever strong she became, whichever 'impossible' feats she may have accomplished, they were never enough, because there was always something, or someone stronger who had to prove to her just how weak she was in comparison.

The worlds one simple truth; there will always be someone stronger than you.

But that's why you trained, that's why you worked hard, just so you could become better, stronger, stronger than that one person, and go on to face the next person who is still stronger than you. It was all about growing, progressing, and that was what she aimed to do, what she had been trying to do since she first joined the Guild.

This was no different, she would aim to be stronger than this Demon, she was going to defeat it, so she could move on and face the next opponent even stronger than a Demon from the Book Of Zeref.

Taking a deep breath, she let her anger and annoyance simmer down slightly, and instead turn them into pure, cold hard determination. She needed to think about this, because she had to win, and she had to become stronger for this.

Looking out toward the Demon, she narrowed her eyes. Time to think this through, find a weakness, and use it to her advantage...

Laxus quirked an eyebrow, watching in silence as Frea was thrown away from a powerful force of Magic that hit her in the back, where she hit the ground hard a good distance away.

The way the Magic had hit her, he couldn't help but be reminded of when Hades had hit him with the 'Explosion Bullet'. It was the way the orb of red and black detonated as soon as it reached her that really made him think of it, even the resounding boom that went off after it.

He faintly wondered if Frea was reminded of the same thing, and maybe if she was comparing how much it hurt to get hit by this Magic, compared to Hades?

He was aware of Moon flinching when Frea got hit, and he could easily tell how worried the dark grey Exceed was. For all the faith Moon had said she had for Frea, the Exceed was still worried for her Partner, especially after seeing her get hit like that.

He could understand her worry, he himself felt the same, well... Not nearly on the same level. He wouldn't say he was necessarily worried per say, just a little uneasy.

He was entirely sure he liked this plan, and he didn't like that he had to sit out on the fighting. He didn't like not doing anything, he was itching to jump in and fight, his instincts told him to. But not because he was worried for Frea, lets not get the wrong idea, but because he just really liked the challenge.

His face went neutral once Frea jumped back to her feet easily, avoiding a slice of the Demon's claws expertly. Moon only watched in tense silence, while he watched in bored neutrality. He really didn't like sitting still...

He blinked once, because for a split second, Frea's face darkened, and he could see her clenched her fists, she even bit down with her fangs rather hard. For a moment, she looked exceptionally angry, but not an angry he had anticipated. This was burning anger, but not necessarily anything in particular, more it was an anger that fueled you, filled you up..

Then her face went neutral, and she looked out toward the Demon with narrowed eyes. The anger vanished, and instead transformed into something entirely different, he blinked again, having not seen Frea like this in a long time.

Her silver eyes were sparkling with light, a burning white fire inside the silver orbs. Her expression was serious, body tense... This was without a doubt, cold, hard, determination. Determination at a level so extreme, he hadn't seen Frea like that in a very long time, in fact, he wasn't sure he had ever seen her look so utterly, without a doubt determined like this in all the time had known her.

He let a smirk slip for a split second, this was the Frea he wished showed itself a little more often, and he knew that now, she was taking this fight more seriously.

She was going to win, that was what that looked told him. She was going to find a way to, no matter what. She was going to win, she had to, she was determined to.

Determination; the one aspect of Frea he knew all too well, one of the only things he truly respected about her.

Frea jumped backward, arms crossed in front of her, a silver wall of Magic sprung up between her and the claws of the Demon she was trying to avoid. The shadowy Nullification Matter destroyed her Magic instantly as it drew near, and she missed the talons by mere millimeters by leaning back. She moved away quickly, and came to a stop, eyes narrowed and jaw clenched.

She knew this was getting her nowhere fast, she had been trying to experiment with how much Magic Power was needed to bypass the level of strength the Nullification Magic of the shadow matter possessed. Despite her efforts, she had not had any luck hitting the damn thing with a single shred of Magic.

She had taken another swipe from its tail again, and now she was completely sure a few more ribs were cracked.

What the hell was she supposed to do? There was no way she would be able to keep up with it for much longer without getting seriously hurt, which she had been lucky not to become so far. Even using her most powerful Spells was not a good idea, she could only do that for so long, and besides, there was no telling how much Power she would actually need...

The Demon opened it's mouth, and again she could see black and red Magic swirling at the pits of its stomach. Her mind flashed back to when she had stood atop the Cliffside with Laxus and Moon, and the Demon had sent this same Breath Attack their way.

Even up there it had been massive, and it had decreased in size from traveling through the air to reach them. That meant being this close the Breath Attack was even larger, and she had no room, nor time to dodge, that meant she had to put up a shield. But what good would a shield do with the possibility of the Nullification Magic destroyed it as soon as it got near? Or even the Magic being too strong for her to block?

She gritted her teeth, there was one choice, and she was going to have to deal with the consequences.

Unfortunately, that probably meant getting killed.

"Energy Shield!" She hissed, crossing her arms in front of her and steadying herself. She placed five different shields before her, all one after the other, a thick layer of Magic between herself and the oncoming Breath Attack. Hopefully the layers of Magic would slow down the Demon's Breath Attack enough to spare her from too much harm...

Moon had grown even more tense upon noticing that Frea's Magic had so far been unable to touch the Demon directly, or at all for that matter. After awhile of simply watching, her heart began to sink once she began to guess that Magic would not work against it, nor harm it. If Frea couldn't use her Magic, she was definitely going to get killed!

Her faith in her partner's victory was waning, once she became increasingly aware of the inability for Frea's Magic to hit the Demon, and upon seeing how much trouble the Energy Dragon Slayer was having. For however much confidence she had in Frea's strength, she knew strength wouldn't get her very far if her Magic would not work against the Demon from the Book of Zeref.

Honestly, what could anyone do against something that was seemingly not able to be touched by Magic?

"Energy Shield!" Frea shouted from below, as five different shields appeared in front of her, just as a concentrated force of red and black Magic shot from the pits of the Demon's stomach, engulfing Frea entirely.

Moon froze, eyes wide in horror, her blood running cold. Frea was lost to sight in the middle of the red and black, there was no way... No way her Magic held up against that...!

"Frea..." Moon whispered, shaking slightly. Her heart skipped a beat, she couldn't think straight, she was worried, very, very worried for her Partner, and with that kind of attack... She was horrified at what kind of damage Frea must have taken.

She was enraged to notice Laxus didn't seem at all concerned, though he did stiffen a little at the sight. This was stupid! This whole thing was stupid! And now Frea...

The black and red disappeared in an instant, the Demon no longer attacking as the rest of it's Magic hit the cliff straight across from where it and they stood. The cliff shattered from the force, and a sheet of it crumbled, falling inside the pit and burying several piles of bones.

Moon's jaw dropped and her eyes went wide, not in horror though, but utter astonishment.

Frea was standing exactly where she had been, arms still held out in front of her, and panting slightly. Four of the shields were completely gone, and the final one was cracked to the point, it had begun to crumble.

The wind blew over the Energy Dragon Slayer from the lasting force of the attack, several drops of blood sprung up into the air along with the fading remnants of the Demon's Magic, a long scratch running across her right cheek.

Moon breathed a sigh of relief, going slightly limp in Laxus' grasp. Laxus himself blinked in shock upon seeing Frea still standing, before looking mildly impressed. She wasn't dead to say the least, and to top it off, she seemed to have only gotten a single scratch from the attack. That was truly impressive, especially since the attack had been direct, and coming from something as powerful as a Demon from the Book of Zeref.

His mind flashed back to when Frea had stopped Atlas Flame's Breath Attack back in the Crocus Square. The enormity of the Shield she had put up in seconds, and how she had kept of from shattering during the entirety of the attack.

He even thought back to what Moon had told the others, of how Frea had even kept up a Shield while she had found herself completely engulfed in Naraka's Breath Attack, very similar to this very situation actually...

Not for the first time, the question had to be asked; what couldn't Frea defend against?

Frea allowed her last remaining Shield to crumble completely, arms dropping to her sides, and panting from the effort of keeping it up against such a force. Her cheek stung from where the Magic had managed to get her, and she could feel her blood dripping down her face and neck slowly.

Well, that could have easily been almost as hard as holding up inside of Naraka's Breath Attack.

Almost.

She smirked beside herself. That, being caught inside that attack, it had been educational no matter how dangerous it had been. Several different things had entered her head, simply because she had gotten such a better feel for the Demon's Magic inside the attack than she had this entire time.

"So your using two different types of Magic." She murmured lowly, straightening up and looking toward the Demon. "Your body is surrounded in the Nullification Magic, but you can't use it at the same time as the Dark Magic, hm?" She smiled, shaking her head a little. "Lucky for me, otherwise I would be dead, should you be able to use the Nullification Magic along with your more powerful attacks." She smirked.

No, the damn thing couldn't use the Nullification Magic and its inner Dark Magic all at once, it had to focus on one or the other. And, the Dark Magic itself was something she could use her Magic to defend against, that alone had saved her life just now.

If it could use both types of Magic all at once, the Nullification Magic would have easily been able to take down her shields completely, leaving her open for the Dark Magic to kill her. A perfect combo, only if it was possible to use both at the same time.

_Score one for me._

But, even with all that in mind, how the hell was she supposed to kill it? She would still be unable to touch it with the shadowy Nullification Magic still in the way... No attacks would work on it, she was stuck with Defensive Magic.

She sighed slightly, there was one last test she could try to figure out the Level of power she would need to bypass the strength of the Nullification Magic, before it got up to the levels of having to use a Secret Art on it. One last 'regular' Spell she could use...

Too bad she really didn't like using this particular Spell at all.

She lift her hands up above her, eyes narrowed, as her Magic began to spiral around her. "Explosive Rain!" She yelled, a massive Magic Circle appearing above the Demon, where hundreds of compact little Energy Bombs rained down toward it. The creature's gaze was averted from her, to the Magic.

Again, the shadowy matter surrounding it swept up through the air toward her Magic, and destroyed the Spell completely within moments. No need for Dark Magic, no need to move, the Nullification Matter surrounding its body was more than enough.

She clenched her jaw, fangs grinding down on each other.

Well that was fucking perfect! Explosive Rain was one of the stronger Spells she had. That Spell was considerably powerful, when you took into account the amount of force just one of her Energy Bombs normally had, and multiplying that by a couple hundred. But despite it's effectiveness, it was not something she used often, simply because using it took up a lot of Magic Energy than she normally liked.

Even now, she felt suddenly drained, _more_ drained considering holding up five shields to the Dark Magic attack had been hard, but she was happy to realize that this time around, she did not feel weak for it. Instead it was just a passing feeling of light-headedness, before she felt normal again. The amount of Magic Power she had built up was working.

Once more, the Demon opened it's mouth to send the red and black Magic out toward her, she could see its eerie dark light swirling in the pits of its stomach. This time, she was not looking to get caught in the attack, and instead moved a lot faster.

Using her 'Speed of the Energy Dragon' ability to move out of the way, she missed the attack entirely and came to a pause off to the side.

She stiffened, blinked a few times and narrowing her eyes.

It didn't move. The Demon didn't budge. It kept its aim to where she had been... She smiled, she was getting a more clear picture of the Demon's abilities, faster than she had imagined she would.

When it sent the Dark Magic at her from the pits of its stomach, it did not move for the entirety of the attack, instead it let it play out as it kept its head and body still. It was completely stationary. She remembered this faintly from when they had stood on the top of the cliff, and now seeing it happen before her eyes.

The Demon's Breath Attacks were slow, and could only be focused on one spot for the course of... A minute or so, she would guess.

This could definitely be of some help as she fought it, if she was fast enough to land a hit while the Demon was using a Breath Attack, she may be able to do some damage. This was still considering her idea that the Demon couldn't use Nullification Magic and the Dark Magic all at once. While she was sure that this was the case, she would really rather not take any more damage than she needed to, so she would be careful.

The only issue was, she wasn't sure when she would actually get the chance to strike out during one of the Demon's Breath Attack's, up until now it had only used a few, and one that had been the very first attack it had sent their way when they arrived.

The Demon must know that it was vulnerable during those moments, and she guessed it was smart enough to avoid using Breath Attacks most of the time.

Her eyes locked on to the shadowy Nullification Matter surrounding its body like a second skin. She would have to guess and say, that the Nullification Matter was the reason the Council had not decided to fire Etherion at the Demon, as she earlier thought they should have. But that didn't make her any happier, because that meant that the amount of Power she would need to bypass he strength of the Nullifaction Matter, would probably have to be at a level of Power beyond Etherion. And that much Power, she did not have.

She sidestepped out of the way of a sphere of speeding Dark Magic that was sent her way, and jumped backward to avoid the barrage that followed.

What was Nullification Magic anyway?

It wasn't something she had ever looked into, and it had never been something she had run into very often. This could only be the third, or fourth time she had come across any type of Nullification Magic, and it could very well be the strongest...

She usually looked into the types of Magic she came across, just to an extent to understand it better should she come across it the next time. Some of the information was what she learned from books of sources after encountering it, and some of the information was what she had learned during the fight itself.

Nullification Magic had been the one Magic, she had ignored. Pushed it away to the back of her mind and never bothered to look into.

_If only I had been smarter, I might actually know a lot more about it... And then I wouldn't be having so much trouble..._

She came to pause, panting with a little sweat dripping down her face. This fight was beginning to drag by, and still she had made no progress.

There had to be a way to get past Nullification Magic without using an extreme amount of Power. Someone must have figured out a way to get past it, at some point... It couldn't be unbeatable, surely?

Her eyes locked on to the Shadowy Nullification Matter surrounding the Demon's body, and she narrowed her eyes at it. A way to understand the Nullification Matter... That... This was going to be such a bad plan.

She lunged forward, running straight toward it, zigzagging out of the way of several different orbs of Dark Magic that were sent her way. She drew closer to the creature, and jumped up high into the air once she was close.

At this distance, the creature stopped using Dark Magic, and the Nullification Matter sprung up away from its body to stream toward her, as it did at the beginning of the fight.

She reached her hands out to slam them against the Nullification Matter as it slammed into her like a battering ram, being pushed back by the force through the air, and wincing slightly.

She bit down into the Nullification Matter, swallowing the foul tasting Magic before she was thrown away.

She flipped in the air to land on her feet, grimacing and sticking out her tongue, sweatdropping and gagging slightly. "Gross!" She whined, holding her stomach.

The taste was absolutely horrible, like she had swallowed month old rotting meat, and chugged down curdled milk to go with it. Her stomach flipped and clenched, and she shivered involuntarily as she felt the Magic course through her limbs momentarily. A feeling like someone had pumped her full of ice; like walls had started to close in on her on all sides, and suffocate her.

Yes, that would probably prove to be a very unwise plan later on, when the Magic started to really affect her. Even being able to eat other Elements did not exempt her from falling ill should she eat something that just would not agree with her at all, which what was sure to happen with this Magic. But for how much she was going to suffer for this decision later, it had its perks.

By eating it, she understood it more, which was what she needed right now. She needed to understand how it worked, how it reacted with Magic, and herself especially. Usually she would have found the details on it through use of Energy Sense, but she had a feeling that with the idea of Nullification Magic nullifying any Magic it came near, she was fairly sure that using Energy Sense would not have given her anything good, that the Nullification Magic would warp her senses.

Eating it was a necessary evil, a gross, disgusting one.

When Dragon Slayer's eat a different element; they can either gain the ability to use that Element, as with Gajeel's use of Rogue's shadows; and Natsu's use of Laxus' lightning. Or they could just gain some extra Magic Power for their own attacks by eating it.

Eating Nullification Magic was a little different, because after she had done so, she could feel her Magic Power dim significantly. It felt like Jynx's Limitation Magic, when she had placed her Limiter Seal on her. Even a Nullification Magic that strong, could not completely nullify her Magic should she eat it, and for that, she was both thankful, and lucky.

She was used to feeling like a Limiter Seal had been placed on her, so fighting wasn't going to be anymore of an issue that it already was.

But now that she thought about it, Nullification Magic felt like a slightly different, and definitely stronger version of Limiting Magic. Perhaps the two fell into the same base Magic? It would make some sense she supposed... Limiting and nullifying Magic could probably fall around the same lines...

There was a way to get around, or rather, destroy Limiting Magic, she had done so while confronting SaberTooth within the arena back at the GMG. When her Anger and Magic had boiled up so suddenly, and exponentially that she had unintentionally destroyed the Limiter Seal Jynx had placed on her.

If Limiter Magic and Nullification Magic were similar, and used the same Base Magic... Then there had to be a way to get around Nullification Magic!

_Alright Frea... Let's really think about this..._

Nullification Magic was the ability to completely suppress or nullify someone's Magic. Suppressing Magic was exactly what Limiting Magic did... And by suppressing magic, the user of the Nullification Magic would somehow have to lock onto the Magic of whoever they were trying to use the Nullification Magic on...

She tilted he head, eyes narrowed. Locking on to the other Mage's Magic? That sounded like... Like you would be taking control of the Magic of the other Mage? Without them ever knowing it?

Could Nullification actually be the ability to take control of someone's Magic, and nullify it through that control? But wouldn't she have felt that? Wouldn't she have become aware of someone, or something messing around with her Magic Energy, simply because her life was connected with it?

And, Nullification Magic didn't last forever, it only lasted for as long as the caster or Device was being used on you. Once you were out of range, or the Mage turned his attention to someone/something else, you would be able to use your Magic again, or maybe in a few short minutes...

She blinked, taking control of someone's Magic was almost like stealing Magic Energy, which the Eclipse Gate had done, and back on Tenrou... But it wasn't stealing.

She would have felt it if her Magic Energy was being _stolen._ But maybe she wouldn't have been able to feel her Magic Energy being nullified, or maybe she had felt it without realizing it. Nullification Magic wasn't harming her, rather it was shutting down her Magic Power forcefully for a short time, but in a way even she had never felt it.

Nullification Magic was subtle control over someone's Magic, so subtle not even an Energy Mage could feel it's momentary control over their Magic Energy, should they not be focusing on it. But if she were to focus on it, and really feel its Control at the time it was used...

She smirked, if she was able to do so, then she did have a way to get past Nullification Magic.

* * *

 

Laxus blinked a few times, watching Frea fighting down on the pit. The fight was dragging by, and she still had not had any luck landing a hit on the Demon.

But despite that, he could see she was learning, she was gathering information, and things were starting to click together in her head.

He himself did not know exactly what kind of Magic the Demon was using, but he had guessed that it may be some sort of Nullification Magic, seeing as how every time Frea got close to it, her Magic disappeared.

That was going to make things harder, but even so, she did not look worried.

He watched now, seeing her smirk in triumph. He knew that look, it was a look of understanding. Frea had painted a picture of the situation in her head, and from the looks of it, she had come up with a way to get past the problem.

But it wasn't a look he had seen on her often. Simply because, most of the fights she involved herself in, did not require her to _really think_. Usually, it didn't matter the form of the Magic her enemies used, Frea was strong enough to take them out without having to think about making a plan.

That was different now, seeing as how her usual tactic of 'run in and punch the living crap out of my enemy' was not going to work, and she was left to think of something else to do.

But it was not until right now, did he ever really understand just how smart Frea was, or how quickly she could come up with a solution.

Frea ran forward, eyes closed and face neutral. This was the moment, the moment she tested her theory, and learned if she really could bypass Nullification Magic.

She jumped up toward the Demon again, taking in a deep breath. "Energy Dragon Roar!"

With her eyes closed, she didn't see her attack play out, instead she focused on the Magic itself, her Magic Energy...

_A shadow._

One black shadow, only there for a split second, and hardly noticeable, something she wouldn't feel at all, would she not have been focusing for it. A shadow that seized control of her Magic, and her Magic Energy, and forced it to disappear. It wrapped round her Magic she had sent toward the Demon, and even the Magic within her body...

She let her eyes open, that was all the proof she needed.

"Nobody controls my Magic but me!" She growled, still falling through air down toward the Demon. She clapped her hands together as the Nullification Matter streamed put to slam into her.

"Nullification Mastery: Magic Protect!" She growled, "Absolute Magic Control!" A faint sphere of silver Magic flashed up around her entire body before it faded from sight.

She swiped her arms out to the side, holding them out on either side of her, starting to blaze with strikingly bright silver light to engulf either arm in Magic like two giant, glowing wings, flowing and glowing with a light and power never before seen with that attack. A level of power for the move no one could have ever thought possible for one of the most basic moves used by any Dragon Slayer.

"Energy Dragon Wing Attack!"


	20. The Hell?!

**Chapter 20**

**The Hell?!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

The Nullification Matter was cut clean through and destroyed by the onslaught of blazing silver Magic, until the attack hit the back of the creature square on.

The demon's roar of pain shook the entire forest to its roots, the bones settled at the bottom of the pit rattling from the noise.

Moon's eyes grew wide at the sight, Frea hit it... She actually hit it!

Laxus smiled a little, he was impressed at this at least, Nullification Magic was not easy to bypass, and especially not the Nullification Magic of a creature who could Nullify Etherion.

Yes, he had put together why the Council had not fired the cannon at the Demon, almost as fast as Frea had. He didn't act like it most of the time, but he was actually fairly smart.

Frea smirked, she had bypassed that damn Nullification Matter, and landed her first hit.

Absolute Magic Control. Nullification Mastery. Magic Protect.

This was Absolute Control of her Magic Energy to an extreme. A hold over her Energy so strong, that not even this Demon's Power could do anything about it. Because the Nullification Magic took control of her Magic Energy, and forcefully caused her Magic to disappear when it got close or made contact, the way to bypass it was, to take Absolute Control of her Magic Energy, so much so that the Nullification Magic wouldn't take control of her Magic away from her.

She had even put up a shield of pure Magic around her very being, just to help protect herself from the Nullification Magic.

Despite her feeling of victory, she also felt a little more strained. Taking Absolute Control of her Magic Energy had never been particularly easy to start with, and it was even harder against something so powerful as a Demon From the Book of Zeref.

This was just as hard as it had been to take Absolute Control when the Eclipse Gate had drained her. But back then, she had done so in only a few seconds, so she could honestly say she had more than adequate practice fighting to keep control with something this powerful. Even Asuma using the Land to drain her back on Tenrou Island had been extremely hard, mostly because she had been nowhere near Asuma himself to stop his theft, and because he had been using something as powerful as the Land to steal her Magic Power in the first place.

Also, she had been considerably weaker on Tenrou, and was now stronger since then, a lot stronger.

She could only keep the Absolute Control over her Magic for so long, she knew she would have to kill the Demon quickly before she lost control again. Using Magic while keeping Absolute Control was going to be a challenge too, but she had already promised herself she would defeat the damn thing, and become stronger for it.

Her attack had not broken the Demon's hide, or drawn blood, it had only bruised it slightly. It would seem the Demon was not accustomed to pain, considering no one had probably been able to touch it before.

Attacking it with normal attacks would take too long, and cause little damage. She needed a somehow less conventional way to finish it off, and now she was stuck with deciding on what she should actually do.

She didn't have to come up with any ideas, someone had done that for her.

"Heads up!" Her eyes snapped to the side when she heard the voice yell out, and she caught the shimmer of a pale blue Lacrima falling through the air toward her.

She quickly scrambled to catch the crystal, and blinked down at it in confusion. It was fairly the size of a large apple, shimmering a bright blue glow that meant it was full of Magic Power.

But... Why?

"What the hell am I supposed to do with this?!" She shouted up to Laxus, whose voice she had immediately recognized, and guessed he had been the one to throw the Lacrima Crystal down here. Laxus gave her a look that she assumed meant, 'figure it out yourself'.

"It's not like I'm just gonna eat it, I'm not Natsu!" She snapped, not wanting to take the time to figure out why he had actually thrown it to her.

Laxus rolled his eyes, "Look, you're gonna run out of Magic before you kill the thing, use the Lacrima as a Prison." He called back, and she stiffened, eyes narrowing. "You know, Seal the thing inside the Lacrima, then destroy the Crystal. Easy as that."

Frea growled, clenching the Lacrima in a fist so hard she might actually break it. "Easy?!" She yelled furiously. "What the hell makes you think I know any Sealing Magic?!"

Laxus shrugged. "Guess we'll find out, won't we?" He answered in a neutral tone. Frea looked away, jumping sideways to avoid a blast of Dark Magic that had been sent her way.

Out of all the stupid shit Laxus was doing today, that suggestion was the stupidest.

She had never, in all her life, ever, used any Sealing Magic of any kind. She did not know any Spells, she had never needed to use it before, nor wanted to. Why would he even assume she would know any? That wasn't her Magic, not even close to it!

With yet another aggravated growl, she shook her head in frustration.

He was right.

She hated that he was right.

She was going to run out of Magic before she managed to kill it, she was using up so much just to allow herself to actually touch the damn thing with Magic. She couldn't keep fighting like this forever, but she couldn't kill it so easily.

What better option than sealing it away?

But she didn't know any damn Sealing Magic. She was stuck without a Spell to use with the Lacrima. How the hell was she supposed to do this?!

... Making a Spell might work.

Though, to be completely honest, she always had more luck creating a successful spell, when she actually had a base idea of what she was trying to do. Usually she had an idea of the sort of Magic that is usually used to have as a base-line for creating a Spell for the same purpose as that Magic.

She didn't know a damn thing about Sealing Magic.

She let out an aggravated growl, hating herself for her lack of knowledge _again._

She scrunched her eyes closed, _let's start with a base..._ Why not the Purifying Sphere? That Spell was considerably large, she may be able to make the Pillars bigger in order to enclose the Demon, and then change the Spell in order to seal it...

"Alright, Pillars." She murmured, eyes opening as she looked toward the Demon. Pillars would have to do, she didn't have any other ideas.

She swept her hand out in front of her, fingers extended as a silver Pillar shot up from the ground on the other side of the Demon, and was quickly followed by more as they began to appear. These Pillars were much larger than the ones she had used for fighting against Senna, naturally considering they would have to enclose the entirety of the Demon in order for this to even begin to work.

_Three... Four... Five..... Si-_

The tail of the Demon swept out around it, its red eyes fixing onto her Magic as she had begun to set it up.

In an instant, all of her Magic had been destroyed, a resounding chatter echoing within the pit as every single pillar she had thus far created was destroyed with ease, no matter how hard she had tried to keep them up. She panted at the action the sudden drain of wasted Magic knocking the breath from her.

_FUCK!_

"Damn it! Fuking Damn it!" She cursed aloud, fangs grinding down on one another in irritation. Pillars were not going to work, especially if the Demon could destroy them that easily. What the hell else was she supposed to use as a base then?!

Magic Circles could be used as a Base, but for this instance, that was not really going to work. She needed something to hold the Demon in, something to surround it completely.....

Maybe a box?

* * *

 

_...._

_"My turn!" Frea said cheerfully and quickly flicked her hand four times, four pillars made from her energy appeared in a box shape around the two. "Energy Trap!" She called out and they were trapped in a box made of her energy._

_Frea held up five fingers, "Five, Four, Three, Two.." She started counting down and paused when she only had one finger up. "One!" She called and swiped her hand out in front of her. The ground where the two had been standing inside of the Energy Box suddenly crumbled and fell apart under their feet. The box disappeared and they fell down, Frea had managed to take off another ten feet from the edge of the cliff, and send the two into the water....._

_....._

_"You've given me quite a bit of fight, for a human." Naraka's head flicked a little, and both Moon and Rified collapsed on their knees, wincing a little as they were released from Naraka's hold._

_"Grim Reaper's Death Box."_

_Black Magic sprung up around Frea in a see-through box shape, trapping her inside as she glanced around warily._

_"Activate."_

_Frea let out a short yell of pain as small blasts of Magic began to go off around her on all sides, before she silenced herself and crossed her arms in front of her, taking the hits and wincing. The box was to small to put up any sort of protection around herself, and she doubted she could even put when up when the blasts kept pounding relentlessly without stopping anyway...._

_....._

_"I hate to be a copy-cat..." She muttered. She straightened her arms out in front of her and opened her eyes, "Energy Lance!" She shouted, and a lance made from her silver Magic streamed out toward the scratches she had already made in the box, breaking clean through, and it hit the shocked Naraka square in the chest, slicing the necklace of human skulls around his neck, so they feel to the ground and rattled. The force of the lance hitting Naraka wasn't enough to break his hard scales this time, but it did drive him backwards a ways._

_Moon and Rified stared with wide eyes, even Naraka looked as if he couldn't believe it._

_"Did she... Just copy my move...?" Rified breathed and Moon sweatdropped...._

* * *

 

Frea caught her breath as the memories flashed through her mind, one after the other.

The first, catching Gajeel and Natsu unaware in an Energy Trap she had specifically designed to be a box,

The second, when Naraka had caught her inside his own Trap, The Death Box.

And the third, when she had more or less copied the concept of Rified's Death Lance, to create her own 'Energy Lance'. Something she had been interested in trying out, she would admit, and it had been quite effective.

She smirked, whoever said she wasn't smart?

"Combination time, I suppose." She murmured, "And then Spell Creation.... Hopefully this'll work out just as well as it does in my head, hmm..?" She sighed, sweatdropping slightly.

Step One: Create the Box

This would be a lot like creating an Energy Trap, but she would have to make it without the pillars, as she hadn't done the first time. That meant it would be less stable once she created it, before she was able to harden her Magic to the point it was almost like solid steel. The only down sides, it would take up a lot of Magic creating it without the pillars, and there would be a small lapse of time where the Magic would be unstable enough, it would be easy to destroyed until she had the chance to harden it.

But really, it couldn't be that hard could it? Naraka had done the same thing with his Death Box, and he hadn't needed Pillars.... Then again, he was a Dragon, a very powerful Dragon at that. One who had proven it didn't take him much effort to use his Magic at all.

Frea took a deep breath and let her eyes fall closed for a minute,

Step Two: Keep it from Moving too much

That would be why she needed to 'copy' Rified's (And Naraka's) Death Lance Spell again, though at this point it wasn't really copying any more, she had more or less just made another move to add to her arsenal.

Step Three: Make the Spell

.... She had no idea what to actually do about this step, she was going to rely on her instincts in the moment she was ready to use the Spell.

All of this was going to take up the last of her Magic Power, which was already draining rapidly as she continued to keep Absolute hold over it and repel the touch of the Nullification Magic, so she had to make it count.

Her eyes snapped open, and she clapped her hands together in front of her, her Magic blazing brighter.

"Energy Trap!" She growled, in a flash of light, a massive silver box materialized and began to rise up around the Demon to enclose it within. Her Magic blazed brightly as it continued to grow, before the box was whole, and she managed to finish the creation, so the box would stand tall.

The Demon growled in protest at her actions, and threw it's weight into the side of her Trap, causing her to flinch at the force, and effort of keeping it intact. She growled in irritation,

"Stop moving....!" She hissed, her hands pulling apart as she thrust her arms forward, dozens of Magic Cirlces appearing to hover around the top of the box, on the inside.

She winced, the Nullification Matter was trying to cancel her own Magic, she could feel it trying to pull at her Magic Energy, and panted even more from the effort of keeping it at bay.

"Energy Lance Storm!" The Magic Circles within the box suddenly turned into the streaming silver Energy Lances, bearing down upon the Demon at terrifying speed.

Dark Blood rained down upon the ground as her Lances tore through the Demon's hide, her Magic going straight through various places on its body, to hit the ground beneath it. The creatures roar of pain shook the forest to it's roots, it was enough to wound it, but definitely not enough to kill it.

But it did stop it from moving, with her Lances holding firmly after connecting from the top, and sides of the box, and the ground.

_Step Two down, one more to go._

She tossed the Lacrima up in the air, her arm stretching toward the sky, where her Magic circled the stone, causing it to remain within the air before her. She let her eyes fall closed, and forced her breathing to steady.

This was a matter of locking onto the Demon's Lifeforce as a whole, and manipulating it enough to make it shrink, and become a pure Magic form that could be stored away within the Lacrima, at least, that was what she more or less was assuming was involved in Sealing Magic.

Easier said than done, right?

But she had successfully made a Spell to fix the Balance, and another to save her own Life, which she had done without any Magic Power. This couldn't be too much harder than those, she wouldn't ever say it out loud, and nor did she think it of herself, but Frea was rather god at creating her own Spells to fit the occasion. In fact, she was much better at Spell Creation than any other Energy Mage that had lived before the present day and age, though she was unaware of it.

Her Magic began to swirl up from her feet, circling her arm closely before reaching the Lacrima and swirling around it. Her Magic also began to spiral around under the feet of the Demon within her Energy Box, glowing with silver light that shone throughout the already dark forest.

_"Energy within the land,_

_Within the Air,_

_Within every body and thing,_

_Energy now change,_

_Become small,_

_Flow within thy Magic,_

_And swirl within the air,_

_Come now Demon,_

_Be sealed away,_

_Until I shall wish it,_

_Energy be locked away,_

_Without key,_

_Without bars,_

_Become pure Magic,_

_Enter without resistance,_

_Demon Energy,_

_Seal and Lock!"_

Frea's eyes shot open as her Magic's glow reached an all time high, and the demon began to glow silver.

"New Energy Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Sealing Trap!"

In the darkening forest the pit in which the Demon and Frea fought began to glow, the light of silver beginning to reach up over the lips of the pit and bathe everything around it in soft light. As Frea continued with her Spell, the light began to grow brighter and brighter, until it was blinding to look at it.

At the peak of her Spell, The Light even shot up toward the sky and painted the clouds above with silver light, as a Huge Magic Circle appeared over the pit, and her Magic streamed down toward the Demon in a swirling pattern, creating intricate designs and even a few unrecognizable runes as it made its way toward the Trap holding the Demon inside.

The Magic flashed brighter than it ever had before, and disappeared instantly with the last remaining roar from the Demon, before everything went dark, and silent again.

Moon and Laxus stood still atop the cliff-side as they watched what happened below them, both of their eyes wide and mouths slightly open. Moon was speechless, as she had grown to be upon witnessing the acts she had thus far seen the Energy Dragon Slayer accomplish since she had agreed to be her Partner.

Laxus however, was completely, and utterly shocked. It hadn't mattered what he had been told, not of how Frea had caused the first Magic Anomaly, of how she had turned a dying human into a Celestial Key, how she managed to place a Spell over every Wizard within an entire city while fighting a _Dragon_ , or how she had single-handedly mended the Balance of the World all on her own.

He had to see this supposed power for himself. He had seen a glimpse of it before, when she had cast the No-Magic Energy- Spell on herself to save her life.

But he hadn't been able to fully believe how strong she really was up until he had seen just how far along she had come in terms of power, for himself.

None of this had been his idea, in fact he hadn't wanted to go along with it at all. He was told to leave Frea to fight alone, that was clear, but he had been ready to jump in if she had been in serious trouble, but fortunately, that hadn't happened, and it was clear his help was not needed.

But.. He was now seriously impressed, and his image of Frea had changed drastically upon seeing her like this. A powerful Wizard capable of coming up with a strategy and adapting to fight a foe that could be very well near impossible to beat for any normal Wizard. Frea wasn't a normal Wizard, he reminded himself. The way she had adapted her regular way of fighting to go head to head with the Demon was astounding, he had hardly ever seen her think so much in battle. Frea wasn't one to come up with a plan, but damn, she wasn't bad at doing so when the time came for it.....

The light dimmed all the way, until the only source of it was the rising moon, and the glow of the Lacrima that had fallen into Frea's hand, from where she stood at the bottom of the pit, having caught the glowing stone as the Spell completed.

He smiled slightly, _maybe this was a good plan after all....._ He would admit, it had been long over-due...

His grip on Moon loosened enough that the Exceed was able to pull herself free and hover in the air next to him, smiling slightly as she held a paw to her chest with her eyes closed, letting out a long sigh of relief.

Frea looked to the Lacrima with narrowed eyes, before her grip tightened on it and she placed it in her pocket. Laxus looked to Moon, the Exceed blinked at him.

"I told you she could do it." Moon murmured with a slight smirk and he glanced away.

"Did I say I doubted her? Stupid cat..." He muttered, and he heard Moon huff in irritation at the comment.

"LAXUS!"

His head snapped up at the shout of pure anger, and he sweatdropped upon seeing a furious Frea charging toward him, fists clenched and blazing with what little Magic she had left. Her face was dark, and her eyes glowed with the light of a fire, he hadn't any time to react before-

**WHAM!**

Her fist made impact with his chest, and he was thrown backward several feet, stumbling from the force of the impact to land on the ground, the breath knocked out of him. He winced at the pain that shot through him as her fist made impact,

_How the Hell did she get up the cliff that fast?!_

Moon shook her head, sweatdropping, shrugging. "I told you she'd be mad...."

His attention wasn't on the Exceed though, it was on the seething Dragon Slayer coming at him again.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?! BASTARD?!" Frea snarled, getting ever closer, she was going too fast for him to react, his mind was trying to catch up with all of it...

She was in front of him now, and her fist swung down.

"Frea!"

Her fist stopped about an inch away from his face, and he sweatdropped. Her eyes were fixed on him, but her ears were trained on the voice that had called her name in such a calm, demanding tone. She could smell them, and feel their Energy Signatures near them..... But why the hell were they here?

"That's enough child, do not take your anger out on Laxus." Frea slowly drew her fist away from Laxus' face, eyes narrowed and body tense. She slowly straightened up to glance sideways.

"It really isn't his fault." A softer, sweeter voice said and Frea's eyes widened.

"What in the hell is going on?!"


	21. Promotion?

**Chapter 21**

**Promotion?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

_Master Makarov, Mirajane, Erza, Mavis, Jynx and Gildarts?!_

Frea glanced between all of them quickly before allowing her gaze to remain on Master, this was getting way too weird, why the hell were they all here?!

"What the hell is going on?!" She snapped, anger still fueled but waning now that confusion could set in. She wanted to hit Laxus, but she hadn't been able to keep herself from stopping upon hearing Master yell at her.

"Please calm yourself, it's not what you think." Mavis said with a small smile. "Laxus was only following the 6th's orders." The blonde ghost said with a small nod at Laxus, who had slowly climbed to his feet behind her.

The Lightning Dragon Slayer slowly moved away from her to stand by Gildarts, arms crossed over his chest.

Frea blinked, "Orders?" She echoed, her silver gaze snapping to Master Makarov instantly. "You ordered him to ditch me?! What the hell?!"

Master sighed a little, and crossed his arms behind his back. "Frea, I would ask that you please clam down and listen." He asked gently, and she huffed slightly but did as he asked. "This has been due to happen for a very long time now." He murmured and her head tilted, "As I am sure you remember, every year up until recently when I asked you to participate in the S-Class exams, you have thus far refused?" He said with a meaningful look and she sweatdropped a little.

"And?" She mumbled, suddenly a little flustered. Mira, Mavis and Erza smiled slightly at the look she had, and Gildarts chuckled, while Laxus remained neutral along with Jynx.

"It was with this in mind this entire Mission was formed." Master informed.

"All of us here agreed that it was time to put your skills to the test." Mavis said with a smile, "We had faith in your ability."

"We knew you wouldn't agree to do the S-Class exams when they came back around, so we decided to give you a surprise test." Mira smiled.

"This sort of test doesn't happen often, only for special cases, but I think we can all agree that this is a special case." Erza told her, Frea stared, did they really just...?

"Frea, during the very first few years since you had joined the Guild, it had become apparent to me that you were above any normal Wizard's skill level. That has become increasingly apparent over all the years I've known you, and even more so in these last few months." Master took over again. "I have watched you grow and progress, even at a rate I had never thought possible of any Mage. You are stronger than I could have ever imagined," He smiled at her, "And I am proud to have you in the Guild."

Frea blinked, blushing slightly, but only slightly, at the words.

"We gave you this mission to see how well you could adapt to something you had never faced before." Mira spoke up, "Just to see how you would react, and overcome the challenge."

"Your skills have surpassed even what I believed they could," Erza smiled, "And you have finished this test with flying colors."

"I knew ya had it in ya, kid." Gildarts smirked, chuckling slightly. "You are definitely worthy of this."

Master's smile grew wider, "Gildarts is correct! As we all know, this has been a long time coming!" Master looked to Frea and she sweatdropped. "You have passed this test with ease, and shown us just how much skill, dedication, and heart you really have. " Frea sweatdropped a little more, "It is with my power as Guild Master of Fairy Tail, I now promote you to the rank of S-Class!"

"We are all very impressed with you, and welcome your new status within the Guild." Mavis murmured.

"We had expected this to happen some time ago," Erza murmured, "Your promotion is long overdue."

Gildarts smirked. "But you were the one who never wanted to do the Exams."

"Which is the reason for the discreet." Jynx finally spoke up, smirking at her. "You showed us all your Power, Energy Dragon."

"It's about damn time." Laxus smirked, it being the first thing he had said the entire time. "You couldn't have been serious about remaining at normal rank in the Guild forever." Mira and Erza smiled at the words, nodding in agreement.

Frea's eyes passed over all of them slowly, her mind having a very hard time catching up with what had just happened.

So lets get this straight... they tricked her into fighting a Demon, were watching the entire time, and all because they wanted to promote her to S-Class?

It was true she would have never agreed to do this mission had she known what they were up to.....

So this was why Master, Mavis and Jynx had been silent? Why they had been speaking in the Master's office frequently?

_They tricked me?!_

She sweatdropped a little more, they continued to smile at her. _I passed the test..?_

_I'm.... S-Class now..?_

"...You guys really are crazy.." She breathed, unable to say anything else. They smiled more at the words and chuckled, Moon floated toward her and patted her n the head, smiling widely.

"I never doubted you." The Exceed murmured. Frea glanced away, rubbing the back of her neck, the blush returning.

This was too much attention, she never liked having so many people praise her at once, she had never been very good at taking praise. And this was making her nervous, everything they had said....

They only seemed to find her embarrassment more amusing, though. "I know you will continue to make me proud." Master told her, "Everything that has happened in the past has never over-shadowed just how proud you have made me." She blinked at the words, knowing exactly what he meant by it. Master Makarov had guessed why she had never wanted to participate in the Exams a long time ago, because she had never trusted herself with such a responsibility, especially after she had slipped up, and Shadow had taken control to go on a rampage and harm the Guild all that time ago.

His words made her look away from him quickly, unsure of what to say in response. She heard no lie in his voice, she could tell he was being completely honest. Even the warm and happy feelings flowing off of everyone around her made her even more uncomfortable.

Her eyes widened, _now wait a minute....._ She looked to Laxus to see him smirking. They had a re-match to settle, and now that they were officially the same rank in the Guild, and the blonde man accepted that... it meant that he had finally recognized she was strong enough to compete against him.

Laxus nodded at her, confirming what she was thinking with the simple gesture. She smiled, before this instance, she had always been the Mage who could go head to head with him and was willing to, but he had never accepted she was the same skill-level as him.

He must have been willing to go along with trying to promote her to S-Class, even if this exact plan had not been the way he had wanted to go about it. But even more so, he had been the one to leave her to fight alone, even if he had been told to do so, she knew he wouldn't have hesitated to step in should he feel the need to.

He had accepted she hadn't needed the help. He had accepted she was strong enough to take care of things on her own.

She smirked, a wide fang-revealing smirk that made everyone else smile wider. "Alright, you guys are still crazy, but if this is what you all want, then I'll live with it." She shrugged slightly, "But now, we definitely need to have that re-match Laxus." Laxus nodded, agreeing with her completely.

"Shall we head back?" Master suggested, beginning to walk back the way they had come, "The Council will have to be notified, and the Guild ought to be aware of the change as well." He smiled as everyone else began to follow.

Gildarts, Erza, Moon and Mira walked beside Frea, all smiling still as they began to praise and congratulate the newly appointed S-Class even more, causing Frea to become more flustered.

Laxus fell in step beside his grandfather and the two ghost girls, listening to the Mages behind him with closed eyes and crossed arms, smiling at the words. He was going to have to get used to this now... and he was looking forward to it. Because now, he was going to give Frea his full respect, he had to, they were the same Rank in the Guild now, weren't they?

* * *

 

"When did you get back?" Frea asked, her attention turned toward Gildarts for now.

The Train bumped along its tracks as it continued to bring them back to Magnolia. Moon sat comfortably in Frea's lap, with Erza sitting beside the Energy Dragon Slayer, Mira across from her, and Gildarts sitting next to Mira. Laxus and Master were sitting across the aisle, Laxus silent and slightly green, with Master listening in. Jynx and Mavis sat across from Master and Laxus, talking away happily on things, Frea had thus far not bothered to listen into.

Gildarts hadn't been around since the GMG, this was the first time she had seen him since meeting him that day beside the river in Magnolia, when he had admitted to her he wouldn't be accepting the role of Guild Master against Master Makarov's wishes.

"Makarov sent me letter telling me he was going t,=o test you." Gldarts replied, "I figured I might as well head back and see how it went, as well as congratulate the rest of the Guild on winning the Grand Magic Games." He smirked, "Besides, I miss my Cana!" He suddenly looked so.... Gushy as he thought about his recently found daughter, and Frea smiled nervously at the sudden change in behavior. She was certain Gildarts missed Cana, but Cana hadn't been so enthusiastic about him sticking to her so much....

"I'm curiuos as to how you managed to bypass the Nullification Magic?" Erza asked, taking Gildarts' momentary distraction as a chance to ask her own questions. "That could not have been easy,"

"I've never seen anyone get past Nullififctaion Magic that strong before." Mira put in as well and Frea shrugged,

"It wasn't really so much different from stopping Asuma from taking my Magic back on Tenrou." She murmured. "Being an Energy Mage, I can take absolute control over my Magic Energy, and keep anyone or anything from taking it."

"That's what happened with the Eclipse Gate as well." Moon put in,

"Yes, but the instances with Asuma and the Eclipse Gate were a bit different than this one, they were stealing my Magic, the Nullification Matter was only taking control of my Magic Energy to stop it from working, and make it disappear." Frea explained. "I would never have realized it, or even noticed the Nullification Magic doing so, if I hadn't..... eaten it." She grimaced at the thought, her stomach was already starting to churn and twist, the uncomfortable sensation she felt whenever riding trains was not helping.

"Bad move..?" Moon murmured, looking toward her grimacing partner with a sympathetic smile. Frea glanced away,

"Necessary evil." Frea mumbled. Mira smiled sympathetically at Frea,

"Hopefully it won't hit you too hard." The white-haired Mage, "But you're ok though? No injuries too serious?" Mira asked, her concern making its way into her voice. Frea could tell Mira's blue eyes landed on the cut on her cheek, and she smiled in reassurance.

"No, no, a little sore, but I'm fine." She answered, licking her thumb so she can wipe the dried blood off of her cheek and neck. Her chest hurt a little from those ribs that were probably cracked, and her whole body was aching slightly from being hit by the Demon's Magic, though she wasn't in any serious condition.

She was out of Magic Power too, that alone made her feel a little light-headed, but she hardly noticed.

"What about the 'Energy Lance Storm' Spell you used?" Erza continued with her questions, and Frea blinked at the knowing look she received from the red-head. "It seemed awfully similar to something Rified used.."

Moon and Frea smiled sheepishly, oh yes, similar..... more like a copy. "Yeah.... I had to copy Rified's Death Lance Spell back in Crocus when I was fighting with Naraka, and sort of just decided to use it again.." Erza and Mira blinked, while Gildarts finally stopped thinking about his daughter, and the attention of the others across the aisle was peaked.

"Copy?" Erza, Mira, Gildarts, Master and Mavis asked all at once. Frea looked between them,

"I copied the concept, and made a version of it specifically for my Magic." She explained a little more.

"Magic Mimicry." Master murmured, smiling as he glanced away, eyes closing and crossing his arms over his chest. "A rare skill, I'm impressed you're able to use it." Mavis and Jynx nodded in agreement, with Gildarts doing so soon after.

Erza, Mira, Frea and Moon all exchanged glances, never having heard of such a thing before. "Master, would you care to explain?" Erza asked.

"It's a very rare skill that was developed by some of the most Powerful Mages in the world. It's the ability to mimic a type of Spell used by a different Magic type, and create your own Spell that works the same way, only it's base is your own Magic." He smiled a little more. "The perfect recreation of someone else's Spell, using your own Magic."

"So it's like Copy-Cat Magic?" Moon elaborated, looking to Master with an understanding expression. Master looked up, glancing toward the Exceed with a surprised look.

"Almost, Copy-Cat Magic is a Magic used specifically for the perfect copy of any type of Magic. Although Copy-Cat Magic looks exactly like the Magic it is copying. It is an exact copy, unlike with Magic Mimicry, where your Magic creates a copy of the Spell to be used with your own Magic." He paused, "But Copy-Cat Magic can never achieve the level of power of the Magic it is trying to Copy. It is true that the power of the Copy-Cat Magic User may decide how powerful the copy is, but no matter how powerful they are, the Copy-Cat magic will not be as powerful as the original."

Moon nodded a little, "Unless the Power of the Magic that is being copied is very low, in which case the Copy-Cat magic can reach the same level of Power as the original." Moon answered, "Or, the Magic being copied isn't very hard to master as if you were learning it all on it's own."

Everyone looked to Moon, eyes wide and blinking in confusion. Master nodded slightly, "Yes, that is correct... I'm a little curious as to how you know so much about Copy-Cat Magic?" He asked and Moon shrugged, looking a little nervous.

"... I can use it, if I want to." Moon replied. "Kyo used it, and he taught me the basics."

"Why the hell didn't I know?!" Frea snapped, looking shocked and slightly annoyed. Moon glanced up at her Partner, blinking.

"You didn't ask..?" Moon replied rather weakly, "It really isn't something I use often, I prefer Memory Magic, it's a bit more practical." The Exceed shrugged, "Look, I was only trying to create a connection between Magic Mimicry and Cop-Cat Magic. Relax." Frea stared at her Partner, it wasn't so much that Moon hadn't mentioned it, it was the fact she hadn't sensed that sort of Magic in her Partner before now.

Though... she hadn't actually ever come across anyone who could use Copy-Cat Magic, she wouldn't have the slightest idea what it felt like.

"Who is Kyo?" Mira asked, causing both Frea and Moon to look her way.

Moon paused a moment, and Frea looked away from Mira back toward Moon. She could easily feel the uneasiness coming off of her little Exceed Partner, and she suddenly felt a little bad for her.

No one in the Guild had tried to ask Moon about her past as far as Frea knew, and she was glad for it. It had become clear to her that anything related to her Partner's past caused the Exceed pain, and she herself had never pressed. She preferred to let Moon talk about it on her own time, Frea had never been one to press things of people who clearly didn't want to talk.

"He used to be my friend, several years ago." Moon replied quietly. "He passed away some time ago, since then I've been on my own." Moon mumbled, rubbing her arms a little.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Mira said softly, Frea glanced away from her Partner, but gave her a small squeeze just to comfort her a little.

"I suppose Natsu's going to want a fight when we get back." Frea murmured, looking out the window with a small smile, trying to steer the conversation away from Moon. Everyone smiled (besides Laxus) at the words,

"True, he probably won't be happy once the announcement is made." Erza commented, "He might even try to challenge you in some attempt to become S-Class."

"He's too much of a hot-head." Frea chuckled, "Unfortunately, I may not be in the mood..." She frowned slightly, her stomach flipping suddenly. No, by the time they got back, the effects of eating the Nullification Matter was bound to catch up with her by then, and she was not going to be happy when it did.

She still couldn't believe that they had tricked her like this, she wasn't sure how to feel about it to be honest..... should she be happy, mad, or indifferent? Or maybe she was supposed to feel proud of herself for having achieved an accomplishment such as being promoted to an S-Class?

She was... surprised, and the fact she had been promoted.... Didn't really see to have an impact on her. She had never wanted to be S-Class, never felt the desire to.... This was going to be like receiving a gift she hadn't known she wanted, and she wasn't sure she did want it still.

She wasn't going to argue with Master's decision on this though, because he was right, she had held this off for long enough, it was time to just accept it, she supposed. They had all gone through the effort of putting it all together and keeping it a secret, just because they knew she wouldn't have gone along with it had she known what was really going on.

Frea blinked, and adjusted a little to pull the Demon-Sealed Lacrima from her pocket. Several pairs of eyes turned toward her and she glanced to Master Makarov,

"Did you want me to destroy it?" She asked him quietly, and he glanced her way. Master took a moment to contemplate it, before shaking his head and holding out his hand,

"There is no need, I have faith your Spell should seal the Demon away for a very long time. I shall keep it safe, before handing it over to the Council." Frea nodded slightly, handing it over to him without argue.

* * *

 

"Energy Dragon," Jynx said as they stepped off the Train in Magnolia one after the other.

The sun was begging to rise over the town, they had arrived just a the new day began to start. People were beginning to set up shops in the market, others got up to walk through the town. Without a cloud in the sky, it would prove to be a beautiful day.

Frea glanced to the ghost, eyebrow raised, Jynx smiled slightly. "I assume you would like to know, that Chase and Aisha have made it back to the Guild safely."

Frea binked, yes she was happy to hear Chase had made it back fine, she really couldn't care less about Aisha though.

Jynx seemed to sense what she was thinking, because the small ghost shook her head and sighed, smiling only slightly. "Despite what happened the first time you two met, I would hope you'll settle things sooner or later." Jynx murmured, Frea frowned slightly.

"Don't count on it." She muttered and Jynx looked at her silently, smile disappearing. Silence passed between the two of them for a few minutes, not very long in all honesty, perhaps only a second or so, but it felt like an eternity. The tenseness pricking at the air between them was becoming increasingly thick as the days past, Frea had to wonder if this was how it was going to be between Jynx and herself from now on.

"Do as you wish, Energy Dragon." Jynx said in a low tone, glancing away and letting her red eyes fall closed. "Just know, Aisha will indeed have a part to play in your future. Unexpected things are about to begin, be ready." With those last words, Jynx had disappeared into a purple haze, once again leaving before Frea could question her.

Aisha would have a part to play in her future? What the hell was that supposed to mean?! Why would that annoying MoonLight Mage have anything to do with her future?!

She huffed slightly, her agitation with Jynx's mysterious behavior was wearing on her patience, she really wished she could bop the damn ghost on the head. Unfortunately, she was fairly certain her hand would simply pass through the Spirit, and that would only make her less happy.

But she was slightly put on edge now, Jynx said things were about to start happening... and she knew by now, that Jynx had an impeccable sense of when things were about to go down. No matter how annoyed she was with the ghost, it would be stupid to ignore what Jynx said. So, for that, she was going to be on high alert for awhile. She needed to be ready for whatever was about to 'begin', not wanting to be caught unaware.

"Are you coming?" Frea's attention snapped toward Moon, who had paused a little ways in front of her. The rest of their group had already begun to head toward the Guild Hall, after having exited the Train. She had fallen slightly behind, having been stopped by Jynx almost as soon as she had gotten off the Train.

Moon blinked at her, noticing how tense she was so suddenly, but not exactly quite sure why. Frea took a small breath and began to walk forward, "Yes, sorry." She replied, where she caught up.

Moon took a seat down on her shoulder silently, casting one last confused look toward the Energy Dragon Slayer but not questioning it. She guessed it had something to do with Jynx, and although she hadn't heard what the ghost had said, she could tell it was something that had struck home with Frea.

Laxus glanced sideways, without turning his head to look back at Frea. He narrowed his eyes slightly, the ghost's words ringing in his ears. He was fairly sure that other than Frea herself, he had been the only one to hear the very few words that were shared between the two.

_'Just know, Aisha will indeed have a part to play in your future. Unexpected things are about to begin, be ready.'_

That was a dire warning if he ever heard one, and he was slightly surprised to hear it come from the ghost no less.

Laxus himself had never taken the time to get to know Jynx since he had found out about her existence back on Tenrou. He had had the opportunity to do so, considering she had stuck around since coming back from the seven year gap.

But he didn't like her, and he didn't know why. He accredited some of his dislike, into wariness for her. There was something darker about Jynx, and he hadn't needed to get to know her to be able to sense that darkness from the ghost.

It wasn't a darkness you would usually associate with Dark Mages or evil things though, it was just a feeling unlike anything he had ever felt before.

He had also come to tell that Jynx was one to hide things, several things, and he had the feeling that most of those 'things' she was hiding, were relatively important.

The other thing he didn't like, was the idea that Jynx had been around since his Grandfather had joined the Guild. Even Makarov didn't seem quite so thrilled with having her around half the time, and the Old Man's wariness of her was completely confusing. He hadn't a clue why the Old Man acted that way, but it didn't make him any more inclined to trust Jynx.

He let his eyes move back to the path ahead, now he knew for a fact, his uncertainties about Jynx were shared by none other than Frea herself.

He sighed silently, at least Frea had the sense to be wary of the ghost, he would consider her a fool if she wasn't. He smiled slightly,

To be honest, in all the time he had known Frea, he hadn't truly ever thought of her as a fool.

* * *

 

The Guild began to become filled as the sun rise up over the town that morning, everyone falling into what they did best, whether it was drinking, arguing, eating, laughing or talking. It was turning out to be a regular day within the Guild, well, almost regular.

There wasn't any brawling going on.

"What are they doing?" Lucy asked, glancing toward the three boys sitting at a window near the Guild entrance. She blinked at it, finding it rather odd that Gajeel, Gray and Natsu were all staring out the window so intently. Her question caught the attention of the people sitting around her, sitting at the same table she was.

Solana, who had come through her Gate earlier, was sitting at one end of the table, fussing over Happy who sat in her lap, enjoying all the attention. The red-head didn't even seem to register that Lucy had said a thing,

Loke who was sitting beside Solana, and who had come through his Gate at the same time Solana had, glanced toward the boys, eyebrow raised. "No clue."

Wendy and Carla glanced toward the sight too, but they didn't seem to have any idea either. "It's a little weird to have them all sitting there like that." Wendy murmured.

"Certainly, especially seeing how they aren't bickering." Carla commented,

Lily crossed his paws over his chest, gaze fixed on his Partner. "They have the look of a hunter waiting for its prey to crawl into sight." He muttered, earning sweatdrops from everyone at the analogy.

"They're waiting." Chase murmured, resting his chin in his hand as he glanced toward the three with a bored expression.

"I agree." Aisha murmured, leaning back in her seat beside the Energy Mage with her arms crossed over her chest and eyes closed.

The two of them had come back to the Guild last night, surprising everyone by just how at ease Aisha suddenly seemed to be. While the New Member still wasn't one to join in on conversation regularly, she was clearly not as tense as she had been, that could probably be accredited to something Chase had said or done while out on their Mission.

"Waiting?" Loke, Lucy, Carla, Wendy and Lily questioned, blinking at the words. Chase nodded, looking to them and shrugging slightly, eyes closing.

"They think something's up." He said in slight amusement, "Considering Master, Mira and Erza all disappeared at the same time." He chuckled slightly, and they tilted their heads. They were surprised he had come up with the answer so fast, especially only learning what had been going on in the Guild just last night.

"Why is that so weird?" Lucy asked, still confused. Chase shrugged,

"Dunno." He replied. "That's about all I could piece together for that." He said, pointing toward the three at the window.

"... They're all high-ranking members." Lily commented, looking thoughtful.

"That's right, both Erza and Mira are S-Class!" Lucy exclaimed, the thoughts clicking together in her head. "Last time a the S-Class and Master joined up, they announced the participants for the S-Class exams."

"They can't really be thinking about those, can they?" Carla asked, "Surely not after what happened last time?"

"I thought the S-Class exams were only held at the end of the year?" Wendy murmured, looking a little put-off by the idea of the Exams again.

"Juvia wonders if there is something wrong?" Suddenly Juvia appeared to sit next to Lucy, causing the blonde to jump.

"Where the heck did you come from?!" Lucy yelped, but she was ignored.

"That's possible." Lily agreed with the Rain Woman, "Perhaps the Magic Council needed something done, and the Master called upon S-Class to get it done."

They all nodded slightly, considering that explanation to be more likely than another re-run of the S-Class exams.

"It must be pretty dangerous if the Master wants Mira and Erza to take care of it." Wendy mumbled, looking a little scared for the two woman.

"Whatever it is, I'm sure they can handle it." Carla assured the girl. "After all, they are the strongest female Wizards here in the Guild."

Murmurs of agreement rung out around the group, Solana paused suddenly in her fussing over Happy to glance around the table at who was assembled. Unbeknownst to the others, she had in fact been listening to everything that had been said. Carla's comment caught her attention though, because the Exceed was missing a name in her statement. Erza and Mira were not the only strongest female Wizards in the Guild, of that she was sure.

In fact, she would have said so out loud, but stopped herself. Everyone would begin to recognize that other name soon enough, without her help.

So, she returned to doting on Happy, causing the blue Exceed to pure in delight as she scratched him behind the ears.

Aisha looked toward her sister as she saw the Dragon Slayer pause in her attention toward the blue cat in her lap. She raised an eyebrow at the sudden falter, wondering what just the hell was going through Solana's head in that instant. Aisha herself was only half-way following what everyone was saying, she hadn't been in the Guild long enough to know about everything that went on within it, or had happened before her joining.

Nor was she particularly interested, leave the guessing games to the Members who cared.

Loke tapped a finger to his chin, glancing toward the three assembled beside the window, then sweeping his gaze around the Hall.

"Hmm..." He let out a low breath, causing several of them to look his way.

"What's up Loke?" Lucy asked.

"Now that I think about it..." He murmured. "Didn't Master, Mira and Erza disappear on the same day you said Frea and Laxus went on their mission?"

* * *

 

Frea followed along beside Moon, Mira and Erza as the headed along toward the Guild Hall. Her eyes were closed and arms crossed over her chest, a bead of sweat on her forehead. Oh she was so regretting eating the Nullification Magic now, her stomach was flipping relentlessly.

 _Necessary evil_ , she reminded herself once more, but she wasn't happy with it.

Even her chest hurt, which she was going to accredit to the fact that she had probably cracked a few ribs in the fight. She wasn't hurt enough to bother Wendy or anyone with it though, and she didn't plan to, if she really wanted she could fix those cracked ribs herself.

She listened to the three talk to each other about what they expected to happen at the Guild once they got back, deciding it better to put her attention on something other than her sore chest and churning stomach.

"I'm betting Natsu and Gray will wanna fight." Moon smirked, "Or at least they'll definitely have something to say about it!" She chuckled a little.

"Hopefully they won't be too upset about it." Mira smiled, "Considering what happened with last years S-Class exams, Master may not even decide to do them this year."

"That would be likely. Too much has happened recently to even think about doing them." Erza agreed with a small nod of her head.

Frea blinked once at the words, somewhere in the back of her mind she sort of knew Master probably wasn't going to do run the S-Class exams at the end of the year. It made sense, she couldn't think that everyone had gotten over what had happened already, even she would not have wanted to do them when the time came around, though that was nothing new.

... Now, that was a different story. She supposed, she wouldn't actually be taking the Exams, instead she'd probably end up helping run them. She sweatdropped, eyes closing and sighing silently. She wasn't entirely sure she was ready for this, she rubbed the back of her neck a little.

With the hits she had taken during her fight, her clothes had become a little ragged, and on their way back, she had decided to change on the train.

Instead of her newly decided Mission Attire she had been wearing earlier, she had changed into the spare clothes she had kept in her bag, a black tank top with a silver shirt over it that hung off her shoulders to leave them bare, and a pair of dark jeans. She had left her combat boots on, and tied her hair back into a loose, messy bun with Virgo's Ribbon.

She had sent her bag and her tattered clothes back to Fairy Hills after that, feeling a lot better being out of the dust, and blood stained outfit she had had on.

While she had been changing, that had given her some time to look herself over a bit more. Several bruises across her back, and even some small cuts, but that was about it for wounds, beside the scratch on her cheek, the cracked ribs, and the ache all over her body.

She had gotten out of that fight pretty well off, which both surprised herself, and the people who had witnessed the battle.

She glanced toward Moon, her Exceed Partner's prediction suddenly ringing in her head.

_'I'm betting Natsu and Gray will wanna fight. Or at least they'll definitely have something to say about it!'_

She didn't doubt Natsu was going to challenge her after Master made the announcement, and even Gray was likely, seeming as how much the two of them had cared about the Exams back on Tenrou.

However, Moon was missing two other people, two others who Frea guessed were going to have a few things to say about her unexpected, and 'rare' Exam.

Exams were never held any other time than at the end of the year when Master chose who would participate. Sometimes there were many Members chosen, sometimes only one or two. While she had been aware that Master could test someone separately, and at a different time of the year, she had never expected him to do so for her.

She didn't like how they had tricked her, and she was still slightly pissed at Laxus out of all of them, simply because he was the easiest to be pissed at.

Not only was he the one that had ditched her, even if he had been ordered to, but he was also the very Mage within the Guild she had never quite seen eye to eye with. Laxus had been pissing her off long before he ever left her to fight alone, just as he had been pissing her off relentlessly all the years she had known him since joining the Guild.

She was going to he angry for awhile yet, and she was definitely going to find some way to get back at him.

But, back to those four she expected to hear complaints, and even exchange fists with once Master announced her sudden promotion.

The two obvious ones were Natsu and Gray, and just as obvious, at least in her opinion, were Gajeel and Elfman.

Elfman had shown he was just as concerned with the Exams as Natsu and Gray were, and she was sure to earn a lecture and maybe even a fight from the Take-Over Mage.

And Gajeel, while he hadn't been selected for the Exams back on Tenrou, he had clearly been interested in them. Gajeel liked the idea of a challenge, and even becoming S-Class was something he wanted to achieve. He often brawled with Frea, and she could tell he enjoyed it, as did she. They were both strong opponents, and they both enjoyed the challenge the other brought to the table.

Although, Gajeel had yet to actually beat Frea in a brawl, the same can be said for Natsu, Gray and Elfman.

As they neared the Guild Hall, she was convinced her assumptions were true.

Guess who could be seen staring out a window at the front of the hall, eyes narrowed and completely tense?

Gajeel, Natsu and Gray.

_Three out of four I guess?_

She suddenly wanted to stop walking. She didn't want to go in the hall. She didn't want to deal with them, she really wasn't in the mood.

But she knew that stopping and leaving wasn't an option at this point. This was what was going to happen, she had to deal with it, and the reactions she would receive from everyone else.

"Gildarts, Gramps!" Natsu rushed out of the hall immediately, looking happy with Gildarts appearance and almost demanding of an explanation for Master's disappearance.

Natsu came to a halt once he saw who else was with the two men who had been leading the small group, Gray and Gajeel coming to a halt beside the pinkette.

"Laxus, Erza, Mira, Frea!?" Natsu and Gray shouted, eyes wide an sweatdropping.

Moon blinked, raising a paw slightly, with Mavis raising a hand as well, "We're here too." The Exceed and the Spirit mumbled.

"What the hell are all of you doing together?" Gray asked, his eyes sweeping over all of them. Master smiled slightly in return to the Ice-Mage,

"What indeed!" Master chuckled, continuing on toward the front doors. "Come along, I've something to announce!"

Gildarts, Laxus and Erza followed Master closely, while Mira and Moon hung back a little with Frea. Frea took a slow step forward, eyes narrowed and sweatdropping slightly.

Mira seemed to notice her reluctance, because she smiled reassuringly and placed a hand on Frea's back to gently urge her forward a little.

Mira didn't see the Energy Dragon Slayer's hesitation as fear or weakness, she had come to realize over the years how flustered Frea was with any sort of attention given to her. That had been clear when so many Mages had crowded around Frea back in Crocus at the party within the castle.

Mira had also come to the conclusion it was also one of the reasons Frea hadn't told the Guild the truth about Solana, what had happened, and what she knew.

Frea didn't like being the center of attention, she wasn't comfortable with praise, and she definitely wasn't one to go looking for the spotlight.

Although many may not know it, Frea was a rather modest and shy person at heart when it came to talking about herself, and it only made her a kinder person in the end. Frea used her fists a lot, and she was definitely scary when she wanted to be, but it was all a side of her that happened to show more often than the Energy Dragon Slayer's kinder, softer side.

Mira smiled to herself, Frea walking forward a little faster at the soft touch of the white-haired woman's hand. Frea was going to be embarrassed with this for awhile, but eventually she would fall into her new rank as an S-Class Mage rather well, of that Mira was certain.

She had watched Frea change throughout the years, learned about her more, come to understand her better. Mira was one of the people in the Guild who had given attention to Frea more than others had.

Not to say that the rest of the Guild hasn't cared to pay attention to the Energy Dragon Slayer, some were just a bit more observant than others.

Mira had come to understand how Frea thought, acted, felt, worked, and spoke, in the years she had grown up with her.

It was Frea, Erza, Mira and Laxus who had all come to the Guild all those years ago and they had all been around the same age, they learned together, fought together, and with each other, and eventually grew to know one another better than some.

Mira smiled a little more, Frea had learned a lot over the years, from both the Guild, her past battles, and her friends.

And Mira had learned several things from Frea, and become better Mage for it, even if Frea was unaware of it.

Frea was one of the best Mages in the Guild, both in terms of strength, skill, and power, as well as things such as trust, courage, loyalty and heart.

Mira chuckled under her breath a little, falling behind Frea as they entered the Hall.

Frea kept her eyes on Master's back as she followed him inside, not wanting to meet the gazes of the people in the Guild. She could easily tell they were all interested, and many of them were confused, while others were impatient.

By now it had become clear that something had gone on, how often was it that all the S-Class Mages and Master went somewhere together? Even Gildarts' appearance was making people begin to wonder, though no one forgot to call out cheerful greetings to the returning Member.

Even the appearance of Laxus and herself with the group was odd, considering that to the Guild, they hadn't all left with each other.

Frea followed the other S-Class and Master to the stage, coming to a halt between Erza and Mira, Moon breaking away to take a seat down at a table with several of their friends. Mavis stopped at the edge of the stage to watch.

The hall went silent, everyone's eyes turning toward the six atop the stage.

"What's going on Gramps?" Natsu called up.

"I have an announcement to make!" Master called out, crossing his arms behind his back. "As I'm sure you've all noticed by now, the Guild's S-Class and I all went on a little trip together." Frea blinked at the fact he hadn't called her out of the S-Class group in the statement, but no one in the Guild seemed to notice the assumption.

"We've been discussing this a long time, and we all felt it was time to bump another Member to the rank of S-Class." Master smiled, "For that, we put together a special test, and Frea passed with flying colors!" Master swept his hand out to the side to gesture toward the Energy Dragon Slayer.

Several people's jaws dropped and hit the floor around the hall, Frea sweatdropped slightly at the reaction.

Master continued, seemingly not noticing the initial reactions. "Frea has now been promoted to the rank of S-Class!" His announcement was made, and the noise that followed was deafening.

"YEAH!"

They cheered. Shouted, congratulated, rose their voices in a chorus of happiness, surprise and praise. Many jumped from their seats, raising their fists in the air and grinning widely, others bounced up and down, everyone smiled.

Frea sweatdropped more, the reaction catching her off guard by a mile.

"Great!"

"Its about damn time!"

"That's so cool!"

"You deserve it!"

"Finally! How long were ya gonna wait?!"

"Always knew ya had it in ya Frea!"

"Yeah!"

Frea blinked rapidly, trying to make sense of the situation as best she could, her silver gaze sweeping over the crowd slowly.

The Mages standing atop the stage with the Energy Dragon Slayer smiled, the answer from the Guild is what they had expected. Because everyone in Fairy Tail had known this would happen someday, and many had expected it to happen a very long time ago.

Frea was a strong Mage, she was very good at what she did, she had proven over and over her loyalty to the Guild, and the willingness to fight for it. They knew Frea had never been below the level of S-Class for very long since she joined the Guild. She had grown stronger at exponential rates, she was truly the level of an S-Class.

Frea smiled nervously, rubbing the back of her neck in embarrassment, eyes closing. "Uh... Thanks..." She mumbled, her voice nearly lost to the noise. Most everyone on the stage chuckled at her embarrassment.

"Time to Celebrate with Booze!" Cana called above the rest, raising a mug and smiling widely. A chorus of approval rose up, the day and night was sure to turn into one of the Guild's famous celebrations.

Nastu, Gajeel, Gray and Elfman all smirked at the news, cracking their knuckles in anticipation.

They were happy to hear of her promotion of course, probably at a level higher than most others because they had always thought of Frea as being on par with Erza, Mira and Laxus alike.

"Hehe! Alright!" Natsu called out, grinning widely.

"Way to go Frea!" Gray smirked.

"But now its time to test our strength against yours, Gihi." Gajeel grinned.

"Fighting with you as an S-Class now is a real Man!" Elfman roared, smiling.

Frea's eyes turned to them, and she smirked in reply. She wasn't comfortable with the praise everyone was giving her, and she was more than happy to fall into a fight, more comfortable with going up against the four than standing there and accepting the praise and attention everyone was giving her.

She didn't care that her stomach was flipping of that her body hurt in that moment, she wanted to fight with them, just to get past the embarrassment of the announcement.

She slammed a fist into her palm, cracking her knuckles and smirking as Magic began to spiral up around her feet. However much Magic she had been drained of, it had regenerated in enough time she had plenty to kick those four's asses with.

"You got it! Think all four of you can beat me?!" She called down, her usual demeanor returning in seconds.

The four boys smirked, their own Magic beginning to flare up.

"Oh hell yeah!"

Chase smiled, leaning his chin in his hand and letting his eyes fall closed. The sound of destruction erupted in the Hall soon after the announcement, telling him that Frea had begun her fight with the four men.

He opened his eyes to glance sideways toward his old mentor, "Good job Teach." He murmured, he glanced to her smirking at the four men she had already started a fight with, having successfully destroyed every single Ice Lance Gray sent her way.

It hadn't been hard for him to sense that Frea was pretty low on Magic Energy when she had come in, he guessed that would have to be because she spent it while doing her exam/test. Though, the lack of Magic Energy hasn't seemed to have deterred her from leaping into a fight at any rate.

He had to wonder just how Master had managed to get her to even take an Exam to become an S-Class..? His eyes landed on Laxus and he blinked once.

His guess was the mission with the Lightning-for-brains had just been a set up, where Frea had thought she was being sent on an everyday mundane mission, she was probably tricked into taking a test to become S-Class.

He smiled slightly, he knew Frea wouldn't have taken the test had she known about it, so he was certain she had been tricked into it.

Frea had made it clear that she had no interest in the S-Class Exams, or becoming S-Class at all. She had told him exactly that when they had been a pair back in Tenrou, during the first Trial.

His smile faded as he focused his attention on Frea again. Teach hadn't ever wanted to do the Ezams, because she had not trusted herself with the responsibility of becoming an S-Class Mage. She had, and probably still did, see herself as a threat to the Guild should she get out of control.

She had hurt the Guild before, and she had never forgiven herself for it, he doubted she ever would.

He smiled again and turned away, closing his eyes.

This was going to be good for her, she would learn to trust in herself, and he was certain she would fit in as an S-Class Mage rather well.

She had already accepted her new rank, so she was at a good start.

As the fighting between Frea and her four challengers continued on, the Guild Hall was engulfed in the loud, rowdy atmosphere it usually was, something that had been missing for those seven years many of the members had been gone.

Everywhere around people were smiling, laughing, drinking, talking. Everyone was happy with the announcemt, glad that Frea had finally been promoted, because it was something they had expected to happen long ago.

But even more so, they were happy because this was the Guild they knew. The attitude of every Fairy Tail Member they had grown to know so well, and they felt at home with it.

Sitting by himself near the edge of the hall, palette in hand and canvas set before him, Reedus smiled as he looked out over the Hall, a painting of everyone on the canvas in front of him, brush in one hand. He sighed, smiling more.

This was Fairy Tail, when everyone was happy, _together._


	22. Bets!

**Chapter 22**

**Bets!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

"Master," Chase murmured as he walked up to stand in front of the bar and the Guild Master who sat atop it, drinking from a mug Mira had brought him. Master opened one eye, pausing in his drinking to look Chase's way.

"Ah! Chase my boy, back safe and sound I see." Master smiled, setting his drink down in his lap. "I trust the mission went well?"

Chase took a seat down at the bar, leaning his elbow on the countertop, smiling slightly. "As well as it could go at any rate," he shrugged, glancing toward Aisha who had settled into conversation with Juvia. "She's definitely a character." He chuckled, placing his cheek in his hand.

Master smiled at the words, "As is true for everyone in the Guild," Master chuckled, "Though I do hope things between Aisha and yourself have cooled down since when you first met?" He asked taking another swig from his beer.

Chase shrugged, "Well sure, I don't get the feeling she hates me at least." He smiled, images of the mission flashing through his head. Suddenly Chase's smile faded altogether, and he glanced back at Master Makarov, looking serious. His sudden change in behavior did not go unnoticed, and Master slowly set his drink back down, eyes closed. "Things are starting to get serious Master," Chase murmured lowly, well away from the ears of everyone in the hall. "The Council doesn't seem to have the power it used to, the Dark Guilds are starting to grow..." He watched the Old Man carefully, looking for any reaction to the words.

The Old Man didn't do anything at the words, he only let his gaze fall onto the counter before him, eyes narrowed in thought. Chase just gazed at him steadily, the noise of the celebrating Guild around them dimming into the background as a heavy silence fell over the two of them.

"He got out then?" Master asked quietly, Chase nodded slowly, eyes closing.

"He wasn't the only one either." Chase murmured, the grip the Old Man had on his mug tightened as he stiffened, the Master's eyes looking toward Chase, who sweatdropped slightly.

"There were more?" Master asked, and Chase nodded. Makarov looked away, sweatdroppng slightly and eyes closing. "Then things are worse than I thought..." His eyes opened to look out upon the Guild, landing on every single Member. "But what are they planning?"

"So? What the hell happened anyway?" Macao grinned, placing his hands down on the table before him.

"What test did the Master give you?" Wakaba asked, standing beside Macao with his arms crossed over his chest, grinning as well. Everyone in the Guild were beginning to crowd around the table Frea had settled out, leaving Gajeel, Natsu, Gray and Elfman as smoldering slumps on the floor, eyes rolling and wisps of smoke rising up from the bumps on their heads from Frea's punches.

Frea blinked at the question, sweatdropping not for the first time as everyone began to surround her on both sides. They were all smiling, and many of them were already tipsy. They had the right to be curious she supposed, but she didn't like to be crowded around.

"It had to be pretty impressive to stand in for the S-Class Exams." Lucy commented.

Frea sweatdropped a little more, waving her hands in front of her and smiling nervously. "Oh it wasn't anything special..." She chuckled.

"Stop being so modest Frea, it was quite spectacular." Erza smiled, suddenly appearing beside Frea and slapping a hand down on the Energy Dragon Slayer's shoulder hard enough to make her wince slightly. Erza smiled,

"It was definitely one of the best battles I've seen." Gildarts laughed, taking a huge swig from his beer.

"She did very well." Mira smiled sweetly, appearing beside them with a tray in hand. Everyone blinked at the praise of the three S-Class Wizards, their interest significantly peaked by the words from such strong Wizards.

"Hehe... I'll admit, it was pretty impressive, even for the Energy Freak." All eyes turned toward Laxus, who was leaning up against the wall behind Frea, arms crossed over his chest and eyes closed, smirking slightly.

At his words everyone went nuts,

"All four of you?!"

"What did she do?!"

"WE GOTTA KNOW!"

Frea had been continually growing redder, a blush appearing across her face at every extra praise she received. Her head tilted down so her hair could cast a shadow across her face, and she blushed furiously at the very last praise, really not enjoying all the attention. "Come on guys... stop it..." The Energy Dragon Slayer mumbled under her breath, but she was hardly heard, and ignored by those who did hear her.

"Aww! She's blushing!" Lucy and Lisanna giggled,

"Really?!"

Suddenly both Natsu and Gray sprung up from where they had been previously on the floor to land atop the table just in front of Frea, peering down at her with wide eyes. "She is!" They exclaimed in unison, looking completely shocked.

"What?!"

"Aww!"

The Guild erupted in laughter and surprised yells, several amused by Frea's embarrassment, others astounded, they had never seen Frea blush before.

"I AM NOT," Suddenly Frea sprung up, face dark and baring her fangs at the two boys, looking utterly pissed off, yet the blush hadn't gone away, "BLUSHING!"

_WAM!_

Both Natsu and Gray flew through the air to slam into the wall on the opposite side of the hall, causing it to crumble and cave in from the force of their bodies hitting it, both slumped to the floor with whited-out eyes, smoke rising up off them.

Frea stepped forward to catch herself atop the table, after having jumped up to kick them both, she hadn't even needed to use her Magic to throw them that far. She clenched her fists at her sides, vein ticked on her forehead and eyes scrunched closed, shaking with anger and irritation. Several people backed off slightly and sweatdropped, others just smiled and laughed at what had happened.

"Tch.... What idiots.." Laxus smirked.

"Give it to those two to set Frea off..." Wakaba mumbled,

Moon lift a paw in the air, smiling widely. "I could show you what happened in the Exam if you want!" The dark grey Exceed called out to the assembled members, she had been one of the few who hadn't been bothered by Frea's sudden behavior, and she didn't seem to care if she pissed the Energy Dragon Slayer off even more.

"Really!? Yeah!" The Guild cheered, thrilled with the offer.

"My life is not a movie!" Frea snapped at her Exceed partner, but her voice was already lost to the people caught up in the memory, the Guild Hall falling away from their feet to be replaced with the grass and stone where the pit in the forest had been.

Though the Guild Hall remained before her, and she growled under her breath at losing everyone's attention. What was she to do though? They were bound to want to see what had happened, and there was nothing she could do to stop them from finding out one way or another.

Letting out a long sigh, she rubbed the back of her neck in defeat and turned from the rest of the Guild, stepping off the table slowly. "What's the matter, don't like all the attention?"

Her gaze snapped up to meet the person who had spoken, her silver eyes meeting aqua ones. Her blush had started to go away, and she frowned slightly.

"I'm not like you Laxus, I'm not looking for the spotlight." She mumbled lowly, taking it into account that he wasn't being shown what had happened, Moon had left him out... or Laxus himself had refused the Spell.

He smirked, shrugging his shoulders. "Who says I go looking for the spotlight?" He chuckled, "I haven't done that for a long time."

Frea blinked, that was true she supposed. He hadn't gone looking for attention since he had come back to Fairy Tail, just one of the ways he had changed since the Harvest Festival Incident.

"...True." She admitted slowly, "But you're a lot more used to praise than I am, and you take it better than I do." She mumbled glancing away.

"Ah come on, you've been given praise before this." He responded, "Since when is it so hard to take?" Frea closed her eyes,

"You know the answer to your own question." She replied softly, and she could feel the surprised emotions bounce off him suddenly. "I've never liked being praised..." She added even lower, he would hear it she knew, being a Dragon Slayer as he was.

Laxus blinked once, his head tilting slightly at the statement. He had never really taken notice of it before, or thought much of it, but Frea had never taken to praise or congratulations since he had first known her. She was too modest for her own good, but part of that made him respect her a bit more. Cocky Wizards were never ones to impress him, though that was a bit hypocritical, he was rather Cocky himself.... But only in a fight for the most part.

Frea suddenly sank to the ground, sitting cross-legged and holding her stomach, grimacing. He took a small step toward her, eyebrow raised and sweatdropping. "Hey, you ok?" He asked slowly, not sure whether or not he should be worried.

".... I really shouldn't have eaten that Magic..." Frea mumbled under her breath. He paused, before sighing and shaking his head slightly.

"Jeez, I thought something was actually wrong..." He sighed.

"What, it's not like you were really worried...." Frea mumbled, eyes remaining closed.

"Who the hell said I wasn't?" He replied back immediately, slightly irritated that she would even say such a thing. Frea's eyes snapped open at the words, her whole body tensing up at what he had said, as she looked up at him in surprise.

"What..?" She whispered lowly, looking completely shocked.

The he stiffened, realizing just what he had said, and looked away quickly, a light blush dusting his cheeks, "Tch.... Shut up." He growled quickly.

Frea blinked a few times, the reaction puzzling her. He was so... embarrassed. She had been shocked to hear him say such a thing, to think he was actually worried about her.... The idea was... weird, and it made her face burn slightly.

She scrunched her eyes closed, shaking her head furiously to get rid of the feelings. _Damn it_ , she hated that soo much! And she didn't even understand why that happened!  
She was even more flustered, because Laxus blushed. _Why the hell was he blushing?!_

"...Grrraah! Forget it!" She snapped, irritated at her own wild emotions, she wasn't liking it, at all.

"Fine with me.." he grumbled, looking away again.

....

...

Frea blinked a few times, feeling like everything had gone so.... Silent?

She glanced behind her to see everyone in stunned silence, everyone looking to her with wide eyes and dropped jaws.

She was faintly aware the Moon didn't have any Magic Energy glowing from her anymore, meaning her Spell had finished.

"WHAT?!"

"HOLY SHIT FREA!"

"HOW DID YOU MANAGE THAT!?"

"SINCE WHEN WERE YOU THAT STRONG?!"

"Kill me now..." Frea hissed under her breath, letting out a sigh and frowning.

* * *

 

"This much fuss?" Aisha muttered, wrapping her hands around the mug in front of her. "Over that?" She frowned slightly, she knew she was going to have to get used to the Guild's erratic behavior now that she was part of it, but this was a little too much noise for her liking. They had been mooning over the Energy Mage for the better part of the day now.

She didn't take much notice of the memory, she didn't particularly care in all honesty.

But... That was impressive, she would admit that at least, even despite her own dislike toward Frea.

"Give her a break." Solana murmured, glancing toward Aisha, her emerald eyes calm and mellow.

Aisha huffed, before tilting her head back to take a huge swig of her beer. "Tch... Whatever.." She hissed after she swallowed.

Solana sighed slightly, rubbing the back of her neck in exasperation. Happy had flown off to flock around Frea, like much of the Guild had done. Solana herself was just as shocked to have seen the memory as he rest of them had been, but she didn't necessarily react the same way the rest of the Guild did.

Frea had always been strong in her mind, that memory was nothing more than something to affirm that belief.

She glanced to Aisha, who had closed her eyes as she continued to drink her beer. Aisha must be a little surprised, to see anyone take on a full fledged Demon of Zeref all on their own was... Incredible.

"Here you go." Mira appeared beside them, setting down a full mug in front of Aisha.

"Thanks." The Moonlight Mage murmured, handing over the empty one she had just finished.

Solana blinked, "How many beers have you had?" She asked, trying to count up all the mugs she had seen Aisha finish off..

"That was my 15th one." Aisha replied calmly.

"15? Are you trying to kill your liver?" Solana asked, "How are you not even slightly tipsy yet?"

Aisha paused, looking her sister's way slowly. "I have a high tolerance." She replied flatly, taking a swig. "A higher tolerance than most people, I'm sure."

Solana blinked, eyes narrowing.

"Not as high as me!" Cana smirked, dropping the barrel she was downing on the table top with her as she sat atop it. Aisha smiled slightly,

"Pretty close, I'll bet." She murmured. "I'm probably the only other person here besides yourself who can hold their liqueur well." She said with a nod at Cana. Cana smiled at this, she was beginning to like Aisha even more now, and it looked like she may have a new drinking buddy.

"Aw come on, give me a little credit." Suddenly Chase sat down beside Aisha, smiling. "I held up just as long as you did back in Hargeon." He smirked.

"True." Aisha commented, "But I did last longer, if only just a bit longer." She reminded. "I'd probably last longer than the rest of the Guild, especially her." Her eyes lands on Frea.

Chase rolled his eyes, smiling slightly. "Well no shit.." He chuckled. Cana and Solana exchanged glances at the comment, never having seen Frea drink before, and not exactly sure what would happen if she did.

But Aisha wasn't interested in Chase, she knew _she_ would hear it, and she was counting on it to hit a nerve.

It was as if it had been on cue, someone slammed a mug down on the table in front of Aisha, causing the Moonlight Mage to look up with a smirk.

"You wanna test that theory?" Frea growled lowly, a shadow passed over her eyes. Aisha smirked a bit more, her grip on her mug tightening slightly.

"Think you can handle it, Screw-Up?" Aisha challenged, the nickname earning a very potent scowl from Frea. Frea took a seat down across from Aisha, looking utterly furious.

"Bring it on."

The utterly hateful feeling and tension passing between the two of them made others back up with sweatdrops and nervous looks.

"The hell is up with the two of them?" Gajeel muttered, coming to a stand beside Chase who had moved away from the two.

"Bad blood," Chase murmured. ""I doubt they'll ever get over what happened." He mumbled, then sweatdropped. "Though... I hate to think what they'll end up doing to eachother and the Guild Hall after Teach's had a few drinks." He smiled nervously. "They might end up killing one another."

"Why would you say that?" Erza asked, coming to a halt with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Does Frea act a certain way when she drinks?" Mira wondered, tapping a finger to her chin.

"No clue." Gray mumbled.

Chase swept his blue gaze around very one, eyes wide and sweatdropping a bit more. "You've never seen Teach drunk before?" He asked, and they all shook their heads.

"I've never actually seen her drink before today." Erza commented, earning a nod of agreement from everyone else.

Chase smirked slightly, rubbing the back of his neck, eyes closed. "Well... You'll all be in for a surprise I suppose..." he murmured.

Moon narrowed her eyes at Chase as he said the words, suddenly very interested in whatever memory he was recalling. She refrained from using her Magic though, she was sure to find out what happens when Frea drinks soon enough, as were they all.

* * *

 

Everyone is a certain type of drunk.

Some people are silent, others emotional, angry, scary, violent, funny, sleepy, calm...

There wasn't really one set type of drunk for Frea, as Fairy Tail had come to realize all too quickly.

"You know, you're reeeaallly too rude!" Frea smiled, chuckling. A drunken blush dusting her cheeks and leaning against the table top, "You're such a bitch!"

Aisha's grip around her mug tightened extensively, to the point where it splintered. The silver-haired young woman had a vein ticked on her forehead, looking utterly furious, though she was keeping herself under control.

Solana sweatdropped from where she stood at the edge of the table rather nervously, several other people were standing around her, wide eyed as they saw Frea's demeanor change so quickly. She had only had 3 drinks!

"And you're a damn idiot." Aisha replied back in a low growl. "Or didn't you forget all the shit _you_ screwed up?"

Frea put on a pouty face, looking far too innocent and... Cute, some of the guys actually blushed. "Aww! But I fixed everything didn't I?" She asked in a small voice,

"Depends on your definition of fixed!" Aisha snapped.

Frea shrunk away, looking almost of the verge of tears, but not even close really, her arms pulled to her chest and looking away, "I didn't mean too!" She said back,

Some of the boys fell over, faces red and heads steaming.

"... I've never seen her like this..." Natsu mumbled.

"Frea's a man!" Elfman smiled,

"Holy shit! Why's she acting so damn cute?!" Max shouted with many of the others bringing up the chorus of agreement.

"The hell is this...?!" Gray mumbled.

"Gray!" Juvia cried, hiding behind a pillar. Her gaze turned to Frea with a deadly stare, "I have a new Love Rival, she must be destroyed..!"

"I don't care if you didn't mean to!" Aisha snapped again, "You still did it!"

It felt like the Guild Hall grew colder, the lights dimmed, and Frea slowly got to her feet, and aura of anger and darkness surrounding her body. She looked to Aisha with the darkest glare they had yet to see from Frea at anytime since they had known her, Frea's fist swung down toward Aisha, who was actually ready for it, jumping to her feet in seconds and flipping backward over the chair,

Frea's fists destroyed the place where the MoonLight Mage had previously been sitting, and Aisha lift a hand up to catch her mug from when she had thrown it before maneuvering out of the way. She took a swig from it and sighed,

"Alright then, here's the 'scary side'." Aisha murmured.

The rest of the hall had quickly backed away from the two, shaking and sweatdropping, eyes wide.

"F-Frea...?"

"Look what you did!" Carla scolded, pointing a paw toward a trembling Wendy, "You scared the poor girl to death!"

"Carla.." Moon warned, sweatdropping.

Frea glanced sideways, blinking a few times and no longer scowling. She smiled sheepishly, "Ah, sorry Wendy!" She said in a sing-song voice, chuckling slightly as she leaned up against the table she had previously jumped over to try and hit Aisha. "That was fun, wasn't it?"

Aisha paused, eyebrow quirked. There was no reading Frea when she was like this... She was just too erratic and unpredictable. She had been hoping to get a read on the Energy Dragon Slayer, but at this point she doubted that would be possible.

She was to... Unpredictable. There wasn't a better word for it.

But it would be that way for the rest of the night, Frea's attitude would change from one thing to the next rapidly. At times she was fun-loving, others; scary as shit. She was even mellow at points, and plain hysterical at others.

The Guild Hall would be torn apart at some point when Frea's aggressive side appeared and she took on Aisha, before the rest of the night was spent laughing away and drinking some more, until everyone had passed out and was lying somewhere around the destroyed hall.

But, despite everything that happened that night, everyone was happy. They all enjoyed themselves to the fullest.

... However, there is a final score that needs to be counted here.

Frea: 2 - Aisha: 3

+1 for Frea, actually having impressed Aisha slightly with passing her surprise Exam, even if the MoonLight would never admit that out loud.

+1 for Aisha, who through everything that happened, did not pass out from all her drinking, and instead went home after Frea had.


	23. Special Day?

**Chapter 23**

**Special Day?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

_"... Why did you let me do such a thing...?" Frea groaned from where she sat, sprawled out on the bar counter before her and head in her arms._

_Moon cast her Partner a sympathetic glance from where she sat on the counter, smiling slightly._

_"Do you honestly believe I could have stopped you?" Moon replied evenly. "Besides, how was I to know what you would get like?" She asked._

_"...intuition." Frea replied in a low tone, sounding rather annoyed. Understandable, considering how horrible she must feel._

_Frea was clearly not used to drinking alcohol on any level, especially not as much as she had last night._ _But even more so, she was feeling sick due to eating the Nullification Matter of the Demon, which was also a significant factor in this case._

_Frea didn't seem very happy, half because she didn't feel well (again, not for the first time recently) and the fact she was pissed at the turn out of her little drunken wager against Aisha._

_Moon smiled at the thought, she would steam about that for awhile..._

* * *

 

Moon walked into the Guild Hall alone, paws hooked behind her back and eyes sweeping across the ground, narrowed in thought. In her paws she held on to a small note, and she glanced up at Mira as the white-haired Mage came to greet her.

It was only four days after they had come back and announced Frea the newest S-Class in the Guild. The morning after the night in which Frea had gotten drunk, the Energy Dragon Slayer had not been happy, with either Aisha nor herself.

Apparently Frea's hangovers were pretty bad, considering she wasn't used to drinking, _at all._ Though Mira's Speciality Drink for hangover's had fixed that problem rather quickly, it didn't make Frea any less angry.

Frea had also been sick due to the Nullification Matter as well for a day or two after, though that had cleared up very quickly, surprisingly. With the quick bout of sickness from the Nullification Matter over, Frea's Magic had come back too. However this morning...

"Good morning Moon," Mira smiled. "No Frea today?" She asked with a slight tilt of her head.

"Actually, that's what I wanted to ask you about." Moon murmured holding the note up for Mirajane to take. "I was wondering, does Frea do this often?"

Mirajane leaned down to take the note and read it quickly,

" 'I'll be gone until tomorrow, don't worry about me and don't try to find me. I'm alright, see you tomorrow.-Frea.' " Mira read the note aloud, tilting her head slightly. "That's a little odd, even for Frea..." She murmured softly.

"Really?" Moon asked, "So she's never done this before?"

"Occasionally she does, but most of the time she leaves an actual explanation... but now that I think about it..." Mira mumbled, tapping a finger to her chin, still looking to the note. "What day is it?"

Moon blinked, she opened her mouth to speak but closed it again. So much had been going on recently she hadn't bothered to keep track of the days. "... I don't actually know..." She said in an apologetic tone.

"August 21." Carla answered, having begun to walk up to meet Moon, she had heard Mira read the note and ask the question. Moon blinked in shock at the words, could July really have gone by that fast? August too? "But what does the day have to do with anything?"

"Frea _has_ done this before," Mira explained, looking slightly intrigued. "And I think she might disappear on the same day every year too."

Moon and Carla blinked a few times, heads tilting and looking relatively confused. How coincidental would it have to be that Frea would disappear without so much as an explanation on the same day every year?

That couldn't be coincidence, lets face it, this is _Frea_ they were talking about. Nothing is ever coincidence with her. But what the hell could she be doing anyway? And why couldn't she tell everyone else?

"Ah yes, that's right." Their eyes switched to Master Makarov as the Old Man walked toward them, his arms across behind his back and eyes closed. "As my memory serves, today is the very day Frea is always out of town." He told them, looking thoughtful. "Although, I had never thought to ask why it is this day she leaves every year. I would think that if its important she would have told someone."

Moon frowned slightly, if it was important, she wasn't entirely sure Frea would tell anyone, the Energy Dragon Slayer had a bad habit of keeping things from everyone.

"Well I saw Silver walking out of town this morning." Their heads turned to the voice, Gajeel and Lily walked in, Gajeel looked slightly miffed. "When I asked her where the hell she was going, she completely ignored me." He muttered, crossing his arms over his chest.

"She ignored you?" Moon asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"It wasn't so much she ignored you." Lily told his Partner. "It was almost as if she couldn't hear you, she didn't look... Focused." He mumbled, not looking as if that was the right way to put it.

"I say we follow her!" Natsu appeared beside them, looking enthusiastic. Until then they hadn't been aware he had been listening to the conversation. The pinkette grinned, "I bet she's going somewhere super secret!"

"But didn't she say not to try and find her...?" Wendy asked, having walked up behind Carla.

"Yeah? So? That's just gotta mean whatever's she doing is important!" Natsu laughed. "And probably really fun!"

"Aye sir!" Happy intoned, floating beside his partner and lifting a paw in the air, smiling just as widely as Natsu was.

"I'll admit, I was always curious as to what she was up to every year." Erza smiled, walking up to the group. "Perhaps finding out what she's been doing after so long won't be so bad."

"Yeah, its about time we find out what she's up to." Gray smiled, standing beside Erza. "Why not follow her?"

"Because who the hell knows what she'll do to you if she finds out you're all spying on her." Lucy told him, standing beside Chase and Aisha, the three of them having walked up.

"... That's true, Teach might kill us." Chase murmured, but smiled. "If she really does make a habit of disappearing on this day though... I'll admit I'm interested." He smirked. "I vote we follow her."

"Alright!" Natsu smiled, raising a clenched fist before him.

"I'll accompany you." Erza smiled.

"Me too." Gray smirked.

"Then I'm going with you." Moon told them, looking slightly determined now. Following Frea wherever she was going would not have been something she planned to do, but it would seem a few of the Guild Members were going after Frea anyway, so why not tag along?

"I suppose I'll come along as well... " Carla sighed,

"Then I'm coming to." Wendy said,

"Gihi... If all of you are going, so are Lily and I." Gajeel smirked, Lily nodded smiling.

"... I'm going to get dragged into this, aren't I?" Lucy sighed.

Master looked between all of them, eyebrow quirked and silent. He was slightly surprised all of them were so willing to jump to their feet and follow Frea,

Perhaps it may be simply because they were curious, or maybe they were just itching for something to do, he didn't know. Either way it amused him to see them all this excited, and he smiled slightly.

Mira smiled from where she watched the group talk, Frea's note still clutched in her hand. She too was amused by the willingness to go after Frea as well, she just hoped they wouldn't run into trouble from anything, and the Energy Dragon Slayer alike.

"You gonna come along, Aisha?" Chase asked, glancing to the silver-haired Mage beside him. Aisha looked to him slowly, and met his blue gaze with her own for only a moment before looking back away.

Her eyes narrowed at the doorway, there was something about this she wasn't liking, and it wasn't only her dislike for Frea. There was something off with the entire situation, she could feel it and it only made her more tense.

There was a slight reverberating in the air, a tingle... A vibration. Something was not right, and in all honesty, it wasn't just now she had felt this. She had felt the air be this way since she woke up that morning.

While it was nothing like the day when the Balance had finally tipped, it was less noticeable than that... Yet it was still something to make her feel wary.

She faintly wondered why Chase hadn't seemed to catch on to the same feeling as she had. She had become aware how sensitive he was to the slightest changes in people, Magic, and other things. It was extremely odd that _she_ would be feeling this, and he would not.

"... Chasing the Screw-Up around all day wasn't what I had in mind for spending the day doing, but I don't have anything better to do... So fine, I'll come." She muttered. _That way I can figure out why it feels like this... Why it feels so wrong..._

* * *

 

"Are you sure we're heading the right way?" Lucy asked, glancing around at their surroundings warily.

"We've got three Dragon Slayers and one Energy Mage with us." Happy murmured. "If they can't lead us in the right direction, I don't know who can!" He smiled.

"Yeah but..." Lucy mumbled, drawing a little closer to Natsu. "This place is kinda creepy. Why would Frea come here?"

"No clue, but her scent definitely leads through here." Natsu murmured.

They walked along an almost invisible path through a dark forest that could only have been two hours of brisk walking to the west of Magnolia. The sun could not shine through the thick branches of the old trees, most of which were gnarled and covered in moss and cobweb alike.

There were no sounds of birds of other creatures in the undergrowth, in fact it was almost like they were the only things alive in the entire wood.

Well, except the spiders.

"KYAAAA!" Lucy squealed, a huge black spider swung down from a tree just at her eye level.

"Its just a spider, Luce." Natsu mumbled, flicking the thing away where it disappeared into the thorn bushes lining the path.

Moon shook her head a little, sweatdropping slightly at the blonde's over-reaction. "R-Right..." Lucy stammered.

"This place has a foul scent to it." Gajeel muttered.

"The air is really heavy." Wendy mumbled. "It doesn't feel right... Like the forest is sick..." She trailed off, looking slightly nervous.

"I don't think I've ever been here before." Gray muttered.

"I do not believe I have either," Erza said lowly, glancing from side to side. "Odd considering its so close to Magnolia..." She smiled a little. "They do say this forest is haunted."

Happy, Wendy, and Lucy jumped at the news, eyes growing wide in fear.

"Seriously?!" Lucy asked.

"What do you mean?" Wendy asked in a small voice, clutching her hands to her chest.

"With ghosts?!" Happy asked hurriedly,

Everyone else just rolled their eyes.

"Its an Old Legend the townspeople know." Erza said calmly, still smiling slightly. "That there was once a young girl living here in her village hidden somewhere deep in the center of the forest. The people of this village wished to remain separate from the rest of the world, and kept strict rules to keep anyone from within from leaving the village, and to keep all outsiders out."

"This girl was young, and foolish. She did not agree with the laws set by her elders. She saw their willingness to remain hidden as a weakness, she believed everyone was afraid of the outside world, and took it upon herself to try and show them they were wrong. So she left, and sought ought what was beyond this forest." Erza paused. "However, what the girl did not know, was that their village was guarding a horrible secret. A great and ancient power that many Dark Wizards sought to exploit. It was this power the village elders wished to protect from the outside world, fearing it would be used for evil things. It was because of this they had remained in isolation so long."

Aisha glanced backward at the redhead, eyes narrowing.

"When the girl reached the outside of the forest, she was amazed. She spent the day walking in the nearby town, experiencing new things, meeting new people." Erza continued. "When the end of the day neared, she decided it was time for her to head back. She had almost reached the forest once more, before a man stopped her at the very edge. He was friendly and kind, asking her where she planned to go, and other things alike. The girl, feeling no reason for their village to hide any longer, happily told him all he asked. They parted ways, and the girl returned home, filled with happiness at all that had happened."

"This is where the bad part comes in..." Moon mumbled under her breath, sensing the story had reached its climax.

"The next day however, the man the girl had met at the edge of the forest appeared within the village, at his side were hundreds of his comrades. They were a Dark Guild who had been searching for the power that the village protected so dearly." Erza's smile faded altogether, "It was a massacre, everyone was cut down, one by one."

"The girl was dismayed, and she knew the murder of her friends and family had all been caused by her. She had been the one to tell the man where the village was, she had disobeyed the laws, and paid dearly for it. She ran away, but the man tracked her down and killed her, not wanting to leave any survivors."

Wendy raised her hands to her mouth, eyes wide. She looked almost sad. Lucy shivered a little, sweatdropping, while everyone else simply frowned.

"It is said that the girl still roams the forest, her spirit never able to rest. She has sworn to protect the power the man had sought after." Erza finished.

"So the Dark Guild never got what they were looking for?" Happy asked.

Erza shook her head, "No, not long after every villager had been killed, the men of the Dark Guild tried to retrieve the power they sought so desperately for, but just when it was within reach, they all vanished without a trace. It's said that their souls still roam this forest along with every villager, and the girl who had caused their deaths. Searching endlessly, unaware they are dead, lost forever."

"Creepy!" Lucy shivered, glancing from side to side rapidly.

"What kind of power was it the man was searching for?" Natsu asked.

"No one knows." Erza told him quietly. She shook her head slightly, "Calm down, its only a ghost story meant to scare people after all." She smiled slightly at the very shaken Wendy and Lucy.

Aisha looked away from Erza, her eyes fixing on to the darkness of the first surrounding them on the left. Her purple orbs narrowed at the shadows, when she thought she saw a flicker of blue...?

She shook her head slightly, perhaps she was just getting a little edgy. Still, she could not shake the feeling something was wrong...

"Juvia." Chase said suddenly, coming to a stop and smiling slightly as he turned toward the back of the group, everyone stopping as well. "You don't have to hide you know."

The Water Mage peeked out from behind one of the trees, blushing in embarrassment.

"Juvia?!" Gray exclaimed.

"How long have you been following us?!" Lucy asked.

"Juvia... Followed from the Guild Hall..." Juvia murmured. "Juvia goes where Gray goes." Gray shook his head furiously, looking cross and flustered at the same time. Erza and Chase smiled at it, Gajeel and Natsu smirked.

Moon hadn't stopped at the momentary distraction, she kept walking, ears perked and eyes narrowed. Lily noticed she hadn't stopped and glanced her way, eyebrow quirked. Moon didn't like what was going on already, it would seem that there was always something going on within this Guild.... And with Frea especially, but why?

Questions that would never be answered she supposed...

"Moon?" Lily asked, walking to catch up with her.

"Do you hear that?" The dark grey she-cat asked, eyes remaining ahead instead of glancing to him. Lily blinked, straining his ears to try and catch whatever she must be hearing. For a moment there was nothing... Before...

He sweatdropped, eyes growing wide. "Is that... Whispering...?" He asked,

It seemed that all around them there were dozens of voices whispering among themselves in the trees. Nothing anyone could make out, but they were definitely there.

"Sounds like it... I don't recognize the voices though." Moon mumbled. Lily shivered involuntary, he wasn't one to easily buy into ghost stories, but even he couldn't deny what he was hearing.

"Oi! What are you two doing?!" The minute Gajeel called out to the pair, the whispering in the trees died out completely. The two of them came to a pause, they had grown ahead of the group, and they glanced back slowly.

"Woah, you two look like you saw a ghost!" Happy exclaimed, looking slightly frightened.

Moon shook her head, smiling slightly. "No... We're just a little on edge, that's all." She murmured, sweatdropping still. "We're fine." Lily nodded in affirmation. "Shall we keep going?" The grey she-cat suggested,

Everyone exchanged glances, before following after the two. Aisha and Chase cast a glance down at the two shaken Exceeds as they passed them. Chase could feel the tenseness of the two, and Aisha had picked up on it also.

Though he hadn't said anything, Chase could feel a darker, more eery Energy settled over the forest. It made his skin crawl, and while he wished he could deny it, he had the feeling their group and Frea were not the only things in the forest.

In fact, he was starting to have serious worries on why Frea would even come here. There was a good amount of Negative Energy hanging around, and he knew how sensitive Frea was to it... So why...?

His attention turned to Aisha, she had stiffened beside him, her deep purple gaze stayed fixed ahead, but she seemed to think she had seen something... He sighed inwardly, there was definitely something wrong around here... And he wasn't the only one picking up on it.

"Frea's scents getting stronger." Natsu commented, urging everyone to go a little faster, "Come on you guys!"

Their pace picked up, until they were jogging trough the trees with the Exceeds flying above their heads.

The trees grew thicker, their trunks more round before they came upon the edge of a dark clearing, the trees stretching up high above their heads and completely blocking out the sky over the clearing with their dark leaves.

They came to a dead stop, eyes growing wide and sweatdropping, every single one of them.

"I don't think that was just a legend, Erza..." Gray murmured.

* * *

 

"No... No way..." Lucy whispered.

"How is this...?" Natsu murmured.

They were all standing at the edge of the dark clearing, no one able to move or do anything. They could only stare out into the space that stretched out before them. The skeletal remains of burned and destroyed buildings crumbling to the ground could be seen on the other side of the clearing. Before them in a field of dirt, were hundreds of spindly, rotted headstones made of simple wooden planks.

"Its a graveyard.." Chase murmured, eyes narrowing. He self consciously took a step backward. "This place has a lot of Negative Energy, almost just like the Dragon Graveyard..." He paused, "But for some reason its all contained in this one area, I can only feel it slightly everywhere else like I normally should be able to, but I should have felt this much a long time ago..." None of them made any movement to go forward for a few moments.

Aisha was the first one to move, and she began to walk forward, eyes closed and slowly making her way across the field of headstones, avoiding them by stepping out of the way silently.

"Aisha," Erza called out to her, "Wait a mo-"

"The Screw-Up's a lot more sensitive to things than Chase is." Aisha called back calmly, "Got to wonder why she would even come here, if its really as bad as Chase seems to think it is?" Gajeel, Lily, Moon and Chase started to follow with everyone coming soon after.

"Aisha's right." Lily murmured.

"Last time Silver stepped into a place filled with death, she couldn't handle it." Gajeel muttered. "There's no way she'd be here for no reason."

"That means something else is going on." Moon finished for the Iron Dragon Slayer, eyes narrowed and sweatdropping slightly. Everyone sweatdropped as well, what had started out as a trip to 'spy' on Frea, had turned into something that could be a lot more serious than they had expected.

Everyone cast wary glances at the headstones they paced by, becoming even more tense as the crossed the field of graves and neared the barely standing and blackened ruins ahead of them.

While they didn't mention it nor react so much to it, the three Dragon Slayers in the group wrinkled their noses. This space of the forest smelled of long ago spilled blood and the smell of death. A smell, Gajeel noted, made the stench back in Jogenen seem like _nothing._

Moon glanced to the ground for a moment, there was definitely something else going on. Something larger than they had expected. They had been expecting to catch Frea doing something secretive, but not dangerous nor in a place such as this. She was getting tensed by the minute, as were they all.

Erza's 'Legend' rung in their ears, every little noise made them stiffen, and some even jump slightly. Now they were all on edge.

"This doesn't make any sense." Gray muttered. "The hell would Frea be coming here for?"

"You said she disappears on this same day every year." Wendy asked, earning a nod. "You don't think she's been coming here all this time, do you?"

"It doesn't seem likely." Erza replied. "But then again, we will only know for sure once we find Frea and ask." She said rather gravely.

"This is getting way too weird." Lucy mumbled.

"Come on Lucy, stop looking so scared!" Happy said with a forced smile, trying to ease the tension a little. "At least there aren't any spiders here," the Blue Exceed said with a glance to the ruins they had now begun to pass through.

_WOOOSH..._

Everyone stopped dead at the sudden gust of wind that blew in their faces, and they stiffened upon hearing the almost unnoticeable sound of moaning, or was it screaming? They couldn't catch on to it very well, but it was definitely there.

"What was that!?" Lucy gasped, jumping out of her skin along with Wendy and Happy.

"Forget Spiders! There are ghosts!" Happy wailed,

"KYAAAA!" Wendy jumped back, where she held on to Lucy who did the same.

"There ain't any ghosts! Get a hold of yourselves already!" Gajeel snapped. Chase glanced around warily along with Aisha, while Erza and Gray shook their heads. Natsu just looked straight ahead, like he couldn't move, sweatdropping.

Lily and Moon glanced backward at the group slowly, the memory of hearing the voices back in the trees resurfacing. Carla however had gone quite still, and she stared at the ground with wide eyes, though no-one noticed this quite yet.

"There are spirits here." A voice spoke softly out of nowhere.

"GAH! A ghost! A ghost is talking!" Happy screamed, grabbing onto Natsu's cheeks and pulling at them in complete hysteria.

"Happy!" Wendy and Lucy yelled, on the verge of tears and trembling.

"Tch... Damn it. Now I understand why Teach hates that...!" Chase growled, taking in a deep breath to calm himself down, he had jumped slightly upon feeling the Energy Signature flare up beside him out of nowhere. He glanced sideways, sweatdropping. "You need to stop doing that, Jynx...!" He muttered.

Everyone around them stopped, eyes landing on the ghost girl who had appeared beside the young Energy Mage, looking rather serious with her arms hooked behind her back. They all let out breaths,

"Wait... Did you just say there are spirits here?" Lucy asked, the words coming to hit her full force. Jynx nodded,

"There are, many of them. They are all lost." Jynx replied quietly. Of course the words made Wendy, Lucy, Happy, and this time even a few others to freak out even more.

"Jynx! Why would you tell them such a thing?" Erza scolded, the red-head was managing to stay calm, but she was clearly slightly unnerved by the statement.

Jynx simply gave her a flat stare in return. "Am I supposed to lie?" She asked. "I am a Spirit Mage remember? It is somewhat part of my job to know where Spirits are."

Erza let out an aggravated sigh as the words, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"What the hell are you doin' here?" Gajeel huffed, he was one of the more calm out of the group.

"I could sense something was wrong the moment you all set foot in this forest." Jynx replied evenly. "I myself ventured here only once, when I was much younger and still alive." She said with a rather matter-of-fact tone. "It's a dark place filled to the brim with wondering souls that I fear will never find peace. Though the reason for this I never found..." She trailed off and glanced away. "...I had tried to remove the spirits from here, and failed at doing so..."

"I thought you said you were a 'Master Spirit Mage'?" Lily asked.

Jynx sighed, "I was given that title. I did not choose it." She murmured looking to him. "However talented I may be at my Magic, not even I can do everything. Eradicating the spirits in this forest was something I was unable to do. It is as simple as that."

"Carla?" Moon murmured, approaching the other she-cat with a tilted head and quirked eyebrow. Her voice went unnoticed by everyone around them as they spoke to Jynx, or continued to freak out in Lucy and Wendy's case.

She had noticed quite soon after Jynx appeared that Carla was being very quiet, in fact she didn't seem to even move. Most of all, that far-off, distant, and slightly fearful look made her skin crawl.

She placed a paw on Carla's shoulder, feeling her friend trembling slightly. She frowned, Carla shook her head a little and closed her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Moon pressed, sweatdropping a little more. This wasn't...

"I believe there is something terribly wrong." Carla murmured, eyes opening to fix on the ground. "I've been getting a few fragmented visions since arriving here, none of them are making any sense..."

"What sort of things are you seeing, Juvia wonders?" They both looked to Juvia who had bent down beside them, head tilted. Both Moon and Carla blinked, not having noticed the Water Mage listening in before.

Everyone else were arguing among themselves back and forth, or otherwise frowning at those who were, or scolding in Erza's case. Juvia alone had taken notice of the two of them talking, and as it would happen, Juvia was the calmest of them all, not seemingly bothered by the confirmation of ghosts in the area, or the strange events transpiring.

Carla blinked, eyes narrowed and frowning slightly. "I get glimpses of everyone here." She murmured. "We're all hurt, like we've been fighting, and there are a lot of mention of 'dead people' and 'someone having died'." She explained. Moon and Juvia blinked, sweatdropping slightly. "Frea's there too... She's just not acting like herself." Carls murmured with a glance to Moon, who frowned more at the words. "As I said... Its all very confusing and disjointed."

Moon frowned, Juvia blinked, looking concerned. She knew that something wasn't right, hell they could all tell. But this put her on edge even more, and she turned and leapt into the air, sprouting wings as she did so. Carla and Juvia blinked at the action, asking her what she was doing but Moon ignored them.

Everyone was arguing. Ghosts, no ghosts, stupid things. Their voices rose to shouts in the center of the destroyed ruin around them, clashing painfully with the silence it held.

Moon clenched her fists, _they were wasting time_. She had always regarded herself as a calm person in general who was able to keep a level head in situations like this. While the mention of ghosts and whispering she had heard from before had shaken her slightly, she was much more worried about Frea.

She couldn't believe Frea would disappear to a place like this all on her own. It didn't make any sense, and she hated that she didn't know what was going on. Carla's words made her even more tense, what Carla had said made it seem an awful lot like someone may actually die. And hell if she would let that happen.

They needed to keep moving, find Frea and figure out what in the hell was going on. Screw ghosts, screw an Old story Erza told them, screw the spiders.

Why did things have to turn out so complicated all the time? It would seem they were never allowed a moment of peace, there was always something odd happening, something that went wrong.

She had started to shake with anger as she thought these things, and the arguments all around her only added fuel to the flame.

"SHUT UP!"


	24. Nvindorr

**Chapter 24**

**Nvindorr**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

Dead silence spread out among them at the shouted words, all eyes turning toward Moon in utter shock. Not once had they ever heard the dark grey Exceed ever speak to them in such a cold, firm, and demanding tone before. Moon glared at all of them, her blue eyes sparkling with anger and fists clenched at her sides.

They blinked, sweatdropping.

"Stop the damn arguing already!" Moon snapped. "We need to keep moving, I don't care if you see or hear any damn ghosts just deal with it!"

They didn't move, hell they didn't even seem to breath. They all looked utterly shocked, besides Aisha who just looked mildly enthused with the Exceed's sudden strict behavior. "Now you're all going to behave and we will continue on our way, got it?!" Moon ordered, pointing a paw at everyone of them with a death glare and dark aura spreading around her that chilled everyone to their bones. A glare that struck home, one that snapped them into submission. _Everyone_ of them.

They trembled, nodding feverishly and sweatdropping. Who the hell knew _Moon_ could be that scary? Even Erza looked afraid... Frea would have been proud, her Exceed Partner had already learned how to scare the shit out of everyone just as Frea could when she wanted to...

"Aye..." Everyone said in unison. Moon huffed and spun around, floating forward with fists still clenched and shaking in anger. Everyone else followed along behind her slowly, wary to try not to piss her off any more.

Moon... Wouldn't have snapped at them if she hadn't felt she needed to, they were sure. The dark grey Exceed was clearly growing increasingly agitated with everything happening, as were they all.

Though they hadn't been honestly expecting Moon to give them a glare like that, how could they? It was Moon for crying out loud! Moon never glared at anyone quite so potently, and definitely never enough to snap every single one of them into submission instantly.

Lily floated up next to Moon, glancing sideways at her to see her calming down slightly. "... Are you alright..?" He asked quietly, everyone behind them slowly falling into quite murmurings among themselves.

Moon didn't even look his way, her eyes stayed fixed ahead on the ruins surrounding them on all sides. "No." She muttered. "Something is wrong, and I hate to think what Frea might have gotten herself mixed up in this time." Her eyes closed a moment as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "It seems to always be something with Frea... She can't seem to catch a break." She mumbled.

Lily blinked, before shaking his head a little. He would admit that was true, there was always something happening in the Guild and now that he thought about it, the trouble always seemed to hit either Team Natsu, or Frea.

 _How odd..._ He thought, it wasn't that what they go themselves caught up in was anything small, all of it was rather important or dangerous... The Guild did a lot of things, and most things weren't important only to themselves, but to the rest of Fiore as well.

He hoped that whatever they were about to find themselves mixed up in wasn't too dangerous, he didn't want to see anyone hurt.

* * *

 

"Frea!" Moon snapped, their group having come to a halt.

They had made it through the ruins of the village all the way through the forest once more along a path with fresh footprints leading through it. This path had lead them through the forest all the way toward a mountain side that had begun to rise up.

As they had made their way along, the path widened out and every once in a while on both sides, there were stone pillars and ancient gates of red, both with bells hanging from them and covered in runes that must have been placed there centuries ago.

The forest seemed even more silent now, but not without the occasional nerve racking murmur of what Jynx had confirmed as Spirits.

When they had made it to the end of the path the mountain rose up steeply to form a cliff before them. Surrounding the clearing that had opened up around the cliff-face, a clearing still covered by the dark of the trees above them, there were stone pillars and two statues just before them on either side of the end of the path, depicting some huge creature with large teeth, powerful limbs, small eyes and horns on its head and a long tail... It almost looked like some sort of reptile.

They came to a halt, because they could see Frea standing before the cliff-face, facing the sheer stone. The wall before her had black runes across it, etched into the stone by Magic.

Moon floated forward after having snapped her Partner's name, much more angry than worried now that they had actually found the 'missing' Energy Dragon Slayer.

Frea didn't even twitch when Moon said her name, didn't move, only continued to stand still.

Everyone else followed slowly, eyeing the stone creatures as they passed them. Moon circled around to face Frea, paws crossed over her cast and frowning. "What the hell are you doing?" Moon growled.

_No reply...?_

Moon blinked a few times, "Frea?" She murmured, not seeming to hear or answer to her voice, she waved a paw in front of the Energy Dragon Slayer's face. "Hello?"

"You said she wasn't focused?" Erza murmured, glancing to Lily, who nodded. Natsu and Gray popped up in between Moon and Frea, eyes narrowed, heads tilted and hands resting on their hips. They faltered slightly, sweatdropping.

"Uh... That's weird..." Gray mumbled.

"Hmm?" Chase and Lucy echoed.

"She looks... Almost like she didn't when she got taken by... Kasumi..." Natsu murmured quietly, the words chilling everybody present, even those who hadn't been around to see it happen.

"So... She can't hear us...?" Wendy asked, they shook their heads,

"No... She's not even registering we're there." Moon muttered, ears flat against her head. She looked into Frea's eyes with her own, the once bright silver had dulled to grey... There was no life behind those eyes, no recognition.

"What do you think would happen if he hit her?" Natsu murmured, looking the Energy Dragon Slayer over skeptically.

Everyone sweatdropped at the words. "Why the hell would we do that, Flame-Brain?!" Gray snapped.

Natsu turned a glare on the Ice-Mage. "You wanna go Popsicle?!" He snapped. "I'm saying if she can't hear or see us, whose to say she would react if he punched her?!" He smirked. "We could get back at her for all the times she whipped our asses!"

Gray paused at this, looking skeptical. He tapped a finger to his chin, looking to the still motionless Frea. He snapped his finger in front of her face, and she didn't even blink.

Moon narrowed her eyes, what the hell...? Why would Frea be acting like this? There had to be some reason for her unresponsiveness... Her eyes tracked where Frea seemed to be looking, and met the stone face of the cliff. She turned, inspecting the runes. She had never been good at reading them, and these ones looked odd, however...

"Lets go for it." Gray smirked, earning a grin from Natsu.

"W-what?!" Wendy gasped.

"Natsu! Gray!" Lucy yelled, looking slightly frantic.

"Gray... Juvia thinks this is a bad idea..." Juvia mumbled.

Gajeel huffed, "Those two are stupid." He muttered. "Silver's gonna kill 'em." Lily rounded on his Partner.

"You won't stop them?!" He snapped and Gajeel looked to him in slight surprise.

"They won't dare hit her." He huffed, not really looking quite so sure about what he said.

"What do you suppose could cause this?" Erza asked Chase while turning toward him, ignoring or completely unaware of what Natsu and Gray were about to do.

Chase glanced toward her slowly, eyes narrowed and looking serious. "I haven't a clue." He murmured. "But this may explain her 'odd' behavior this morning, according to Gajeel." He crossed his arms over his chest, "The Energy here is off, but I don't think its enough to affect Teach like this even with being how sensitive she is to it." He shrugged, "And there isn't any sort of Magic hanging around her I don't recognize... So I'm stumped."

Erza sighed. "Then next we'll have to try and figure out a way to wake her form this state she's in." She turned toward Frea just in time to see Natsu's and Gray's fists come back, smirking as they faced Frea. "What the hell are you-?!" She yelled.

Their fists swung forward in an instant, heading straight for Frea who didn't move as they neared, only stared straight ahead, seemingly unaware of anyone around her or the approaching fists. Lucy, Wendy, Carla and Moon yelled at them to quit it, everyone else just sweatdropped. Jynx had disappeared as soon as they found Frea, and hadn't come back.

Just as they were about to make contact, Frea blinked, the light returned to her eyes and they widened to see the two fists coming at her.

She swung her leg out caught both Natsu and Gray in the stomachs, sending them crashing backwards into the cliff-face before their fists could make contact. "The hell do you two idiots think you're doing?!" Frea snapped, glaring at the two with clenched fists blazing with the light of her Magic. They didn't answer, they were too dazed to do so. Frea blinked a few times, looking around to see the shocked faces and their surroundings. She sweatdropped, her magic fading.

"Where... The hell... Are we...?" She mumbled slowly, blinking a few more times. "... And what happened...?"

"You don't know?!" Several people snapped.

"Mm... No?" Frea mumbled, glancing around. "I don't remember... Walking here..." She said, tapping a finger to her chin with narrowed eyes. "... Wait, is this the western forest just outside of Magnolia...?" She said with a slight shudder, frowning. "... Gotta be, considering the Energy..." She didn't wait for an answer and looked to the group. "So, why are you here?" She asked evenly. "And what is going on?"

They blinked, ".. You don't seem concerned with... Not remembering coming here..." Lucy pointed out slowly.

Frea glanced away, "Well, I'm sort of used to that feeling of 'not remembering'." She mused.

"Well... As for what happened, you seemed to be in some sort of... Faraway state, you didn't seem to recognize, nor notice anything that was happening." Carla told her, standing beside Chase.

Frea nodded, "Ok... That sort of makes sense..." She mumbled.

"What would cause that?" Moon asked.

Frea shrugged, looking slightly put off. "I don't have a clue."

"What do you remember?" Erza pressed, gaining her composure, steering the conversation toward something they may be able to get an answer for. Wendy crouched beside the still motionless heaps of Gray and Natsu, looking nervous with Juvia nearby.

"Well... I remember waking up, getting ready, writing the note... Then heading out of Fairy Hills." She paused eyes narrowed at the ground. "... I don't remember anything just after leaving the building though." She looked up. "Did I do something? Or are you just following me because...?" She asked with a slightly irritated tone. "I do remember asking no one to follow me," she reminded with a shake of her finger and a stern tone that caused several people to sweatdrop.

"Gajeel and Lily ran into you as you left Magnolia." Moon spoke up, causing Frea to look to her. "They told us about your... Odd, behavior." She mumbled. "We were worried..."

"And curious." Frea finished with a slight huff. "Damn it... You shouldn't have followed me guys." She sighed.

"You don't even know why you're here, Teach." Chase murmured. Frea frowned,

"Yes.. That weird, I'll admit." She responded quietly.

"And since you don't remember walking here, there's gotta be something going on." Gajeel intoned roughly, arms crossed over his chest.

Frea sighed and turned toward Gray and Natsu, looking to them with a quizzical stare. They were coming too, and looked to her with nervous smiles. "Thanks for snapping me out of it, I guess..." She sighed. "But don't you two dare ever do that again, alright?" She growled suddenly, and they nodded quickly.

"... What's up with this day?" Natsu asked slowly, finally asking the question they all had, causing Frea to blink.

"You're always disappearing on this day every year." Gray intoned, the two getting to their feet slowly.

"We would like to know why." Erza finished for the two, and Frea glanced over her shoulder at the red-head.

"Yeah, why's it so important?" Lucy asked.

"Come one Frea! You can tell us!" Happy grinned, crashing into said Dragon Slayer's chest and looking hopeful. Frea glanced down at the blue Exceed, simply staring at him for a few moments without saying anything.

"We went through all this trouble of finding ya, we ought to know." Gajeel muttered,

"I told you not to follow me, you wouldn't have had to come all the way out here if you had listened." Frea reminded with an annoyed tone and a vein ticked on her forehead, fixing the Iron Dragon Slayer with an icy stare that made him squirm slightly, and look away with a huff.

"Come on Teach." Chase sighed, "Give us a break would ya?" Frea glanced toward her former student for a moment, before letting out a sigh and closing her eyes.

"Whatever... I knew someone was gonna follow me eventually." She growled under her breath. She took a single step forward and sat down with her legs crossed, pushing Happy off of her in the process. She placed her cheek in her hand with her elbow on her knee and other hand in her lap, looking rather annoyed and slightly nervous.

Everyone else took her cue to sit, and they all formed a circle around her, silent and waiting. For a few moments, Frea didn't say anything or move, and they all exchanged glances.

"First off," she muttered, earning their attention. "If any of you ever tell anyone else in the Guild, _I will kill you_." She said a in a low dangerous tone, she didn't need to fix a glare on them or even look to them. The icy coldness of her voice made them all shiver and shake a little.

Lucy and Wendy were trembling the most, not used to hearing Frea talk to them in any sort of tone such as that. Frea herself had never wanted to talk to the two like that, but she was annoyed, not just with being followed, but with all of it. And to add to it, she was also tense. Not having any memories of traveling to someplace wasn't normal. Neither was going into a state that had left her unaware of anything. That bothered her most, it never having happened to her before. There must be a reason, but she hadn't a clue as what it could be.

First of all, why had she come here? This was not a place she would visit for fun, she hated it here, it felt dark and evil, it made her feel sick.

She had a feeling this wasn't going to end well, and that pissed her off.

"Alright." Everyone replied instantly.

Frea let out a low growl, frowning deeply. "... Its..." She paused, uttering a few curses in her mind. "... My birthday..." She muttered in a low voice, a light blush of embarrassment making its way onto her cheeks.

"What?!" Shocked voices rung out around the group, several looking surprised, others appalled/annoyed, and others smiling. All of the reactions made Frea grumble some more to herself.

"You act as if that's a bad thing." Moon pointed out immediately.

"It is." Frea muttered.

"Why?" Wendy asked.

"... First...," she grumbled. "I really don't like the attention having a birthday causes..." She muttered, looking rather embarrassed. "... And second, something bad _always_ happens today. That's why I always leave, so none of you are caught in the backlash."

"What do you mean something 'bad' always happens?" Chase asked.

"It can't always be bad enough to make you leave." Lucy said.

"Hmm... Well it's random. Some years, I only have slightly bad luck. Other times accidents happen around me, a monster attack, fire, flood..." She paused, glancing backward at the cliff wall, "And sometimes, something very dangerous happens..." She sighed. "I realized it the first and second years I was in the Guild, remember?" She looked to Gray, Natsu and Erza. "The one year that Lightning hit the Guild Hall, _twice_?"

The three of them blinked, before slowly nodding their heads. "That could have been coincidence." Erza pointed out.

"Oh its not coincidence." Frea grumbled. "The year after that, Magnolia was raided by that giant band of Thieves?" Again they nodded. Frea crossed her arms over her chest, "And then the year after that I went on a mission that went wrong." She paused. "And then the next day... Shadow took over..." Gajeel and Lily exchanged glances, while Natsu, Gray and Erza frowned a little at the words. They fell into silence at the words. Frea didn't look happy, and they were starting to get the feeling none of it actually was coincidence, and then they began to wonder what today would hold...

Frea couldn't remember coming to this forest, and that wasn't really a good thing in most cases.

"I do have a reason for not wanting anyone to follow me." Frea murmured lowly. "I don't want anyone getting hurt, that's why I was so angry you came after me." She sighed slightly, "I just hope nothing serious happens..."

"So how old are you know?" Natsu asked suddenly and Frea looked to him, blinking a few times, surprised with how fast he had changed the subject.

"Why?"

"You never told us how old you were when you joined the guild." He pointed out.

"Neither did you." Frea countered and he huffed.

"You said you joined the Guild before Erza did?" Wendy asked. Frea nodded, "Erza, did you join before either Natsu or Gray?"

"Gray joined just shortly before I did." Erza replied. "Cana was there before he was though."

"And I joined before Cana, only by about a year or so though," Frea murmured, resting her chin in her hand.

Everyone else narrowed their eyes, going into thought as they tried to piece together how long each individual had been in the Guild, and how long they had been there.

"You're only slightly younger than Laxus." Erza pointed out, she being the only one who hadn't bothered to think it through. Frea nodded slightly,

"Then... Your like 30?" Natsu asked.

"As if!" Frea snapped, glaring at him. Natsu shrunk back, smiling nervously.

"Technically, we are all about seven years older than we used to be." Chase murmured.

"We didn't age for all the time." Frea replied. "Those seven years don't count when we're talking about our age anymore."

"Then you must be at least 22." Lucy spoke up, looking rather sure of her answer. Frea glanced to her,

"Close." She murmured. "As of today I'm 23."

"Just a year younger than Laxus at this point."

* * *

 

"So what do you think?" Chase asked, sitting down beside Frea before the stone wall before them, eyes narrowed and looking rather bored. Everyone else were situated behind them, talking away.

Moon sat atop Frea's shoulder, looking to the wall as they were, with Erza sitting beside Frea.

"It doesn't make any sense." Frea muttered, eyes closing. "I can't remember anything... Why I came here, nothing..." A low growl worked its way into her voice. ".. I don't like it.."

"Moon, could you perhaps look through Frea's mind to see if you could locate any recollection of why she came here?" Erza suggested, glancing toward said Exceed momentarily.

Moon sweatdropped at the question, looking nervous. ".. Actually, I can't." She murmured, Erza raised an eyebrow.

"Much like Warren isn't able to read my mind, Moon can't access my Memories either." Frea answered for the Exceed, ending the explanation there with the finality of her tone. Erza blinked, she had known before that Warren was unable to read Frea's mind, though she had never thought of to ask why....

"Oh I know!" Their heads turned to look behind them at Lucy who had jumped to her feet, looking excited. "I could ask Crux! He may know what's going on." She grinned, taking the key from her belt.

Erza stood up, "Good idea, Lucy."

Frea turned but remained sitting, Chase did the same as everyone else turned their attentions on the blonde. "Open! Gate of the Southern Cross:" She swiped the key before her in a line of gold. "Crux!" The Spirit appeared before them, floating in mid-air sitting cross-legged with his hands on his knees.

"Crux, we were wondering if you knew anything about this forest, and perhaps what's going on with Frea?" Lucy asked, tilting her head back in a gesture toward Frea. Crux let out a low hmm, and glanced toward Frea, "She can't remember coming here or why, she wasn't really in a 'focused' sort of state." Lucy explained.

Crux nodded his head and fell silent, seeming to fall asleep.

Frea glanced away, back over her shoulder toward the stone-face she had previously been facing. She didn't know why... but she couldn't shake the feeling that there was some sort of vibration reverberating out from that wall. It was something you couldn't really feel, it was hardly perceptible, but none the less, she felt it, and made shivers go up her spine.

She had stopped before that wall for a reason, before Gray and Natsu brought her back to her senses, she wouldn't have been standing there for no reason, she just didn't know why. Her eyes moved to look over the stone pillars surrounding them and the two statues standing on either side of the path ahead, then she thought of the runes etched into the cliff-face. She had never been very good at reading runes, though she could read them sparingly, where most people could not.

But she had tried that, the runes etched into the wall were ancient, even she wasn't able to piece them together. Erza had explained the same type of ancient runes were marked on gates and stone pillars all along the path they had come, she didn't have any doubt that they were important somehow, but what was the point if she couldn't read them?

What she would do to have Levy here right now...

"This is the Forrest of Nvindorr." Crux spoke at last and Frea perked up, "A very long time ago it was inhabited by the People of Nevir, whom made their village here in the middle of the forest." He paused. "Not much information was recorded of the Nevir dealings or life-style, nothing more than old legends were passed." Erza nodded her head slightly at the words, while everyone looked to the red-head momentarily. "It is said they were a skilled set of people whom dedicated their lives to sealing and trapping a very Ancient and powerful Magic, in the hopes that it could never be used by anyone, or revealed to the rest of the world. It is for this very reason they chose to live in solitude within this forest."

"Although it was very long ago since this forest was at it once was, before the massacre that wiped out the people of Nevir, Nvindorr was a place full of Magic that easily helped to seal and trap what the people of AntilDagre were guarding. This place was once full of life and beauty, a place where creatures lived in harmony and peace.... A peace that was ended when one young villager betrayed the laws of the village and brought doom upon their people."

"As for what seems to be happening, I'm afraid I know every little." He admitted with a slight shrug and a sympathetic look at Frea. "Your memory loss and the peculiar 'state' you seemed to have slipped into isn't something I have any knowledge of, and I was unable to find anything similar." He paused, "The only piece of information that may be relevant, is that today is a day that is said, that the border between the planes of existence between those of the living, and those who are dead, becomes thinner than it ever has for one day only." He smiled slightly. "This is only an old cogger's tale, however."

"Oh.... I was hoping you could tell us more.." Lucy mumbled, looking a little disappointed.

"I apologize." Crux told her.

"Then we're still on square one." Gray muttered,

"We can try to search through the village ruins." PantherLily suggested.

"But we may not find anything." Carla murmured.

"... I understand, thank you for the information though." Frea murmured. "Could you perhaps read theses runes?' She asked, flicking her head toward said writing and looking to Crux, who looked to her, and then the runes.

He took one look at them and shook his head, "These runes are too ancient for even I to read." He replied and Frea sighed, "My time is up." He commented.

"Thank you for the information, Grandpa Crux." Lucy smiled at him.

"One last thing," Crux said out of nowhere. "Because we do not know the cause for it, it is highly possible that Ms. Frea may revert back into the 'Unaware State' she was in before, if only sparingly." With that last bit of words he had disappeared.

Frea blinked at the words, eyes narrowing at the space he had disappeared. Everyone else sighed and returned to their own conversations and speculations. Moon jumped from Frea's shoulder to approach the wall, sprouting wings to get higher up, paw tapping against her chin, eyes narrowed. She drew her paw over the markings,

"Hmmm... This is Old Telips." The dark grey Exceed murmured under her breath, after a moment or two of looking at the runes.

"You know what sort of runes they are?" Moon glanced sideways to see Carla, Lily and Happy having come up to float beside her as she examined the writing. She nodded slightly, "How?" Happy asked.

"I used to know someone who used Old Runes for Spells rather frequently." Moon murmured. "I managed to learn a bit just by observing." She responded. Reaching a paw forward she traced the writing slowly. "Now I'm not completely sure what they say but..... I think this one means 'Light'.." She patted one then another, "and I believe this one means "Evil'..." She blinked once, "... and this one is definitely 'Gate'." She said with confidence, tapping another.

"Wow Moon!" Happy grinned. "You must be super smart!' Moon blushed slightly at the words,

"Oh not really." She said rather sheepishly.

"It's truly impressive, I would have no luck reading these. Even Lucy's spirit couldn't do it." Lily smiled at her and Moon blushed more.

"I'm just good and picking up on other people's skills, and mimicking them..." She smiled, "I'm a bit of a Copy-Cat who can easily remember things." She chuckled a little at her little quip.

"There's no need to be so modest." Carla smiled, patting Moon's shoulder. "Do you think you may be able to decipher the entire thing?" Carla asked and Moon frowned slightly.

"Well.... I don't know.." She mumbled, ".. It's complicated, but I can try." She said lowly. All three of them smiled at her,

"We're sure you can do it!" They encouraged.

After awhile of the three Exceeds watching Moon work, some of the others within their group made their way up to watch Moon as well. "What's she doing?" Gajeel huffed, looking to Lily and flicking his head toward Moon.

"She's trying to decipher the runes." Lily replied.

"You can do that, Moon?" Lucy asked, Moon nodded, eyes not leaving her work.

"That's amazing!" Wendy smiled.

"That wasn't very helpful, unfortunately..." Chase commented beside Frea, glancing sideways toward his Old Mentor after having briefly looked toward the small group forming around Moon.

"I know." She mumbled quietly.

"You seem to be taking this rather well." He sighed slightly.

"How am I supposed to take it?" Frea muttered, glancing at the ground before her. He shrugged,

"Most people would be going out of their minds trying to piece together what is going on with themselves," He replied evenly. "You're more rather just sitting there, thinking things over.... I don't think I've ever given you credit for just how level-headed you are, Teach." He smiled.

"...Freaking out would do me no good, I've learned that over the years." Frea replied, eyes closing for a moment. "I'm just trying to understand... why I don't remember anything... and what the hell would this damn forest have to do with me anyway..?" She muttered.

"Hmm....." Chase murmured, glancing toward the dark limbs of the trees overhead. "... Maybe it wanted you to come here."

"It?"

"The forest." Chase replied. "You can feel that odd Energy swirling about this place, can't you? It's weird... all of its trapped in one place, and in some places even more Dark Energy is trapped... But we should be able to feel that no matter where we are, except I can only feel it if I'm in a certain area."

"I noticed that." Frea murmured.

"Well maybe there's something here, an Energy we can't detect because it's trapped or rather 'hidden' in a place we haven't entered. Something that drew you hear without you knowing." He suggested, "Granted, this is the first time I've ever come across and 'hidden' or 'trapped' Energy, I'm just guessing here."

"I've come across trapped Energy before." Frea replied, eyes opening. "It was powerful, something I should have felt long before, but never until I had entered that one area did I ever feel it." She sighed, "A bit of a nuisance, should people use it more and more, we'd never be able to find anything if they did."

"Where'd you come across the Trapped Energy?" Chase asked, curious now. Frea paused,

"A cave in the east." She replied after awhile. "That 'Mission gone wrong' I mentioned earlier." They fell into silence once it became clear that Frea wasn't going to elaborate on the subject. Chase turned his attention away from the Energy Dragon Slayer, and instead focused on her Exceed Partner.

He had already noticed that Moon was a rather smart individual, and she definitely wasn't without Magic capability, if her extremely detailed and powerful Memory scans and 'Playbacks' were anything to say of the matter. But as he listened to her work out the ancient runes on the cliff-face, he had to wonder where she had learned so much.

Moon had never mentioned anything of where she had been before meeting Frea, and he had noticed quite some time ago that whenever the topic was brought up, she always found some way out of it. But Moon's emotions always turned tense, sad and even fearful when her past was brought up.... He wish he knew why.

Glancing to Frea he also had to wonder if she knew about Moon's past herself.... He assumed she did, Frea seemed to know a lot of things about other people that most weren't aware of most the time.

He was a perfect example of that, he supposed.

"Happy Birthday Teach." He said quietly, he knew she would hear him, but Frea didn't seem to have anything to say in response, when he glanced over all she did was frown slightly, he smiled a little and closed his eyes, turning his attention to Moon and those around her.

"Ok.... I think I have some of it down." Moon murmured, taking a breath and backing up. "Roughly it says, 'Here lies the record of history's darkest days, a tomb of those who brought light into a dark and evil world.'" She paused a little eyes narrowing, " 'A record of all who perished and fought, a book of time and space. Here is the Gate to a place where human's ought not tread...' ...mmmm... '...A prison for a power that shall remain hidden and lost.'"

"That's lovely.." Carla murmured sarcastically.

"What about the rest of it?" Happy asked, pointing a paw toward the next line.

"Mmm... this one's tricky..."

Frea let her eyes remain upon the ground, listening to Moon carefully. She was impressed with her Partner's intelligence, Moon seem truly capable of surprising her.

"Roughly it says, 'Here lies the record of history's darkest days, a tomb of those who brought light into a dark and evil world... A record of all who perished and fought, a book of time and space. Here is the Gate to a place where humans ought not tread...' ...mmmm... '...A prison for a power that shall remain hidden and lost.'" Her eyes narrowed more at the words, they sounded oddly ominous and dark, in fact she could feel everyone tensing slightly.

"What about the rest of it?"

"Mmm.... This one's tricky.... I think... '... An ancient power belonging to a'.... something.... '.....that was used to throw the world into darkness and fire, where....'" Frea blinked, Moon's voice was fading, every little noise was gone, the light dimmed, everything was coming to a stand still...

'... _ **.All those who remained free of will were taken and used. A power sought for by all those who have passed, the power of the One....'**_ She went still at the voice, a cold, low voice that sounded like a growl, one she didn't recognize, one that made her heart skip a beat.... _**'The Power of the One. Here it lies, locked away from the world, fearful that it shall surface once more, where death and chaos shall follow. Where Balance will be switched from one hand to another, and the world become either light or dark.'**_

Her vision was turning back, she could feel herself slipping away, with only the voice hissing the words in her head...

' _ **The gateway has been sealed, Magic alone shall not break the chains. Let the orders to open the way, fall away from history as this language dies, where no one may open this tomb ever again, and unleash hell upon the world.'**_

The forest was gone now, she couldn't see it anymore, hear it, sense it... everything was black, she couldn't move she didn't even know if she was breathing. What the hell was going on, _who the hell is that voice?! Did... did I fall into that state I was in earlier, like Crux said could happen..?_

 _ **'** **The Power of One, ancient power that cannot remain within the world and allow it to live.... Salengoreath, a power no mere human can possess...... The gate has been sealed..... only One may open it now....'**_ Cold, low laughter rung out around her.

' _ **You, Malunafrey.'**_ _Maluna-what now....?_

_**'Speak the word..... you alone can open the gate.... Let free Salengoreath, let free the power.... You're the only one able to.... you alone speak the language that has been lost to this world, the language of those who sealed Salengoreath away.'** _

_Language.... What damn language...?_ She felt cold, like someone had dumped her in a pool of freezing water..... she felt like she was suffocating, falling down into the deep dark waters of an ocean.....

' ** _Malunafrey.... Speak the words, open the gate.'_** The voice hissed, more pressing and commanding than before, against her will, she felt herself moving.... _No...!_

Whatever, or whoever that was.... They _wanted_ this power released.... But she had a feeling this power was evil almost instinctively, she felt dread creep up her spine at the thought of it, there was a voice in her head yelling not to do it, nothing good would come of this.... She could not open that gate....!

' _Frea!'_

"Teach....?" Chase murmured, having noticed she had grown still. Her head was bowed slightly and her bangs casting a shadow over her eyes, he sat a little straighter, eyebrow quirked. "Teach...?" he asked again.

Frea slowly, stiffly, got to her feet without a word, and turned toward the cliff-face, heading toward it. Chase got to his feet quickly, immediately feeling that something was wrong, it was almost as if the space around Frea had grown slightly darker, her being had grown colder.

She wasn't there, this was not Frea.... Her Energy had changed suddenly, if ever so slightly....

Several others turned once she moved, as Frea slipped past the deftly to stand before the runes, everyone else backed away from her, they too could tell something was off.

"Frea?' Erza murmured lowly, eyes narrowed. There wasn't a response as Frea placed a hand against the cliff-face, and the shadow over her eyes finally cleared to reveal the once bright silver had dulled again to grey and life-less, just as they had been before Gray and Natsu had snapped Frea back to her senses earlier. Chase stepped up next to her, eyes narrowed and tense, he was suddenly getting the feeling something was going to happen....

"What is she-?" Lucy asked along with several others.

"Teach!" Chase growled, still not getting an answer.

The runes on the cliff-face began to glow red, as they wavered and cracked, everyone sweatdropped and backed up a little. Aisha's attention snapped behind the group, and her eyes landed on the two stone statues lining the path. The runes on the stone-face weren't the only things beginning to crack, the statues and pillars around them were as well!

The dark and tense feeling that had plagued her all day suddenly flared to life and an air of great foreboding, a feeling that made her blood run cold, and she whipped back around toward where everyone else were, the ground around them were was starting to tremble, everyone was looking around wildly,

"What's going on!?" Lucy gasped.

"Is she doing this?" Gray muttered, eyes landing to Frea.

"Chase!" Aisha snapped, her voice ringing out over everyone else's. Chase looked to her quickly, "Get her the hell away from that wall!" She ordered, Chase nodded and went to push Frea away from the wall- too late.

"Giteh, Tegal uf de Hilarrn." Frea spoke in a low, emotionless voice in a thick, foreign accent.

Everything fell apart.


	25. The Gate Has Been Opened

**Chapter 25**

**The Gate Has Been Opened**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

_She was floating in a pitch black ocean, falling down into the deep nothingness. Her breath was gone, her lungs were screaming for air... Everything went cold, her body was frozen in the ice-cold waters wrapping around her unmoving body..._

_The water is swirling endlessly, currents that pound against her body and battered her over and over until she began to bruise... The currents of raw and foreign Magic Power radiating all around..._ _A power that choked her, rammed into her body, went straight through her and shook her bones. A power both evil and good at the same time, light and dark... Ancient... A power unlike anything she had ever felt, it was too powerful, to different, too diverse..._

_She couldn't move, everything was numb... What happened...?_

_Malunafrey... Salengoreath... Nivndorr... I... Was controlled... I opened the gate... I let loose this power... And now..._

_Its consuming me..._

_What of everyone else? They were all there when I spoke those damn words... What happened after I said them? Is everyone alright...?_

_Damn it... This is exactly why I didn't want anyone to come looking for me..._

_... Who wanted this...? ... Who... Controlled me...?_

_She could feel the Power tearing out at her body, engulfing her being in its grip, slowly eating away at her... She couldn't feel the pain it caused, she was too numb, and slightly thankful for it. She could feel the power tearing away at the flesh on her arms and legs slowly, starting at her hands and feet while slowly making its way up her body._

_What was she supposed to do? There wasn't any way to stop this... 'Salengoreath' from consuming her, it was too powerful... Perhaps it was for the best..._

_If it consumed her, maybe everyone else would be spared... If they were still alive.._

_She wanted to laugh, how pathetic was this? She had let herself walk into this, she had let herself be controlled, let herself be forced to open a gate to an ancient power she had instinctively known was dangerous, and now... She was so ready to give up..._

_When have I ever given up this easily...? After all of this... Being consumed by this massive power would be the end of her..._

_She wouldn't have any chance to reverse the process, to try and consume the Power herself... There was too much, her body wouldn't be able to handle it all, she would be torn apart..._

_Not that that wasn't already happening now though._

_She wasn't afraid to die... Not after all this time... She just wished she knew that everyone else was alright..._

_'Frea!' A voice called out, catching her attention in the silence. Now she knew that voice... She had heard the same voice call her name just before she opened the door..._

* * *

 

_Earlier-_

_Everything fell apart._

_The ground split open under their feet, just as the cliff-face they were facing opened wide to reveal a tunnel spilling red and black Magic, the flames of the power licking at their faces as they fell into the hole under their feet._

_The earth and air were shaking violently, everything was falling around them, the stone pillars and statues had exploded just before the ground split open._

_Everyone let out yells of surprise once they began to fall, the Exceeds tried to fly and catch a few, but their Magic imploded upon entering the chasm swallowing them up, sending them down into the depths of black._

_Several others tried to prevent them and the others from falling, but they suddenly found their Magic wasn't working, and they were unable to grab onto anything either._

_They were falling for a very long time, down down into ever darkening darkness. They fell in silence, all sound had faded from the world, and everyone of their minds began to ebb away as they were constantly bathed in the waves of the immense power that had exploded around them when Frea spoke the words;_

_Giteh, Tegal uf de Hilarrn._

_The last thing they saw before they fell, was Frea being consumed by the Magic she had unleashed, disappearing into the tunnel of darkness that had opened up in the cliff-face._

_They never hit the bottom._

* * *

 

_'Frea!' The voice called again. It wasn't the only one in the darkness, there were others..._

_Cold laughter made her slowly beating heart speed up, her blood run cold, and her body fill with an unwanted, pure fear she couldn't stop... A fear that made her tremble slightly._ _She recognized that laugh, she hated that she knew it... But none-the-less, it scared her..._

_"Frea! Don't you ever learn, you stupid girl?" The cold voice laughed, getting closer. "You're a monster whether or not you have those demons inside of you, don't you see you've killed your friends?"_

_Out of the darkness, the world lit up with dark golden and red light, before her manifested the shadowy form of the one thing she never wanted to see again._

_"K-Kasumi..." Frea stammered, eyes growing wide and instinctively trying to back away, only to find she was stuck in place._

_Kasumi smiled sickly, looking to be enjoying herself a little too much. "You've doomed them, Frea." She hissed, inching closer. Frea trembled more at the close contact, she hated her reaction, but her mind wasn't working properly anymore, she couldn't think straight..._ _"They are going to die, and its all your fault." Kasumi snickered, her green eyes lighting up with pleasure unlike anything she had ever seen in the woman, a dark pleasure that chilled her to the core, making her even colder than she already was. "You let this happen... And now the world will be consumed."_

_Crux's words rung in her mind,_ 'The only piece of information that may be relevant, is that today is a day that is said, that the border between the planes of existence between those of the living, and those who are dead, becomes thinner than it ever has for one day only... This is only an old cogger's tale, however.'

_There was no way... That could actually be true, could it...?!_

_Kasumi ran her long thin fingers against her cheek, smiling sadistically. "I was hoping to see you again..." She smiled. "... So I could tell you what happened after you took down Shadow, it was really quite something." She laughed, her grin becoming wider, eviler, she looked almost mad.. It made her heart stop when she saw it._

_"You didn't kill that Demon, girl." Kasumi hissed. "Shadow lives on in a different form... As do I." She grinned, Frea went deathly still._

_No... No there... That couldn't...!_

_'Enough!' The first voice boomed around them, the shadowy form of Kasumi disappeared in a flash of white and lavender. Frea scrunched her eyes closed and shook her head furiously. That had to be a lie, this Magic is invading my head and playing with me!_

_'Frea.' The voice said gently, she could feel light shining down on her, she was growing warmer in the presence of it, and the pain was becoming more noticeable with it. She slowly opened her eyes to see a great Dragon floating in the darkness before her, looking sadly at her with her deep purple eyes._

_"Chaitanya..." Frea murmured, her body stopped trembling upon seeing her mother in the gloom, her unwanted sudden fear was replaced with sadness. "... That wasn't true.. Was it...?" She asked slowly, that was perhaps her one true fear.. That somehow Kasumi or Shadow had survived that fight as she had..._

_'Do not believe the ghosts of the past.' That was all Chaitanya had to say on the matter. 'You're stronger than that, you've learned not to dwell on matters of the past, dear one.' Frea let out a low sigh, Chaitany's words calming her even more._

_'Frea... Dear one... I'm afraid you've unleashed something terrible.' Chaitanya murmured, looking sadder than ever. 'This power is going to consume you entirely, and when it has done so, it will move on to consume your friends, and eventually the rest of the world.'_

_"What am I supposed to do?" Frea whispered. "I can't stop it... I..."_

_'No, you cannot stop this alone. Nor can you consume the power yourself and control it, it will kill you if you try. You're not strong enough as you are now.' Chaitanya said lowly. 'This Magic must be sealed away again, before it has the chance to kill you and everyone else.'_

_"How am I supposed to do that? I can't move..." She whispered. "... I'm so stupid, I can't believe I let this happen..."_

_'.. You were controlled, dear one.' Chaitanya murmured sympathetically._

_"By who?" Frea muttered. "Whoever it was, I couldn't feel their Energy taking over me, I couldn't resist it... They called me Malunafrey, what the hell is that?" She wanted answers, "Why was I the one able to open the gate? What does any of this have to do with me?!"_

_'I don't know who controlled you, their presence was hidden from me as well.' Chaitanya admitted. 'All of this... Its connected to you for a reason I do not know.' The Dragon looked away for a moment, her eyes closing as she let out a sigh. '... I've always feared you would be dragged into things to great for you to handle, Frea... I've always feared you would be targeted, hurt... Killed...' Frea stiffened slightly. '.. Everything that has happened is my fault, I should have stayed to protect you, perhaps if I had... All the terrible things that happened to you would never have come to pass...' She swore she saw a.. Tear.. Rolling down her Foster Mother's cheek, and she suddenly felt bad for snapping as she had._

_"... Why did you leave... Where did you go...?" Frea asked quietly, head bowing. "... Why did all the Dragon's disappear...?"_

_'... We... Tried...' Chaitanya murmured, never fully getting the words out. '... Just know Frea, I love you... I am always with you...'_

_"But," Frea looked up to see the Dragon looking serious and shaking her head._

_'You must hurry,' Chaitanya warned. 'The Magic will consume you completely soon... You must seal it once more.' She narrowed her eyes at the great dragon,_

" _How am I supposed to do that?" She asked again, she highly doubted the Sealing Magic she used for the Demon from the Book Of Zeref was going to work. And never the less, she couldn't move, she didn't even feel as if she could use Magic now..._

_Chaitanya blinked once, before dipping her head slightly and fading away. "Chaitanya!" Frea called quickly, not very enthused with the idea of having to figure it out herself, she didn't know how to-_

" _Energy Dragon," Jynx materialized before her where Chaitanya had been, floating much as the dragon and herself were in the darkness._

" _Jynx." Frea muttered, not particularly thrilled with the presence of the ghost._

" _Everyone is starting to become consumed, much as you are." Jynx murmured, gazing at her levelly. Frea's eyes snapped from the ghost to the images of everyone floating in the black, all unconscious, and all beginning to be pulled into the Magic like she was. She blinked, sweatdropping, even if they weren't conscious, she could see the pain in their features, and she growled under her breath._

_This was her fault, it didn't matter if she was controlled or not, she had dragged them into this, she couldn't let them be consumed, the world would be next.... How was she supposed to...?_

" _Let me help you, Energy Dragon." Jynx murmured, "Put your feelings toward me aside for now, should this power remain unchained not only you and your friends will be harmed, the world will be consumed by The Power of the One." How does she....? "You cannot seal the Magic on your own, our Magic together has the ability to do as we wish, but only if you will allow me to take over." Jynx paused, Frea narrowed her eyes._

" _Take over?" Frea asked lowly,_

" _You do not have the luxury to be picky." Jynx reminded seriously. "You will let our Magic's converge freely, and allow me to Seal the Power of the One, while your Magic amplifies my own and creates a means of protection should the Power try to lash back." Jynx gazed at her seriously, sensing the reluctance Frea felt when she had said 'Magic's converge'._

_The last time she had allowed their Magic's to come together, the feeling she had gotten was one that felt wrong, but right at the same time. Jynx's magic put her on edge, their magic's felt as if they should go together, but at the same time it felt so wrong to let it happen. They were opposite, and they were not all at once._

_Perfect but not so...._

_Her gaze snapped sideways when she heard someone in the group let out a low moan of pain, and she tensed. She herself was still fairly numb to her own pain, but she could feel the dull agony in her arms and legs, which had already disappeared into the swirling black and red around her._

_She didn't have time to sit here and think, but her own misgivings toward Jynx were getting in the way...._

_Jynx held out a hand, expression neutral and completely calm. "Energy Dragon.... Trust me. Allow me to help you fix this." Frea stared,_

_Trust...? Never once has Jynx ever asked me to trust her.... But why should I... She closed her eyes, jaw clenching... Because I did this, I'm going to be the reason everyone dies, and if I don't trust Jynx..... the world is going to be destroyed, and everyone I care about will be dead..._

" _Fine... Jynx..." She murmured, head bowed. "I'll let our Magic's combine... help stop this, help me fix the mess I've made...please....." Her voice lowered at the end,_

" _As you wish, Energy Dragon." Jynx replied quietly, Frea tensed slightly at the feel of the ghost girl's Magic reaching out toward her, "I apologize... this will be painful.." Jynx murmured, her voice lined with sympathy._

_Jynx's Magic began to wrap around her being slowly, mixing in with her own until they were stable. The darker feeling of the ghost's Magic hit her full force, the feeling of a tingling in her body multiplied until it was agonizing pain._

_Despite the pain, she let her Magic flow freely into Jynx's own, aiding to the power the ghost needed, and she wrapped it around everyone here, to keep them from getting hurt if the Magic tried to fight back to being sealed. She hadn't a clue as to how Jynx would know how to Seal away a Magic such as this..... but her mind wasn't focused on that for very long._

_Once their Magic's had combined and started to radiate out around them, clashing with the red and black of the Power of the One. She stiffened, the combined force of their Magic's beginning to tear away at the Power that had already taken a hold of her, the numbness was fading fast, and she could feel her skin tearing as the Magic tried to keep hold of her._

_It increased tenfold, and she couldn't stop the yells of pain from escaping her throat._

" _Forgive me for this, Energy Dragon." Jynx's voice reached her from the darkness. "You must continue to lend me your power... I can't do this without your help..." Jynx sounded pained, like she panting, and it hurt her to do this.... Damn its hurt me too!_

_So she continued to let Jynx use as much of her power as she needed, she was stretching her thin. She had a lot of Magic Energy, but Jynx began to use just as much as she had when fixing the Balance... and then more...._

_Her body was on fire, her legs and arms felt like they were being torn apart, her yelling grew louder against her will._

" _Let it not matter,_

_How the chains were broken,_

_The runes destroyed,_

_The cage unlocked,_

_Nor the strength of the evil we wish to suppress."_

_Her throat was hurting, and the pain only continued to grow as Jynx started to recite her Spell. This was on a level equal with when Shadow and Winter were stuffed inside of her, and then ripped out again..._

" _A seal must be placed,_

_A cage made,_

_For this Power cannot remain as is,_

_Or the world shall fall,_

_And lives shall be lost._

_Here two Magic's will cross,_

_To hide away one that threatens the balance..."_

_Jynx sounded like she was struggling, her voice was strained, and even the feel of her Magic was wavering with the effort. The Magic continued to try and grab at Frea, only making the pain increase... and then the Power of The One tried to lash out at Jynx in an attempt to make her stop,_

_Frea's Magic formed a strong barrier between Jynx and the onslaught of power trying to reach her, the effort and pain making Frea's mind began to fade to black..._

" _Seal of Spirit Mastery; Magic Lock and tomb repair," Jynx was coming to a close, but the pain wasn't. "Power of the One...Sealed NOW!" She could feel her Magic being directed to enclose the Power of the One, by Jynx's doing or instinct, it didn't matter..... this was the part she needed to act, unconsciously both she and Jynx began to push against the Magic and drive it back into a 'cage' made to keep it locked away. The strain was unbearable to both of them,_

" _Spirit-Energy Seal activate! Release those you seek to consume, and be thrust back into your cage!" Jynx was yelling now, "Cage; LOCK!"_

_There was one last thrust, and she felt the Magic ripped away from her, bringing on a new onslaught of pain. But she was too tired, Jynx had spent every last bit of her Magic she had to give, and the pain had weakened her considerably, everything was falling dark again..._

" _Forgive me.."_

* * *

 

_Jynx had used every last bit of Magic Frea had in her body to strengthen her own, just to be able to stand against the Power of The One. A power unlike any they had felt before, something that couldn't be controlled by a single master, something that needed to be kept locked away. A force so strong and wild the world would have been at stake, and not even Frea alone, a Mage who had done the impossible many times over, could have done this herself._

_Jynx and Frea's Magic combined was a force the world had yet to see before, a force so great, they would have never thought it possible that they would go hand in hand so perfectly, as to allow the two of them to seal away and ancient power such as this._

_Unbeknownst to Frea, there was a reason Jynx's Magic worked so well with her own, why they were so strong together, and why it felt utterly wrong to begin with._

_Jynx knew the Spell needed to Seal Salengoreath again, but knowledge alone would have done her no good, it was Frea's amazing supply of Magic Power that had made sealing it possible. Without both of them, it would have never worked..... Now the gate was closed again, things should go back to normal within Nvindorr, and now the protection around the 'tomb' would be even greater than it once was, Jynx had changed the means in which it could be unsealed once again, a means by which she hoped would never be discovered._

_Frea's mark would be left upon the wall, as would Jynx's for all the years to come, even after they had gone away from time and space, and absolute barrier between the rest of the world and Salengoreath._

_Jynx remained in the dark long after the Spell had been finished, head bowed and eyes closed. Her mind lingered on what had transpired, of what could have been... and what would happen after this._

_This was the marking of something terrible, Frea had been controlled by something, something that had wanted this power for itself, something that felt it was able to control the Power of the One..... something that had known Frea could open the gate to it.... Something that had easily taken control of her...._

_But what...?_

* * *

 

Moon's ears twitched, and she scrunched her eyes closed a little before blinking them open. Her head ached and her body tingled slightly, she blinked a few times to see the dark outlines of trees above her, everything was wrapped in a sheet of black that must have meant night was beginning to fall, she could also see faint red and purple glow bathing them in soft light.... Where was she..?

Slowly images of what had happened began to flow back to her, the forest, the wall, the runes, they had been falling after... Frea! She could remember floating in the darkness, how cold it was.... She remembered seeing Frea there, everyone else too, they were being consumed slowly... and she remembered yells of pain.

She sat up quickly, looking around the gloom wildly to see everyone on the ground as she was, all of them starting to come too. Much as Moon could, they all faintly remembered everything she did, they remembered falling, how they had begun to be consumed by that Power that had showed up out of nowhere, and they remembered seeing everyone in the dark.

"Wha... What the hell happened..?" Natsu mumbled, rubbing his slightly aching head.

"The ground.." Gray mumbled, looking to see the ground was fully intact, as were the pillars and statues, as if nothing had ever happened. Moon counted heads, Lucy, Wendy, Carla, Gajeel, Chase, Erza, Lily, Happy, Natsu, Aisha, Gray, Juvia.... But where-?

All their eyes traveled toward the cliff-face, which was where the red and purple glow was coming from, the runes glowing faintly. Upon the wall, newer runes had been etched into the stone, which was intact much as the ground was, and now two converging symbols rest above the runes, a spiral and a crescent moon. But their eyes didn't land on the runes, instead it found the blood dripping down the stone and on to the grass, coming from the relatively bloody arms and legs of who was leaning against the wall for support. Their ears caught on to the panting,

"Let's.... not... do... that... ag...ai...n....." Frea mumbled in between gasps for air, her words trailing away as she swayed until her knees gave out and she started to fall forward.

"Frea!"

Natsu was the fastest to react, catching her before she could hit the ground and gently easing her onto the grass, sweatdropping and eyes wide. Wendy lunged forward, her hands glowing with the light of her Magic once she began to work.

"What the hell happened..?" Gray muttered,

"Frea..." Moon whispered, standing beside her Partner and Wendy.

"How did she get so hurt..?" Natsu asked,

"I don't really... remember..." Lucy whispered, sitting on the grass with a hand up to cover her mouth. Her eyes were locked on to Frea, thoroughly shocked with the condition the Energy Dragon Slayer was in, and without knowing exactly what happened.

"She opened it..." Aisha muttered under her breath, low enough that only Erza, who stood beside her, heard her say anything. "... She almost killed us, and herself..." The silver-haired Mage sighed, eyes closing.

"It would seem that way.." Erza murmured, her words meant for Aisha, but her eyes moving from the now unconscious Frea, to the wall before her. "... But it also seems, she closed it again.... Even at the price of wounding herself..." Her eyes narrowed, she looked serious. ".. But why..?"

"She was being controlled." Erza's head turned toward the ragged looking Jynx as she materialized in the clearing, her red eyes fixed on Frea. Most everyone looked toward her in surprise, Jynx looked exhausted, much like Frea did, and she looked almost... guilty.

"What..?" Gajeel murmured, eyeing the ghost carefully, not sure if he could believe Frea could have been controlled so easily. Chase turned a disbelieving look on the ghost, eyes going wide.

"Please do not blame Energy Dragon for what has happened," Jynx murmured. "She will no doubt blame herself for having endangered all of you, although this was out of her control. Something was able to take control of her without mine or her noticing until it was too late..." She let out a long sigh. "..... This will take time to fully piece together what has happened.... Energy Dragon will not wake for some time I'm afraid, we used up too much Magic Power sealing that Magic away, I'm afraid the strain was a bit more than she may be able to handle..." Jynx said lowly.

"As for what happened, I will explain it all later," Jynx murmured, catching the questioning looks directed toward her from he confused Mages. "It may be wise to head back toward the Guild, I'll go ahead and tell Makarov what has happened... it is late already." Jynx told them, she turned and paused. "Please, be careful from here on out."

She disappeared, and they were left alone in the clearing.


	26. The World Hates Me

**Chapter 26**

**The World Hates Me**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

_I think the world is out to get me._

_Everything is getting crazy, and its happening more often now... First with Black Chimera, The Eclipse Gate, the Balance tipping, Aisha, the surprise S-Class Exam... And now this..._

_Did we even finish sealing the gate closed again...? ... Or have I been consumed at this point...? I can't remember... Damn it..._

She was sitting alone in a dark space, too exhausted to move or even open her eyes. Her arms and legs hurt, even the slightest movement caused pain. Her body ached, she felt weak... As to be expected when you let a ghost use up all your Magic Energy...

She was starting to get fed up with this. She had never been one to enjoy getting into situations where she found herself hurt constantly, she was especially partial to passing out like this... She didn't like feeling weak, and however much she hated to admit it, she didn't like to lean on others for help.

_Didn't Laxus say something like that...?_

Either way, she wasn't looking forward to waking up, and in fact, she wasn't sure she could force herself to do so for some time, she was just too tired.

_Assuming the whole Sealing thing actually worked... And I'm not actually dead..._

Her mind lingered on that thought, she wondered if they had finished the Spell, if everyone was ok... She hoped they were...

The fragmented memory of seeing everyone on the grass while she was leaning against the cliff-face came to her, _that must mean the Spell worked..._ And that must have been when she had blacked out, _again_. She hated that damn it,

The black around her grew thicker, her mind began to give way to it once more, until she couldn't think.

_Ugh... Fuck..._

* * *

 

"... What...?" Master Makarov whispered, eyes wide and sweatdropping. His eyes remained glued to the haggard looking Spirit Mage who had appeared before him, looking tired and grim.

The Guild Hall had been emptying slowly since night began to fall, to the point where only the main members remained in the darkening hall. He had been becoming increasingly worried, seeing as how the party that had left to find Frea had not yet returned.

He was seated on the bar, Jynx standing before him with Mira standing by and Gildarts seated in a stool beside him, while Mavis was sitting just next to him, looking shocked.

"The... Power of the One, they found it...?" Makarov asked lowly, Jynx nodded once. He just stared, he had heard of this power before of course, all Mages who knew anything about ancient Magic, or read a history book had seen it mentioned in some sort of way. But he had never believed he would hear of it being discovered for as long as he lived, nor thought it would have been released..

"Frea... She released it...?" He asked lowly, hardly able to believe the words were coming out of his mouth. First off, how Frea would even know how to do so was beyond him, and why she would do it was a different matter... He couldn't honestly believe Frea would even think to let loose something like that, if the legends on it were true...

"What is 'the Power of the One' exactly?" Mira asked, looking to Master for an answer.

"Its something I've only ever seen mentioned in old legends and very old History books." Master replied, "Its a power that was said to have brought upon great destruction and chaos during the earlier years of the world, a Magic that even history was afraid to record." He let out a low sigh. "Not much is known about it, other than what the stories tell. Some say its Evil, others sat it is good, all the records are vague and confusing." He glanced away from Mira toward Jynx. "But in every record, it was a Magic said to have the power to destroy the world, a Magic no one may control."

"Oh my..." Mira murmured.

"I hadn't believed it could be somewhere as obvious as the western forest, or that it could be found so easily." Master murmured. "Why would Frea even consider releasing such a power? I never thought even _she_ wouldn't do something so reckless."

"She did not release it of her own accord." Jynx replied instantly. "Energy Dragon was not acting on her own, something took control of her, and forced her to open the tomb that Sealed away the Power of the One."

"Controlled?" Gildarts murmured, his interest peaked. "Frea?" Jynx nodded, "By what?"

"And how? Wouldn't Frea have been able to tell if she was being controlled? Or even Chase for that matter?" Mira asked.

"Even _you_ should be able to sense if Frea was being controlled." Master said and Jynx sighed, sweatdropping slightly at the words.

"I know." She answered lowly, "I wasn't able to sense whatever it was that was controlling her, I don't know why, and I have no idea what it could have been..." She paused. "...but whatever it was, it wanted the Power of the One released, and it knew Energy Dragon was the only one who could let it free and break the Seal."

"Why would Frea be able to break the Seal?" Master asked.

"Because she knows the Dragon Language," Jynx answered simply. "The phrase to break the Seal was set in the Dragon Language, making her as the only one possibly able to open it, seeing as how none of the other Dragon Slayers can speak it."

"If this Magic was released, what happened to everyone?" Mira asked, Jynx had yet to mention what became of the group who had set out that morning.

"It began to consume them." Jynx replied evenly in a low, monotone voice. "It started to consume Energy Dragon, and would move on to the others, and then the rest of world." She caught the worried looks on their faces and shook her head slightly. "They are all relatively fine." Jynx assured.

"Relatively?" Mira whispered, looking even more worried at the words.

"Energy Dragon was wounded," Jynx murmured, voice dropping exponentially and eyes closing. "I couldn't Seal the Magic all on my own, Energy Dragon and I had to combine our Magics in order to succeed... The Power of the One had already partly consumed her, and when it was Sealed again she suffered damage and has been drained completely of Magic Energy from the effort of Sealing it." Jynx opened her eyes only to rest them on the floor. "I don't expect she'll be very happy when she wakes up... And I don't expect she'll wake up for some time either."

"She is alright though?" Master asked and Jynx nodded once.

"Seems like Frea's always the one gettin' hurt..." Gildarts mumbled, leaning against the bar counter. "She can't seem to catch a break..."

"No it doesn't seem that way... I feel a little bad for her..." Mira agreed quietly. "I'm worried about her too... If she keeps finding herself in situations like this, she may just end up...

"I know." Master cut Mira off quietly. "But Frea isn't one to keep herself from trouble, it doesn't matter what it is... She won't back down from fight nor challenge." He sighed. "I'm afraid there is nothing we can do to keep her from doing as she wishes..." Mirajane and Gildarts frowned, but they knew what the Old man said was relatively true.

Jynx looked to him for a moment, before looking away. _Even if it gets her killed, Makarov...?_

* * *

 

Frea blinked one eye open halfway, trying to let her fuzzy vision adjust to the darkness she found waiting for her. She had been aware of voices talking around her, though her ears were ringing slightly and she couldn't make them out very well.

She let her eye fall closed again, wincing slightly at the pain in her arms and legs, though it was nothing compared to how much pain she had been in before... _Wendy must have healed me then... That meant..._

"You guys are alive at least..." She mumbled under her breath, her senses clearing up just enough to realize she was being carried on someone's back, and the scent of Iron hit her nose. She could also faintly sense and smell everyone else around them,

"Hmm?" The rough voice of who was carrying her reached her ears, and she sighed slightly, feeling the surprise come off of him for a moment.

"Thanks... Gajeel..." She mumbled under her breath, wrapping her arms around his neck a little and placing her chin on his shoulder, faintly noticing her arms were wrapped in bandages. "... For carrying me..." She said slowly, not really liking that she couldn't walk on her own even if she tried.

"You're awake then, Silver?" He murmured, she could swear he smirked slightly. "Didn't think you'd be out for too long, not as long as the ghost thought anyway." he commented, the words intriguing her slightly. "Don't worry about it." He didn't get into the subject.

"Where are.. We..?" She asked slowly, still trying to get her eyes to adjust. Her vision was black at the edges and fuzzy still, it was rather annoying.

"We're almost to Magnolia." He replied quietly,

"Is everyone ok?" She asked quietly.

"Hmph, you should be more worried about yourself, Silver." He huffed back quietly, "... Yes, everyone besides you is fine." He gave an answer anyway, and she flinched slightly at the scolding tone of his voice.

"... Sorry..." She mumbled, eyes closing. "... Its my fault everything went to hell... As usual..."

"Don't apologize." He muttered. "And don't go blaming yourself like that," he added, sounding slightly irritated but more calm. "It doesn't sound like you."

Frea opened her eyes slightly, doesn't sound like me? What exactly does sound like me..?

She frowned, probably not the side of me that was willing to give up and let Salengoreath consume me, hmm?

She let out a sigh, smiling slightly. "Alright... Sorry." She murmured, smiling a little more when she heard him let out a huff at the answer. Her eyes fell closed again, instead she focused on the other voices.

Everyone was talking among themselves, most of it speculation about what happened, sometimes it was worried words about herself, she couldn't find any angry tones though... Not even from Aisha.

They all sounded a little ways off though, as if Gajeel was walking a ways behind the rest of the group. She gave up on trying to see everyone, her vision wasn't going to focus enough to do so, but she could hear them now the ringing had left her ears.

She was glad to hear them, hear that they were alright. The reason for leaving every year was to keep from dragging others into the messes she was sure to find herself in, but they followed anyway, and had almost died because she...

She sighed, because something took control of her, something she should have felt and didn't... And that something had wanted Salengoreath unleashed, but... Whatever it was, must have either been wanting to destroy the world... or thought it could control that Magic... Then why..? ... Why wouldn't it have taken control of Salengoreath the minute it was free, if that had been its intention? Instead of allowing it to grow and start to consume-

She stiffened slightly, had it wanted _her_ to be consumed? Everyone else too? But why?

She banished the thoughts from her mind, not wanting to speculate about it now, she didn't have the energy to...

_'You didn't kill that Demon, Girl. Shadow lives on in a different form... As do I.'_

The memory flashed through her head suddenly, she flinched at it, becoming more tense and wrapping her arms around Gajeel's neck without noticing. Unwanted fear hit her, and she trembled for a moment, sweatdropping.

_Chaitanya... Please... Be right... She can't be alive..._

"Silver?" Gajeel asked lowly, glancing sideways at her, looking and sounding a little worried, having felt her tremble a little, and finding it extremely foreign. He hadn't ever seen her tremble before... And definitely not for something he could only tag as.. Fear.

"I... I'm fine..." Frea mumbled lowly, almost so low he couldn't hear it.

"You don't sound so fine." He replied evenly.

"I'm ok, just a bad feeling all the sudden, that's all." She replied, this time sounding a little more calm, he gave up on the subject, being able to tell she wasn't going to give up what she had been thinking so easily.

"If you say so..." He grumbled. Frea let out a soft sigh, thankful he wasn't going to pry,

Gajeel was never one to pry, she reminded herself. she rather liked that about him, and appreciated it, she herself didn't like being asked questions, and she knew Gajeel wasn't going to be the one to go demanding for them, especially from her. Especially considering he could easily tell when she wasn't ready to talk about some things.

Gajeel was much more intuitive on most things than people gave him credit for, to most he was a hot-head who never stopped to think, much like Natsu. And while the two of them were very similar, they were different.

Her mind flashed back to Jogenen, when she had gone on a mission with the Iron Dragon Slayer and Lily, that seemed like such a short time ago, and yet it was a long time since then... She liked that memory, because she knew she and Gajeel had gotten closer because of it. They had both discovered things about eachother that had made it easier to get along, and trust one another.

She would like to consider herself and Gajeel as good friends, and faintly wondered if he considered the same thing..?

She smiled a little, she was pretty sure he did... With that in mind, she let her thoughts fall away slowly until she had fallen into unconsciousness once more... And this time she wasn't expecting to wake up again any time soon.

* * *

 

Wind stirred the blades of grass over a large expanse of meadow stretching out for miles on end, the petals of multicolored flowers catching the air and floating through it lazily, before finally falling on the surface of a still lake set in the center of the glade.

On all sides of the meadow was surrounded by magnificent, large expanses of mountain that formed a small wall around the meadow and lake, keeping it sheltered from the world.

The moon shone down upon the lake, its glow shimmering in the ripples of the water as the petals landed.

Three spheres of Magic power floated above the surface of the water, each one casting its own light upon the water, clashing with eachother in an array of red, blue, and grey.

Settled on a small clean cut island of cool stone in the middle of the lake rest a massive opalescent Dragon tucked halfway into a small overhang of the stone, half of its body shadowed by the rock. The Dragon's deep purple eyes were locked upon the three spheres of Magic, lips drawn back in a slight snarl and eyes narrowed, looking tense.

The Dragon's scales were scratched and cracked upon various places on its body, looking much more haggard than it had in centuries. Its head lift up to its full height, the long thin neck stretched all the way, and claws curling into the stone underneath. Still a very powerful and foreboding figure despite its rough appearance.

"Your daughter is getting into quite a bit of trouble." A calm and serene voice bounced from around the light blue Magic Sphere.

"Indeed, if this continues, she's going to end up dead." The second, a deep and rough voice filtered out from around the grey sphere.

The dragon bristled, its lips curling more,

"And then others will end up dead too." The third and final sphere, the red one, spoke. Again a deep voice but not as rough as the second.

"How dare you three come into my domain and spout such things?!" The dragon roared, her once calm and gentle voice risen to an extremely angry and powerful one. a voice that shook the water. "Do you not think I know this already?! Do you think I don't take into account all that has happened, and all that will?! What would you have me do?!" The dragon roared, slamming a clawed hand down onto the stone and making it shake along with the water surrounding them even more. "I have sat by and watched as she comes close to death over and over, I've been forced to spectate as she gets hurt and wounded!"

"As have we all." The first voice said gently,

"This is different, Grandeeny!" The dragon snapped back at the light blue orb seething with fury. The dragon's purple gaze swept across every single orb in turn, "Yes, your children have been hurt before, they have fought for their lives on many occasion, but it is not the same." The dragon growled. "None of your children have been targeted, mine has. She's being targeted by some ancient evil I know nothing of, an ancient evil that can _control_ her." The dragons eyes closed and its claws dug into the ground, "An ancient evil even I am unable to sense when it comes near, nor am I able to banish it... I fear worse things are coming for her... And for everyone else..."

For a moment there was complete silence as the voices on the other sides of the Magic Spheres that what the dragon had said over.

"Even _you_ cannot sense its presence?" The rough voice of the grey orb asked slowly. The dragon shook its head,

"Perhaps you've grown too old," the voice from the red Sphere huffed. "Your power may have waned after these centuries, you look rather ragged... Chaitanya."

"Forget not your place, Igneel." The dragon growled back, it's fire returning instantly. "It is true, I have several centuries on my plate before you, but age has done nothing but make me wiser. I am still as powerful as I always was, perhaps even more so." She growled lowly, "Next time you wish to speak ill of me, make sure you can defend your words."

"You dare to say I cannot defend my words?!" The third voice, Igneel, roared.

"I dare," Chaitanya hissed. "When was the last time you were able to hold a flame to me, Igneel?" She growled and the voice died in a fit of grumbling.

"Chaitanya." The second voice to have spoke, said at length. "You believe worse things will come? What do you expect to happen?"

"I do not know." Chaitanya replied softly. "But I will say this; there is no doubt in my mind every single one your children will have a part to play in what comes next... There will be nothing we can do but watch disaster unfold." Chaintanya bowed her head slightly, "And disaster will strike, should Frea fail to keep things in Balance within the world... And her own life."

"You do not think... There is a chance Wendy...?" The first, Grandeeny asked slowly.

"And Gajeel...?" The second voice murmured.

"Natsu as well...?" Igneel breathed.

Chaitanya lift her head to look to the stars above her, eyes narrowed. "Yes... Igneel, Grandeeny, Metallicana... If things become worse for Frea then they already are, I have no doubt the rest of the Dragon Slayers will be brought into the conflict." She sighed, "Just know this... I know for fact, Frea will happily give herself for your children without second thought should it come to that..." Chaitanya closed her eyes, ears pressing against her head.

"That is exactly what I'm afraid she will do."


	27. Rest! That's An Order!

**Chapter 27**

**Rest! That's an Order!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

The serious and worried gazes of those who remained in the Guild hall that night rest upon the group who made it back close to midnight. Most of the Guild had begun to file out, and now only the awaiting Master, Mira, Mavis, Jynx and Gildarts remained.

Mira couldn't keep herself from rushing forward, eyes wide and hands clasped in front of her. She ushered Gajeel along with her, "Bring her in here," she said softly, heading toward the infirmary.

Gajeel grunted but said nothing more, Wendy made to follow the two of them toward the infirmary, but Moon and Carla stepped in front of her, looking sympathetic.

"I should try to-" Wendy started, staring after the two as they drew away from the rest of the group.

"No, child." Carla said gently but sternly. "You did all you could already, there's nothing more you can do." She murmured.

"What you did will be enough," Moon smiled slightly, "Thank you." Wendy paused, looking between the two Exceeds slowly, before nodding a little and giving in.

"Master," Erza murmured, coming to a halt before the Old Man. Master Makarov nodded slowly,

"Jynx already explained to us what happened." He explained before Erza could continue. "All of you get some rest, I will send for Porlyusica in the morning... That'll give me some more time to think things through."

"But-" Natsu said,

"We-" Gray muttered,

Gildarts stepped forward and wrapped an arm over Natsu, and Gray's shoulders tightly, interrupting what they were going to say, and began slowly leading them out of the Guild.

"Come on, no use staying if there's nothing you can do." Gildarts murmured, more or less dragging the now struggling boys out.

A few glances were exchanged, before the rest finally nodded in agreement and began to file out, they were all tired, they wanted sleep and weren't about to argue with Master on the subject.

Chase hesitated, looking ready to sit and wait in the Guild Hall instead of obey Master Makarov. Aisha paused beside him, noticing the hesitation and blinking. He didn't look to her, and she rolled her eyes at the look he wore.

The MoonLight Mage promptly grabbed on to the back of the young Energy Mage's shirt and tugged, _hard_ , causing him to stumble as he struggled to remain standing as Aisha continued to walk out of the Guild Hall while dragging him behind her.

"Even you need sleep, dumb-ass." She grumbled back at him, sounding only slightly angry.

"Aisha.." He muttered, sweatdropping.

"No complaining, come on." She said curtly. "What were you gonna do anyway?" She asked with a glance at him. He blinked at the question, before glancing away quickly.

"Wait." He muttered crossly.

"... And make yourself sick, yeah great plan." Aisha muttered with a shake of her head. "Worry about yourself ok? I shouldn't have to.." She murmured with a low sigh.

Chase blinked a few times at the words, before slowly glancing at her. He was... Surprised... Before he smiled a little and gave in.

"Alright..."

Erza and Lucy caught the conversation between the two, and glanced to eachother with smiles, but said nothing. Gajeel reappeared with Mira and left along with Lily shortly, neither of them saying anything.

Now Moon stood alone in the Hall with Master, Jynx, Mavis, and Mira, her eyes trained on the ground. The four noticed the Exceed hadn't moved, and blinked.

"May I stay?" Moon asked quietly, looking to Master slowly. Makarov narrowed his eyes slightly, seeing the determination in Moon's blue eyes. If he were to say no, he was fairly certain she would do as she wished anyway. Moon was quite clearly protective of Frea, and cared for the Energy Dragon Slayer deeply. He appreciated that of the Exceed, Frea needed someone to be protective over her, as Frea was protective over everyone here in the Guild.

The thought made him smile a little and nod his head, "Do as you wish," he granted, eyes closing. "But do get some rest, won't you?" He asked. "And if Frea does wake up, try to keep her in bed, alright?"

Moon blinked, nodding her head slowly. "I will." She promised softly, walking forward toward the Infirmary. "Thanks." She added as she passed the silent group of four.

"I'll be taking my leave now, I need time to rest and think over a few things." Jynx said once Moon had left and only silence reigned over the four of them. "... Should you need me for anything, Makrov." She glanced toward the Guild Master and he looked back with narrowed eyes. "You know how to call me." She finished as a knowing glance passed between the two, and Jynx faded into a purple haze.

* * *

 

Moon let out a heavy sigh, ears falling against her head and eyes closed. She was sitting on the edge of the bed Frea was in, still unconscious but breathing and alive.

The Exceed cast a small glance at her Partner with one eye cracked open slightly, frowning.

She could honestly say she was glad to have met Frea and become her Partner, she couldn't deny that... But she hadn't expected it to be this painful.

Whether or not she would admit it out loud, Frea reminded her a lot of Kyo. And considering what had happened to her first friend... She didn't like what was happening to Frea in the slightest. She was worried for the Energy Dragon Slayer every time trouble hit, which seemed to be rather often as far as Frea was concerned.

Frea was an exceptionally strong Mage in her own right, Moon had seen that first-hand on many occasion. But not even Frea could handle everything, not even Frea was exempt from getting hurt or worse...

Moon closed her eyes, shaking her head and growling under her breath. Frea was going to end up in serious trouble one day, and she was afraid of what would happen.

 _... I'll just have to stick with her_ , Moon reasoned in her head. _I'll have to keep her as safe as I can, always be there to help her..._ She silently promised herself she would do just that.

She wasn't as strong as Frea or many others in this Guild, but her dedication didn't waver even slightly in the most pressing of times. She would do whatever it took to keep Frea safe, just as she knew Frea would do for her. They worked well together because they were so similar in demeanor. Both of them were extremely loyal to those they cared for, level-headed when the time called for it, protective of their friends... And they both cared deeply for others they loved, including eachother.

It was how similar they were that had allowed them to get along so well, and bond so fast within the small amount of time they had known eachother. They hadn't known eachother at all when they first met, and yet there had been some sort of connection there that had allowed them to grow closer.

She felt very much the same way about all of the Guild, but her bond with Frea was definitely stronger.

She had promised herself the day she had decided to stick with Frea she would protect her, as she hadn't been able to with Kyo. She didn't want to lose another friend, she couldn't... This promise to herself had been lingering in her head for a long time, and it was now that it came to full view.

She had to protect Frea, she had to be protective over the Energy Dragon Slayer.

Frea was so protective over everyone else so often that most of the time, she did forget to try and protect herself. This habit of overlooking her own safety had landed Frea in several difficult spots before, and if it continued, the consequences were surely only going to get worse.

That's why Moon was here though, that is what her job would be. While she was not the only one in the Guild who could and were protective of Frea, she all the same had a part to play in Frea's life like the rest.

_I'll protect you as best I can, Frea... Because you're so worried over everyone else's safety, you often forget of your own..._

She was yanked backwards suddenly, letting out a low yelp of surprise at the contact, trying to understand what had happened. She blinked a few times, slowly realizing that Frea had wrapped her arms around her and pulled her to her chest, now rolled over on her side.

Moon slowly looked to Frea, only to see her eyes were closed and still out... But she did notice the small smile on the Energy Dragon Slayer's lips.

"... Re...lax..." The word slipped past Frea's lips in an almost inaudible whisper, Moon blinked once, before looking away. She realized that Frea must have unconsciously sensed the worry coming from her, and that it must have been enough to stir her unconscious mind a little.

She sighed, relaxing in the hold of her Partner and eyes falling closed. She was happy for the hold, and comfortable in it, soon enough her mind fell away into a deep and peaceful sleep..

* * *

 

"What has that girl gotten herself into this time?" Porlyusica muttered crossly as she followed Master Makarov across the center of the hall the next morning. She had arrived not long after Makarov had sent for her, and all the explanation she got was that Frea had found herself wounded, _again_.

Porlyusica didn't know what it was with that girl, but Frea was one to get hurt rather often, even when she had been much younger. And it had always been Porlyusica to take care of her when things got serious enough.

Makarov sweatdropped, hearing the growl in the woman's voice rather easily. He understood her frustrations of course, they were something he shared as well, Porlyusica was just a bit more... Stern, in scolding the members of the Guild than he may like.

He especially didn't like the thought of Porlyusica scolding Frea. While Frea had never been one to snap back at the Old Woman, he wasn't sure she would refrain from doing so now, he expected her to have a bit of a short temper.

And if Frea snapped at Porlyusica, he would have a very big battle on his hands.

Granted, he wasn't expecting Frea to be awake. Not after what Jynx had told him, how much power Frea had wasted and how hurt she had become.

"Something odd." He replied slowly, "I will explain it more later, but basically... Frea let loose an ancient power and was almost consumed by it." He saw Porlyusica stiffen. "... She was partly consumed before managing to seal that power away once more, but not before it had done damage. And not to mention, she spent every ounce of Magic Energy within her body."

Porlyusica let out a long sigh, "That girl is always getting into things that hurt her..." She said lowly, Master nodded a little.

"I know.."

"Makarov... It will end up killing her, should she continue to find herself in these situations." Porlyusica muttered, the two of them coming to a halt outside the infirmary door. "It is true, Frea is an exceptionally strong Mage, but not even she can continue to take damage like this, as often as she has been." The woman's eyes fell closed. "It's going to tear her body apart... Just like the first time."

Master blinked, of course he had found out about Porlyusica keeping the fact that Frea had been dying from him. He knew she had done so only because Frea had asked her to... He wasn't angry for it. And he knew what she was telling him was true.

Frea was constantly pushing herself to the limit, constantly putting herself in harms way, and constantly coming through things worse off. She was exhausting herself, and she was going to end up falling apart if this was to continue.

Frea had always been resilient when it came to pain, wounds, fatigue, weakness... But not even her uncanny resilience would keep her body from shredding to pieces when put through this amount of stress over and over.

"I understand that." He replied lowly. "I've always tried to keep Frea from too much danger, but it always finds her, and scoops her up into the thick of things. I can't control it... I've been left to hope she will find a way to come through whatever may face her alright."

"You're her Guild Master." Porlyusica reminded. "You _can_ keep her from running into battles and conflict, as well as taking jobs."

"I'm not sure Frea would do as I say, even if I did ask her to sit out of the action for awhile." Master sighed. "She isn't one to sit still..."

Porlyusica looked down at Master Makarov for a moment, eyes narrowed. She was surprised to hear him say such a thing... He didn't seem to realize just how much respect Frea held for him.

She smiled, looking away.

"You don't need to ask." She said simply, reaching toward the door handle. "That girl will know how you feel."

Master looked up to her in surprise, not sure what she meant by the words.

However, his attention was taken from the woman once the door was opened, and they looked inside to see an empty room, Frea was nowhere in sight.

"She's not here." Porlyusica muttered, Makafov looked into the room, sweatdropping and fumbling for words.

"FREA?!"

* * *

 

"Morning, Mira." Frea smiled slightly, looking to the white-haired Mage on the other side of the bar.

"Good morning!" Mira smiled, looking quite happy to see the Energy Dragon Slayer awake and up so soon. Though Frea could felt the shock bounce off of Mira for a moment, those feelings we're quickly replaced by relief and happiness. "How are you feeling? We didn't think you'd be up so soon," Mira glanced toward Moon who sat in the counter beside Frea, alive and alert... well, mostly alert.

Frea shrugged, resting her head on the counter. "I've been better..." She mumbled lowly. Indeed, she had looked better than she did now. Mira couldn't remember the last time she had seen Frea looking so exhausted. "... Jynx told you what happened?" She asked and Mira nodded.

"Yes, but you shouldn't look too guilty, Frea." Mira said gently, and Frea looked away. "No one is going to hold what happened yesterday against you."

Moon looked to Mira, then to Frea. True, she didn't think anyone in the Guild was going to have hard feelings toward Frea for what happened yesterday... Except for Frea herself. She knew the Energy dragon Slayer wasn't going to easily forgive herself for putting people in harms way.

"... Hmm..." Frea sighed, saying nothing more and Mira looked to her sympathetically. Mira turned away and headed back into the kitchen for a moment, before coming back with a plate full of breakfast. Frea's head lift from the bar at the sight of it, eyes shinning.

Mira smiled at the look along with Moon, "Thought you might be hungry." Mira smiled, placing the plate down in front of Frea.

"Mira, you're the best!" The Energy Dragon Slayer smiled, Mira smiled a little more.

"Eat up, you'll feel better." Mira responded, before producing another plate before Moon, the Exceed grinning thankfully at the white-haired young woman.

She could have shared with Frea, whom usually didn't mind doing so. But today, Moon wouldn't have been interested in sharing with Frea, considering what was on the plate.

Yes, there was food like eggs, and toast, but a big portion of her plate was filled with scrap metal too. Frea picked up a piece of metal and bit into it happily,

"Thanks," Moon murmured, Mira nodded to her.

"You're welcome." She replied, taking a seat down on the other side of the bar, just after she placed a glass down in front of the two.

"I know iron isn't your favorite." Mira said after awhile of them sitting in silence, just as the guild began to fill up as Members wandered in, still sleepy. Frea glanced up at her, blinking. Moon paused in her nibbling on a piece of toast, looking confused.

"But I'm sure if you asked Laxus for some of his Lightning he'd be happy to give you some." Mira smiled, casually cleaning a mug in her hands.

Frea choked on the piece of iron she had been chewing, coughing and spluttering with perhaps the deepest blush either Moon or Mira had ever seen from the Energy Dragon Slayer across her face. Mira smiled mischievously, while Moon chuckled under her breath at the reaction, sharing a knowing look with Mira.

"W-what..?!" Frea spluttered, looking to Mira with wide eyes.

"Your favorite Element to eat." Mira said with a smile, "I figured it out."

Frea stared, still blushing furiously and completely still. She could faintly recall the conversation she had, when Natsu asked her what Element was her favorite to eat besides Energy... She hadn't given them an answer and Mira...

She didn't like that smile Mira was giving her, she had seen it before, a smile that said Mira knew more than she was letting on. And yet Frea didn't have a clue as to what she might know, what _was_ there to know anyway?! Nothing, that's what!

"You don't have to be so embarrassed," Mira continued, "We both know how you feel." She said with a glance to Moon who nodded in confirmation, Frea blushed harder.

"How I feel about what?!" She snapped, "And who the hell says lightning is my favorite!? _Gross!_ " She growled furiously crossing her arms over her chest and looking away from them with a huff.

Mira and Moon chuckled, they could both hear the lie in Frea's voice. They found Frea's stubbornness over the subject refreshing, it wasn't like the Energy Dragon Slayer to get all flustered like this, it was cute.

Frea sat there, grumbling to herself for a minute. She didn't like this, not at all... Why was Mira always trying to do this to her?!

Mira seemed to make it a habit of trying to get some sort of reaction from her, and she had noticed for a very longtime now Mira liked to hint to things that didn't have an relevance, as far as Frea saw it anyway.

"FREA?!"

Her eyes snapped toward the back of the Guild, blinking in confusion at the fact her name had been shouted. She recognized the voice of course, but wasn't sure why-?

At this time, most eyes turned toward her, and the air began to spark with confusion, shock and worry. Most of those who had walked inside had taken no notice of the three at the bar, and it was only until her name had been shouted that they finally noticed Frea a bit more.

They saw the bandages wrapping all the way up her arms and legs, which was clearly visible due to the short shorts and tank top she was wearing with no shoes.

Master appeared in the main hall a moment later, looking furious. She sweatdropped, blinking a few times.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Master snapped, pointing an accusing finger toward her. "You're supposed to be resting, not walking around willy nilly! Get back to bed!"

She blinked once, before giving him a disbelieving look. "But Master, I was hungry!" She told him, "You expect me to sleep on an empty stomach?"

"I expect you to stay where you're supposed to!" He snapped back, gaze flicking to Moon momentarily who flinched back. " _You_ were supposed to keep her in bed!" His gaze went back to Frea, "How do you ever expect to heal if you're always pushing it without-?!"

**WHAM!**

Everyone in the hall sweatdropped as Porlyusica's hand came down upon Master's head so hard his face met the floor, the Old Lady looked ticked.

"Enough!" She growled, "This arguing is annoying, damn humans..." She muttered and looked to Frea. "You shouldn't try to anger him at his age!" She scolded and Frea smiled nervously.

"Sorry..." She mumbled. Porlyusica sighed,

"Come with me then," the Old Lady ordered, turning to walk back the way they had come. Frea got up from her seat, wincing harshly in the process and heading after Porlyusica slowly, frowning slightly and sweatdropping. She looked like she was forcing herself to stay silent, it must hurt to walk, though she hid her pain rather well.

Master had picked himself back up from the floor as Frea passed him, he followed behind the pair slowly.

They left a very confused Guild behind, and all eyes turned to Moon and Mira at the counter.

"What the hell happened?!"

* * *

 

"Tch..." Porlyusica growled under her breath, red eyes taking over every single wound on Frea's arms and legs, she looked half angry, and half concerned. Frea looked from Porlyusica to the ground, sweatdropping slightly and biting down on her tongue to keep herself from wincing as her wounds were looked over. She really hadn't noticed how painful they were until a few minutes ago, not until she had managed to shake of her sleep after waking up.

As to be expected she supposed, when a Magic such as the Power of One tried to consume you, and almost did.

".... These are no small wounds." Porlyusica murmured, letting out a low sigh and closing her eyes. "The wounds.. and your exhaustion of both body and Magic Energy...." Her red eyes opened to fix Frea in a serious gaze, her voice dropping out of the range of Master Makarov who was standing beside the door, looking a little worried and still slightly miffed.

"Child, you're going to end up going down the same road you did before." Frea's eyes snapped up to the Old Lady instantly, "If you continue to strain yourself to the extent you have been, and so often; You. Are. Going. To. Kill. Yourself." Frea blinked once, frowning slightly. "No amount of strength or Power is going to save you, it's going to _kill you_."

Frea's eyes closed, she looked slightly guilty. She knew what Porlyusica told her was true... but she didn't really want to hear it. She didn't like to put herself in these situations, she most of all didn't like to feel this way..... and still, she didn't think there was anything she could do that would stop such things from happening around her.

She was prone to danger, that had become increasingly clear.

"Don't do that to him." Porlyusica murmured lowly, and Frea stiffened. Her eyes immediately flicked to Master Makarov who had his eyes closed now, arms crossed over his chest and leaning up against the door. She was surprised, because she could hear the softness of Porlyusica's voice so suddenly, she sounded sad..... she didn't sound like herself, and the sound made Frea's stomach clench a little, and she sweatdropped.

She knew what Porlyusica was asking of her, she was asking her to be careful. To stay alive, stay out of trouble, stop getting hurt all the time.... If only to give Master some peace of mind.

She had always been faintly aware of how Master and the rest of the Guild may feel about her getting injured all the time, but she had never fully taken into account how worried they must be, how worried Master must be.

She didn't like people worrying over her, and she knew they must, otherwise they wouldn't get so angry with her for getting hurt, or keeping secrets..... Laxus made that apparent to her, and now Porlyusica was trying to get the same thing across to her as well.

She nodded slightly, almost imperceptibly, but Porlyusica seemed to see it.

"Bedrest," Her voice rose again. "For a week." She said firmly, pointing a finger at her. " _No_ strenuous activity. _No_ using _Magic._ _No jobs_ ;" Every no seemed to make her wince, "for at least a _month_." Frea nodded slightly, Porlyusica's usual demeanor came back almost instantly, and she was again as she usually was. "Stay here at the Guild for a few more days, then you can go home. I'll come back to check on you in a day or so," She blinked, "And don't let Wendy try and heal you anymore." When Frea blinked in confusion Porlyusica elaborated. "You've relied too much on Magic to heal you every time you come into a jam, its time you try and heal naturally, albeit even if it is at a slower pace."

 _So, no help from Wendy, so you can't go on jobs for even longer then..... Clever_. She thought a little hotly,

"Once the month is up, I'll decide if you're ready to go back to work." The Old Lady concluded and turned away, Porlyusica silently added to ask Moon to keep an eye on Frea for the time being, though she didn't think Frea was going to go against what she told her to do.

"Thanks..." Frea murmured, bowing slightly as she slowly got to her feet in a gesture of thanks to the bad-tempered physician.

"Back in bed!" Porlyusica snapped, and Frea sat down quickly on the bed, blinking a few times and sweatdropping. "Stupid humans...."

 _But... I wanted to finsish the breakfast Mira made me...._ Frea thought sadly,

Master cast one last look at the Energy Dragon Slayer before turning to follow Porlyusica out of the room. "You have my thanks as well, Porlyusica." Master murmured once the door was closed, he was still glancing backward at the Infirmary as they walked toward the main part of the Guild.

"Don't thank me," The Old Lady muttered back instantly. _Not until Frea actually listens to what I told her_ , she added silently.

* * *

 

"Did you come in here to patronize me?" Frea mumbled, looking across the room with narrowed eyes. She was sitting cross-legged on 'her' bed in the infirmary. She sweatdropped slightly, a little uncomfortable with the fact that he had quite literally walked in, sat down, and simply stared at her since he came in. "Or are you just gonna keep staring?" She muttered.

"You look like shit." Laxus murmured and she bristled.

"Well thanks." She growled. "You would too..." She trailed off, sighing.

"... If I had been controlled, let loose some Ancient Power and had almost been consumed by that Magic?" He intoned and she nodded, looking away. "Why is it always _you_?" He asked slowly and she blinked.

"Trust me, I've asked myself the same thing." She mumbled. "Several times, actually." He sighed,

"I'm just trying to wrap my head around it." He murmured, eyes closing. "I find it hard to believe you of all people were controlled so easily, what's the point of being able to repel the Nullifucation Magic of a Demon of Zeref, if you can't keep something from taking control of you?" She stiffened at the words, eyes falling. He wasn't criticizing, his tone didn't sound like that... He was actually being sort of... Neutral, for lack of a better word.

"I don't know." She muttered lowly, "... I didn't realize it at first, and when I finally did... I couldn't resist it." She glared down at the sheets.

_'Malunafrey...'_

The name was still ringing in her head. It was definitely not her name, and yet whatever that voice had been... It sounded so sure that it was her name.

 _But how could it be? I would know if it was my name, and it's not._ Even so the sound of it in her mind made her shiver slightly, feeling as if it was a cold drop of water running down her spine.

Laxus glanced up at her, blinking upon noticing the slight shiver, faintly wondering why...? ... It was a little odd. He narrowed his eyes a little, looking her over a moment as they sat in silence, he began taking into account just how exhausted she seemed to be, how tired and wounded she was in just one day.

Frea wasn't really one to show it, but she was definitely tired. The dark lines under her eyes were a give away, and she didn't seem to have her usual energy about her. And, he could tell she was in a bit of pain. She winced when she moved it adjusted, Laxus let out a sigh.

Frea sat in silence, not really paying attention as the name 'Malunafrey' continued to pound at her mind...Frea's eyes blinked open, once a hand fell on top of her head gently and she glanced up in surprise, blushing slightly.

Laxus let out a small sigh, "Go to sleep." He ordered, drawing his hand away from her head and walking toward the door. "You'll feel better if you do." He waved behind him once, before he was gone.

Frea looked to the door a moment, blinking slowly. That was definitely not the usual behavior she was used to from Laxus. True, he had been a bit different seen he came back, she had noticed that when they met upon the mountain, to confront Rified. And since then, he had grown more likeable, they definitely weren't fighting like they used to when they had been younger.

She smiled slightly, he was a pain in the ass most of the time, but he was easy to get along with at times, and though he wouldn't admit it out loud, he cared for other people... She blinked at the thought, blushing slightly beside herself.

She had a hard time thinking that Electricity for Brains man cared for her, even slightly. Or in any way.

Suddenly Mira's words from this morning popped into her head, _'I'm sure if you asked Laxus for some of his lighting he'd be happy to give you some.'_

_Lightning... no no! Oh hell no!_

She hated that, Lightning wasn't her favorite, just no! Why cant Mira stop trying to tease her like that?!

Even so, she couldn't stop blushing and finally banished the thoughts from her head, settling down to give into sleep.


	28. Changeling

**Chapter 28**

**Changeling**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

**.:+:.  
**

"This is going to be so damn boring..." Frea mumbled to herself, chin in hand as she leaned on the countertop. She was situated on the opposite side of the bar from the rest of the hall, looking out across the floor as everyone began to file in.

"It won't be so bad." Moon told her with a smile, nibbling on yet another piece of toast Mira had made for her. "Its only been five days. I think you can last the month." She smirked slightly. "I have faith."

Frea turned a half glare on Moon, who only shook her head and ignored the look. "There's no telling that it'll be _only_ a month." Frea muttered. "If I know Porlyusica, she's not gonna let me work for two."

"She may." Moon said evenly. "If you actually _rest_ the entire time." She pointed out firmly and Frea sighed.

"I hate just sitting around though." She muttered.

"You are supposed to be in bed." Moon reminded and Frea stiffened. "If Master or Porlyusica catch you out here, they're going to be mad." Frea looked at the counter, sweatdropping.

"... I'm not brawling..." Frea murmured lowly, "... Or walking around... I am resting..." Her eyes closed and Moon blinked, glancing her way. "I know what Master and Porlyusica said... I made it through half of the week in bed, I just can't stay there anymore."

Moon stared a moment, Frea's voice had dropped very low... She almost sounded sad, it was odd.

"You alright?" Moon asked and Frea nodded once, still not opening her eyes.

"I'm fine." Frea murmured. She didn't sound so sure of it though, and Moon frowned.

"Please cheer up." She mumbled and Frea looked to her, blinking a few times.

"What do you mean?"

"You've been... Sort of depressed." Moon replied, pausing in the eating of her toast. "You're not acting like yourself, and you won't say what's on your mind." Frea blinked once, "Are you still blaming yourself?"

"You already know the answer." Frea muttered,

"Then stop it dumbass!" Moon snapped back and Frea flinched. "Look, I know you tend to hang on to things like this, and you're not one to forgive yourself so easily." Moon said, pointing a finger at the Energy Dragon Slayer with a hard stare. "But it needs to stop, I don't blame you, Lucy, Natsu, Chase, Gajeel, _No One_ blames you." She shook her head. "You need to get that through your thick damn head, otherwise things will never go back to normal."

Frea blinked a few times, surprised at the words and slightly shocked how angry Moon had gotten and so fast.

"I don't think things are going to go back to normal." Frea replied, the words slipping out without even thinking, it was almost as if they formed on their own, she hadn't consciously thought of them.

Moon stared. "What do you mean?" She asked and Frea blinked, shaking her head and sweatdropping.

"I don't know... I don't even know why I said that." She replied, rubbing the back of her neck in confusion. Moon glared, before shaking her head

"Well, don't believe that." She said firmly, "Things will go back to normal, they always do." She smiled slightly, looking confident. "Especially when you have all your friends around you."

Frea smiled back, Moon's words made her feel better. Yes, she had friends here, and as long as they were together everything would be alright. "You're right, Moon." Frea smiled, "I'll try to cheer up."

But blaming herself wasn't the only thing on her mind. And she wasn't willing to share what the other things were, not just yet.

Moon nodded in approval and bit into her toast again,

"What the hell is this?" Their attention turned toward the Request board where Natsu, Lucy and Happy were looking it over. Natsu was holding a request in his hands, it was a dark paper with some strange writing on it, Frea could easily see it from where she was sitting.

"It says if we decipher it, we'll be payed 500,000 Jewel." The pinkette grinned. "This one sounds great!"

"Aye sir!"

"What is it?" Erza and Gray walked up behind the three. They blinked, "A translation job?" Erza asked, "That's rather unusual for a Guild."

"It's some sort of super ancient language." Gray murmured, the group shifting toward a table where Natsu set the paper down. Frea and Moon watched a moment, slightly intrigued. Moon's ears perked at the sound of 'ancient language'.

"No one's gonna be able to read that."

"Look, there's an excerpt written in English letters next to it!" Happy pointed out. Frea blinked, before getting to her feet stiffly and heading over while stifling a small wince as she did so. Moon sighed and headed after her,

"I though there wasn't supposed to be any walking...?" Moon murmured, but was ignored.

Frea sat down at the table next to the group, pulling the paper toward her before Natsu had a chance to start reading. Moon lighted down atop the table beside Happy,

"Frea, aren't you supposed to be in bed?" Erza asked and Frea sighed,

"Yeah, yeah I know..." She muttered, waving the question off.

She paused slightly at the shimmer of gold that appeared beside them,

"Hey Loke." Lucy greeted, smiling at him. "What's up?"

"Thought I'd stop by." He replied with a smile, "Solana's busy hanging out with Virgo today," he explained when Lucy looked like she was about to ask where the Sun Dragon Slayer was. The two of them hardly ever seemed to be without eachother.

"Good to see you, Loke." Frea smiled a little, but didn't look his way, instead she continued to examine the paper. Loke looked to her with a smile, but it faded upon seeing her and instead he blinked.

"What the hell happened to Frea?" He asked of Lucy, who sighed.

Frea quirked an eyebrow at the paper, her full attention turning to it and eyes scanning over the lettering as Moon did so beside her. "Odd..." She mumbled, Moon nodded.

"I don't recognize the writing." Moon said, pointing toward the original writing above the partially translated part.

"I've never seen it either." Frea mumbled, letting Natsu take it back. She leaned her chin in her hand, "I don't know what reading it'll do, Natsu, I'd be careful." She said with a light warning.

That warning went unnoticed, and Natsu leaned over the paper, " Ugo deru rasuchi boro kania..." He blinked, grimacing. "The hell?! That's crazier then what Frea spouts sometimes!" He complained, Frea huffed, eyes falling closed and vein ticked on her forehead a moment.

Then suddenly, very quick, there was a flash of unknown Magic. She sensed it momentarily, and felt like the air had been knocked out of her, but it was gone in an instant.

She was looking at the paper, standing at the head of the table, eyes narrowed and frowning.

_Wait, what?_

"Why is it so cold in here?" Gray shivered on her right, teeth chattering.

Several others in the Guild approached slowly, looking confused.

"What? Ice Wizards don't get cold you big baby." Elfman muttered.

"No, I'm serious you guys! Its seriously freaking cold in here! Can someone turn up the heat before I freeze to death, pretty please?!" The Ice Wizard shivered even more, and the air around him began to frost over.

She remained standing where she was, blinking rapidly. It felt like everything went dead around her, there were no emotions, no feeling of Energy. Even her vision wasn't as sharp as usual, and the pain in her arms and legs were gone. She didn't feel like herself, this wasn't... The feeling inside of her, there was Magic coursing through her body, but she was completely void of Magic Energy just seconds ago, she hadn't regained any over the last five days.

_When was I standing up?_

"Woah! Why does my chest feel all heavy all of a sudden?!" Lucy exclaimed, only her voice was much deeper all of a sudden, and she wasn't acting like herself. She leaned over on the table, "Man, my back's killin' me..."

"You ok, Lucy?" Macao asked from the line of other Guild Members who had walked up. "Your voice is lower than usual.."

"That's not right, I-" Gray answered, turning to look toward the blonde before freezing, looking horrified. "WHAT?!"

Frea's gaze moved to the table and she went still, jaw dropping and sweatdropping. She started shaking-

"When the hell did I sit down?" Another voice, _her_ voice, said suddenly, "and... Owwwww! What the hell, why do I... Hurt so much...?!" The same voice hissed through gritted teeth,

She was scrambling for words, stiff as a board and completely thrown off guard. Right before her, she could see herself sitting at the table, eyes shut tight and wincing, holding her arms gently and sweatdropping.

_That's... Me..._

"What the fuck...?!" She hissed under her breath, only it wasn't her voice, _it was Natsu's!_

"Why am I so short?" Moon asked, her own voice slightly deeper.

"When was I so tall?" Loke murmured, blinking rapidly. He looked down at his hands, jumping in shock. "When do I have hands?!"

"Uhh..." The Guild murmured, looking lost. "I'm not sure what's going on..?" Wakaba murmured, rubbing the back of his neck.

"What is all of this commotion about?!" Happy snapped, paws on his hips and looking suddenly strict.

"Oh wow Natsu! Check it out!" Erza smiled, a lot more gleefully then she ever had been before, facing away from the table. She blinked, "Oh, where'd he go?" She asked.

"I'm right here!" Frea snapped, still wincing and looking to be feeling a lot more pain than just moments before.

"What?" The Guild echoed.

"Frea?!" Loke gasped, dropping down beside the Energy Dragon Slayer quickly. "Are you ok?!" He asked worriedly, sounding unlike himself.

"I don't know what the hell happened!" Frea snapped, wincing again. "Why do I feel like shit? Anyone?!" She pressed her hands to her head. "And what the hell is all this... Stuff in the air?! It feels weird, its everywhere! GAAAHHHH!"

Erza glanced Frea's way before grinning, "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think I've always had these before," she smiled, holding up her boobs, "Have I? Have I?" The men in the Guild drooled,

"Gah!" Happy gasped, looking mortified before launching into the air to kick at Erza, "Stop that at-" his paw hit the red-head's armor and Happy fell to the floor, tears in his eyes. "Why am I suddenly in this cat-like body?" Happy asked shakily, staring down at his paws. "I've never felt so small and weak before..."

"Geez, can't I just drink in peace?" Cana muttered at another table.

"Ok I'm starting to get really freaked out!" Gray muttered, still shaking uncontrollably. "And why is there an exact look-alike like me in here?!"

"I... I'm a cat..." Moon murmured slowly, "... Like... An actual cat..."

"Who hit me?!" Frea snapped, much more angry know. "I swear I'll beat the shit out of whoever did this to me!" she jumped to her feet, eyes dark and fists clenched. A few people tried to get her to sit down again but were a little reluctant to go near the raging Dragon Slayer. "I swear if it was you who blind-sided me, Popsicle-!" her eyes landed on the still silent and motionless pinkette at the head of the table.

Her jaw dropped, eyes whited out and sweatdropping. "Why is there a clone of me?!"

"Uh... Frea, you ok?" Wakaba asked along with several others.

"Natsu... You're being rather silent.." Macao murmured skeptically, finding it rather unlike the pinkette to be so quiet... Ever.

"What are you talking about Macao?!" Frea whirled to look at the man. "I've been yelling the entire time!" She paused, hand falling toward her mouth and looking confused. "Why do I sound like a girl?"

"You are a girl!" The Guild snapped back.

"The hell I am!" Frea growled, usually that would have told them to back off, but it didn't have the same fire it usually did. It didn't sound like Frea. "Ah shit! Why is all of this stuff hitting my head every second?! What the hell is it?! Owww! And why the hell am I all out of Magic?!"

"What...?"

"Sit. Down. _Natsu_." Natsu hissed lowly, the shadow passing from across his face and eyes burning into Frea with a dark fire. Frea gulped and sat down immediately, the obedience causing everyone else's jaws to drop. This was Natsu ordering _Frea_ around, and she was listening!

The pinkette swept forward and stood before the Energy Dragon Slayer, seemingly much taller and dangerous all of a sudden. This didn't sound nor seem like Natsu, it seemed more like-

"Shut up. Don't say a word, don't move." Natsu hissed into Frea's face, inching closer than he would ever dare. "The reason you hurt all over? The reason you're all out of power? Get it through your head already dumbass!" He hissed

"What did he say?!" The Guild yelled in shock, looking ready for a fight to break out.

"You're in my body. I'm in yours. You do anything stupid, I will kill you. Do not make things worse for me than they already are. I'm not willing to stay away from working any longer than a month!" Natsu went on, oblivious to the rest of the Guild, Frea shrunk back, eyes wide. "That stuff you're feeling? It's Energy all around you, live with it." His voice dropped even lower. "Understood, Flame-Brain?" Natsu hissed. Frea nodded frantically,

"Yes..." She whispered and Natsu backed up, sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Wait, Natsu. You're saying you all switched bodies?!" The Guild asked and Natsu looked to him, not particularly happy.

"I'm not Natsu." He muttered. "I'm Frea."

"Oh, that makes a lot more sense..." The Guild murmured, thinking on the behavior he had been showing against Frea of all people.

"Yes, we switched bodies." Natsu/Frea murmured, by now having everyone else's attention. "Erza and Happy switched. Same with Loke and Moon... Lucy and Gray... And Natsu and I." Everyone's jaws dropped as they let out a resounding;

"WHAT?!"

A vein ticked on Natsu/Frea's forehead. "I did say something might happen when you read it, Natsu." He growled with a look at Frea.

"Well... This is rather... Interesting...?" Chase murmured from where he stood on the second floor of the Guild Hall, leaning against the railing.

"This is stupid." Aisha muttered hotly beside him, leaning against the railing with her back to the rest of the Guild, arms crossed over chest.

"Hmm... Well it could have been avoided." Chase admitted.

"Definitely." Aisha replied and he blinked, glancing her way. "The Old Man here?" She asked and Chase paused, searching the Guild for the Master's Energy Signature. He shook his head when he couldn't find it,

"No, he's not." He murmured and Aisha nodded. Chase looked toward her, eyes narrowed. "You still waiting on him?" He asked suddenly, causing Aisha to open her eyes and look toward the back wall.

"Who?" She asked dryly, though she seemed to know.

"Your contact." Chase murmured. "You haven't gotten anymore news on where they are?" He pressed,

"Have you?" Aisha shot back calmly and Chase sighed.

"No..." He mumbled and Aisha nodded once.

"Nor have I." She answered. "I... don't think they're all working together though... At least not most of them." Chase looked up, interested.

"What do you mean?" He asked slowly and Aisha's eyes narrowed more, she looked much more serious now.

"I think they've split up into two." She answered lowly, "The original team are all together... And then the last one, he's moved on by himself, perhaps meeting up with an old acquaintance for help." She said rather confidently. "He has no affiliation with the rest... I think he just made it out as the rest of them did, it was coincidence."

Chase blinked a few times, it wasn't the first time he had noticed just how clever Aisha seemed to be on things of this nature. It wasn't very surprising, given the skill set she had for this type of work- the collection of hard-to-get information.

She was in all rights, a very capable Information Broker. He had become aware of the fact on their little mission together a bit ago.

What she said however, did make sense. And he didn't doubt that what she said wasn't far from the truth. He nodded a little, eyes closing. "I think you're right." He murmured.

"Do you feel bad?" Aisha asked out of nowhere, his eyes snapped open to look her way.

"What?" He echoed, slightly confused. "Feel bad about what?"

"About Frea." Aisha replied, flicking her head back a little in the general direction she knew the Energy Dragon Slayer was in. Chase blinked, sweatdropping. Aisha sighed a little, eyes falling. "I saw your expression... When she mentioned how much pain she was in." She paused, "... Or rather, Natsu mentioned." She added, taking into account the whole 'body-switching' situation going on below.

Chase fell silent, and Aisha frowned a little. She had seen the sadness and guilt appear on the young Energy Mage's features when it had been brought up below, she could guess why he may feel bad about it too.

Considering Chase was an Energy Mage, he should have been able to feel whatever presence that had taken Frea over back in Nvindorr. He was sensitive to changes in Magic, Energy, and anything of the sort. To take control of something, was typically to wrap Magic around that thing and force it to do whatever the Controller wished. With that in mind, Chase should have been able to sense what had taken hold of Frea... As should Frea herself too, and perhaps even Aisha if she wanted to try.

But he hadn't felt it, and she guessed he didn't like how much his Old Mentor had gotten hurt due to all that happened while being controlled.

"... Why do you ask...?" Chase replied lowly, sounding much unlike his usually happy self. She could easily hear the guilt in his tone,

"You know why." She replied evenly, albeit a bit gently. Which was rather unlike her- "... You feel like its partly your fault she got so hurt, because you couldn't sense whatever it was that controlled her." She opened her eyes to look his way, purple gaze steady and calm. "Right?"

Chase held her gaze for a moment, before the blue orbs lowered and his head hung slightly. He didn't really like how Aisha seemed able to guess how he was feeling. Up until meeting her, it seemed only Frea had been able to do that...

"You're right." He mumbled lowly, "I feel guilty for it... I should have been able to sense what took over Teach, if I had maybe I could have stopped everything from happening..." His eyes landed on the Energy Dragon Slayer below. "... And Teach wouldn't have ended up that hurt, again." He shook his head. "... I can't say I'm not worried..." He trailed off and Aisha looked to the floor.

They sat in silence for a long while, neither of them saying anything, both of them thinking.

Aisha sighed silently, she understood what he was feeling like... She had felt almost the same way herself about Solana... He cared about the Screw-Up, and even though she herself didn't like Frea all that much, she would respect his feelings...

She sort of wished she could tell him everything was going to be ok, but a part of her felt that wouldn't be true. It had become clear... Something even bigger than what happened in Nvindorr was going to happen, and things would not be 'alright'.

"How are we gonna fix this?" Lucy/Gray muttered, looking cross. She looked toward Natsu/Frea as she said this, and the pinkette frowned a little.

"Don't look at me, I haven't a clue." He grumbled, arms crossed over his chest and standing beside Frea/Natsu stiffly, his very presence keeping the Energy Dragon Slayer from attempting to get up, or even say anything.

"There must be some way to reverse this..." Gray/Lucy said in between his chattering teeth.

"Perhaps Master would know?" Happy/Erza suggested.

"Master isn't here right now..." Mira said with a nervous look as she walked up to the group. Natsu/Frea blinked once, and let out a sigh.

"... Levy." He said at length, and several people glanced to him. Natsu/Frea set his gaze upon them steadily, "Levy might know how to translate and reverse this."

"Excellent idea Nat-er... Frea!" Happy/Erza smiled, before whipping around and pointing a paw at the nearest member, Max. "You! Go find Levy this instant, and make haste!" He sped off, sweatdropping.

"Good idea Frea." Master's voice reached their ears and they turned to see the Old Man standing in the doorway. "Levy may be able to fix this mess you've found yourselves in..." He set a piercing stare on Natsu/Frea, having seemed to already be aware of the situation, and seeming angry that Frea was out of bed to even get caught in this mess. "... I had thought that Job Request seemed rather odd, and now you've unleashed the fury of the Changeling Spell upon yourselves."

"Master do you know anything about this Spell?" Happy/Erza asked. The Old Man walked inside a bit more,

"Nope." He answered flatly with a small shrug, everyone's jaws dropped at how casual he seemed about it. The rest of them began to ask even more questions and discuss things among themselves, while several of the afflicted only grew more tense.

Natsu/Frea's head tilted sideways a little, his eyes closing and face going neutral. He had tilted his head in the direction of the doors, seeming to be hearing something the rest hadn't noted.

Frea/Natsu looked up at him for a moment, noticing the small action and indeed hearing the same thing that he was. They were still both Dragon Slayers, and at least Natsu was used to the heightened hearing that both he and Frea shared.

What they could hear was the sound of running down the streets growing closer to the Guild Hall.

Max and Levy appeared in the Hall, panting a little from their running only about five minutes from when Max had been sent to look for her.

"Levy!" Gray/Lucy exclaimed, looking absolutely happy with the appearance of the bluenette. "Its good to see you! I'm so glad you're here!" Levy smiled slightly, looking nervous that Gray was talking to her like that.

"Max explained a little bit about what was going on," Levy said, walking in and toward the table where the flier rest atop. "I promise I'll do all I can to help you guys get back into your own bodies!"

Levy set to work with several people in luring Gray/Lucy and Happy/Erza crowding around to watch the small Script-Mage work as the table began to be filled with all manner of paper and books she had asked for from the Library in the Guild.

Natsu/Frea leaned up against a pillar just beside where Frea/Natsu was sitting, still silent and eyes closed, holding her arms gently and hardly seeming to breath. Natsu/Frea's eyes closed as he crossed his arms over his chest and waited patiently, seeming to have simmered down some now.

Frea/Natsu's eyes slowly drifted up toward the pinkette standing beside her, looking almost... Sympathetic for a moment. His thoughts (Natsu's mind inside of Frea) were lingering on what he was feeling. The minute they had switched bodies, everything hurt, each movement, each breath... He wouldn't have been able to let Frea to be in as much pain as this, and he knew full well how much pain it actually was considering he was in her body.

If she was really hurting this much... It worried him, and made him sad and angry at the same time.

"Oh!" Master exclaimed suddenly, all eyes turned to him. "I just remembered something about the Spell, you only have 30 minutes to reverse the curse, or else you're stuck in the body you're in now forever. Or so the legend says."

"WHAT?!"

"How long have we been switched?!" Lucy/Gray asked of Mira frantically.

"About 16 minutes." Mira said with a nervous smile.

"And," Master continued from where he sat on the bar counter. "This Spell not only switches your bodies, it also switches your magic." His comment went more or less unnoticed as everyone began to be caught up in their own worries and frantic cries, Natsu/Frea shook his head at the noise and pinched the bridge of his nose,

"This is great..." He muttered under his breath.

"Frea.." Frea/Natsu murmured lowly, her voice lost to the noise around them but Natsu/Frea heard her. The pinkette looked down at the Energy Dragon Slayer, blinking a few times upon seeing the sad and serious look on his face.

"Yes?" He asked.

".... You didn't say you were hurting this much.." She mumbled and Natsu/Frea blinked once. "... I didn't realize you were in this much pain..... Why didn't you say anything...?"

"I'm not really." Natsu/Frea murmured, "The fact is, Natsu, you have a lower pain tolerance than I do." He tapped a finger to his head. "It's a mental thing, and since your mind is in my body, you can't handle the pain like my mind can." Frea/Natsu's eyes narrowed at the words,

"But.... Still, you _are_ hurt this much;" She mumbled, "You should have said something... and you should be in bed like Granny and the Old Man want."

"Oh don't give me that!" The pinkette snapped a little. "That's hypocritical, especially coming from you, Flame-Brain." Frea/Natsu shrunk back and sweatdropped.

"So what are we gonna do if we can't get our bodies back?" Lucy/Gray muttered, the group of those who had switched bodies circling around the table both Natsu and Frea were at.

"What do you mean?" Loke/Moon asked.

"I mean, are we just gonna try to adjust to our new bodies, and go back to our jobs?" Lucy/Gray continued.

"I suppose we'll sort of have to..."

"Wait a minute." Gray/Lucy murmured, looking up and around at all of them. "Didn't Master say we switched our Magic as well as our bodies?" He blinked a few times, "Then we wouldn't know how to use our Magic anymore," Everyone's eyes grew wide at the realization. "If that's the case, we wouldn't ever be able to finish a job!"

"We wont be able to use our Magic.." Lucy/Gray murmured,

"Then that means..." Gray, Lucy, Happy, Natsu and Erza all murmured, "We'd be the weakest Team in Fairy Tail!"

"No Way!" Lucy/Gray shouted, several people jumping to their feet.

"Ice Make.. something!" Gray/Lucy stammered, ice cubes falling from his mouth relentlessly.

"What the hell are we supposed to do as cats?!" Moon/Loke and Happy/Erza shouted.

"Woah, wait... gah, Stupid keys!" Lucy/Gray growled, picking at her keys with a scowl.

Frea/Natsu looked to her hands for a moment, frowning at the feeling of all her Magic gone, "Shit..." She muttered. Loke/Moon just stood still and examined the rings on his fingers slowly, looking skeptical.

Natsu/Frea blinked at the panic sweeping through everyone, before turning his gaze on his own hands and narrowing his onyx eyes. "Hmm....." he mumbled lowly and to himself, "Both Dragon Slayers..... different Elements... I wonder....." He held out a hand before him as brilliant flame burst into his palm, flickering steadily as he looked to it curiously, before beginning to toss it back and forth between both hands, leaning up against the pillar with his back still.

His hands swiped out before him to muster the flame into a line shaped like an arc in the air, before he let it recede back to a simple batch of flame. His cheeks puffed up as he let out a small spray of fire, and sighed, blinking a few times. "Hmm..."

"How in the hell...?" Frea/Natsu murmured with wide eyes beside him. "Why are you so.. good at that....?"

"We're both Dragon Slayers, Natsu." The pinkette replied. "..... Your Magic is..... different than mine.... But, I don't know..... I just sort of understand it... almost...perfectly......" His voice lowered and trailed away.

"Regulus..." Loke/Moon murmured, "Alright, I'll keep that in mind..."

"What?" Moon/Loke asked of the Celestial Spirit, Loke/Moon smiled back.

"Your Magic, I'm gonna keep it in mind." He replied, "It may be useful in the future." Moon/Loke blinked in confusion at the words, while Natsu/Frea and Happy/Erza exchanged looks with eachother.

"How are you doing Levy?" Gray/Lucy asked, coming up behind the bluenette.

"6 minutes left." Macao murmured.

"I'm sorry... I'm stumped." Levy said sympathetically.

"We cant be stuck like this forever!"

"I can't believe that I'll be stuck in this form!"

"4 minutes!"

"No! No! This is not good!"

"2 minutes-" Macao was kicked away to crash into some tables by a furious looking Lucy/Gray,

"I don't remember asking you to count!" The blonde snapped.

"Come on Levy, I know you can do it!" Gray/Lucy encouraged, "You'll just have to work a little faster, ok?" Levy nodded in determination.

"Right!"

"The situation is dire, we only have 40 seconds to go, starting- now!"

"Oh! And another thing," Master interjected the hysteria, "You can only turn back one pair at a time, that means there wont be enough time to change back all of you."

"What?"

"So whose getting changed back first?" Lucy/Gray muttered.

"I say it should be Frea and me!" Frea/Natsu spoke up,

"No, as an S-Class wizard, I should be the one changed back first!" Happy/Erza snapped.

"I don't care either way." Erza/Happy smiled.

"But that's not fair! I think Gray and I should be changed back first!" Gray/Lucy put in frantically.

"I can't be stuck as a cat for the rest of my life!" Moon/Loke yelled.

"What's worse; having Happy in Erza's body? Or having Natsu in Frea's?" The Guild murmured, all heads bowed as they thought it over.

"Hard choice..." They murmured in unison.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" Frea/Natsu and Erza/Happy snapped.

Natsu/Frea let out a low sigh, sweatdroppng at the noise and closing his eyes. "Oi..."

"Ten seconds!"

"I've got it!" Levy exclaimed.

"Really?!"

"I'll try to explain as fast as I can-" Levy said,

"9, 8!"

"No time Levy!" Gray/Lucy said and Levy nodded,

"Right!" She said, casting her arms out before her as the Guild grew darker and the words on the Job Request began to glow, "Aruboroya tesura rugi gou! Aruboroya tesura rugi gou! Aruboroya tesura rugi gou!" The Guild was wrapped in the golden light dancing off the letters as they rose up into the air and spiraled-

The light faded and everyone came to a stand still, "Hey!" Lucy exclaimed in delight. "I'm back to normal!"

"Me too!" Gray smiled,

"Levy, you're the best!" Lucy exclaimed, leaping to hug the bluenette. "But you gotta tell us, how'd you do it?"

"Well.. since I figured out the words didn't really mean anything, I decided to say them backwards." She smiled, "Its an old trick, ancient languages like this didn't have a lot of letters, so they had to get create with the arrangement of their words."

"Woah, I never would have thought of that!" Lucy smiled, "Way to go!"

"..."

"We're still not in our bodies!" Everyone else yelled,

"HUH?!"

"Now now, calm down. I'm sure there's another way." All eyes turned to the bar to see Mirajane sitting on it cross-legged and eyes closed.

"Something's wrong..." Master murmured, voice higher than usual. "Guys? Did I get shorter?"

"Don't tell me, Master and Mira switched too?!"

"Who else...?" Happy/Erza muttered.

"You all just need to man up already!" Cana snapped, voice lower.

"Cant I ever drink in peace?" Elfman muttered from a table, holding a barrel in his lap.

"Hey Droy," Droy murmured, glancing to Jet and jaw dropping.

"Yes, Jet?" His jaw dropped too.

"Huh?!"

"I don't think anyone can tell the difference with you two," Mira/Master waved a hand at them, "Me on the other hand, you won't hear me complaining!" Mira/Master lay out on the bar counter, "Having a body like this is a dream come true!"

"Ah!" Master/Mira yelled, looking frantic. "He's creeping me out! Levy, help me!"

"Shit....." Chase muttered under his breath, face pulled into a scowl and looking to Aisha with the darkest glare imaginable. Aisha looked back in shock, completely dumbfounded.

"We switched bodies too?!" Both the Energy Mage and the MoonLight Mage said in unison.

Levy stared at the chaos, seeming to shrink. "I might be a little bit out of my depth here...."

"No! What's the point of living if I can't burn stuff anymore?!" Frea/Natsu shouted.

"Damn it..." Natsu/Frea muttered lowly, "Maybe I should have stayed in bed today..... at least I wouldn't be caught up I this madness...." The pinkette let out another sigh and pushed away from the wall.

"ENOUGH!"

The hall fell silent at the shout and all eyes turned on Natsu/Frea immediately. "Here's the Plan!" He snapped, "Erza, Happy." Both snapped to attention. "You two stay here with Levy," His eyes turned to Levy. "Say the Spell in reverse again, that should put them back to normal." Levy nodded, "The rest of us are going to leave the Hall so we don't get caught in the Spell again, and from there, the next pair will come in while the previous leaves. Got it?" Voice full of surety, the rest of the Guild were unaware of it, but Natsu/Frea had actually been trying to piece together the situation the entire time.

"But, what about the 30 minutes?" Lucy asked. Natsu/Frea smirked a little, a look of knowing on his face.

"Like Master said; 'So the _Legend_ states'."


	29. No Jobs For Me

**Chapter 29**

**No Jobs For Me**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

_Frea sat patiently on the bed, hands in her lap and eyes watching the Old Lady before her carefully. She remembered the last time she had been in a room with Porlyusica and they had been this silent, that was when she was told she was going to die some time ago._

_"I see you've at least attempted to keep yourself out of trouble and rest this time." Porlyusica muttered dryly and Frea sweatdropped. "What a surprise." The Old Lasy turned away and began to pack up the things she had brought. "Your injuries are healing rather well... Your strength is returning along with your Magic..." Frea blinked once, she was waiting for those words, the words she had waited all month to hear._

_Yes, after the Changeling incident she had been confined to the infirmary for a week by Master, and since then she had done everything in her power to stay out of trouble and rest as she had been ordered to._

_It would be hard to say you couldn't tell she was growing stir crazy. She couldn't sit still for long, she hated it, and she was finding it very hard to continue to wait. All she wanted to do was get moving again,_

_She had made up her mind what her next move would be, she wanted to find out as much as she could on Salengoreath. And she knew she needed to speak with Jynx... Though the idea of doing so put her on edge. The ghost girl had seldom appeared after everything that had transpired back in Nvindorr..._

_But most of all, she knew she needed to work on her Magic. She needed to train, and she was itching to put in place a few ideas she had been brewing for new techniques._

_That's why this was so important, she wasn't planning to go on an actual job, she just wanted the Ok to start using Magic again, hell; she wasn't even going to leave Magnolia while she trained this time around._

_She felt much better than she had, and while she didn't like having to heal on her own... She would admit, however good it felt to have Wendy heal her, there was a certain different 'good' she felt by healing on her own and slowly. Because this way, she had regained her Magic Power on her own terms, and hadn't relied on anyone but herself. However, her arms and legs were still slightly torn, but those wounds were fading and didn't cause her any pain unless you were to hit her, she supposed._

_She needed Porlyusica to tell her she was allowed to work again, and she waited with baited breath for the verdict._

_"... You remember what we spoke of?" Porlyusica asked lowly, and Frea blinked._

_"Uh...?"_

_Porlyusica let out a long sigh and turned to face her, "Do as you will," she waved a hand, looking cross. "You can use Magic again, but refrain from any jobs, and don't overdo it, understood?" She said seriously, "No use putting more strain on your body..."_

_Frea sat still a minute, she felt there was some deeper meaning away from what the Old Lady had said... Like she had said something without actually saying it. In fact, Frea thought she could see that one thing in the woman's red eyes... And she slowly nodded,_

_"I understand."_

* * *

 

"Are... You sure about this...?" Moon asked slowly and at length, sweatdropping as she glanced down at the Dragon Slayer she was holding in her grasp.

Frea's eyes opened, the memory from two days ago fading, the sun shone down on them, and the sound of the waves hitting the bottom of the cliff below them reached her ears. The smell of the sea-salt hit her nose, she looked up to her Partner, smiling slightly.

"What's the matter?" She asked, "Scared you won't catch me?"

"Uh... No." Moon mumbled. "Its just... You were only cleared to start using Magic again, two days ago." She reminded. "This seems... Like you're pushing your luck." She admitted, "I'm not sure your body can handle this..."

Frea sighed, "Just relax," she mumbled. "I think I would know if my body could handle this or not, besides;" Moon fixed her with a disbelieving stare but Frea only smirked at her. "I'm going to be sitting for most of this."

"Sitting and straining yourself." Moon muttered flatly. "You've never done this before, I know it wasn't easy to do this exact same 'concept' back when you fought against the Zeref-Demon." Frea nodded slightly,

"True," she relented. "But I need to learn to do this, I think it'll come in handy some time in the future."

Slowly, but surely Moon let herself give in and she closed her eyes. "Fine..." She growled, "Make the damn... Box or whatever it is then..."

Frea nodded and looked down, holding her arms out and letting her Magic flow freely. It felt odd to use Magic after a month of not using it at all, but in all honesty it was a welcome change and she smiled a little. The shimmer of silver appeared in the air below them slowly, fading in and out and flickering, Frea sweatdropped a little. She closed her eyes, concentrating with all her power to stabilize her Magic and hold it where it was, in the air.

Without the support of a pillar to make the box, it was hard. But she had moved past that when she fought with the Demon for her 'surprise' S-Class Exam. As hard as it had been then, it was still just as hard now, and even harder because she didn't have the support of the ground to keep that 'Box' where it was. She would have to keep it in the air all on her own, and already that was proving hard.

But what would happen when Moon set her down on the box?

She slowly opened her eyes again to see the box, whole, silver and slightly see-through. She closed her fists and sighed once, her Magic hardening in the form she had set it in. Her mind turned to keeping it floating in the air,

"... Set me down." She ordered softly after a moment, finding it a bit of a challenge to say anything while trying to concentrate on keeping the box in the air. Moon seemed to hear how hard it was for Frea to for the words, and did as she was asked without question.

Moon let go very slowly, hovering close by and sweatdropping, eyes darting back and forth as she made sure that Frea was stable and so was her box.

Frea stood for a moment, feeling the added pressure as soon as she was set down. It was already hard to keep the box where it was, but adding her weight with it wasn't making it any easier...

She slowly eased herself down to sit cross legged on top, eyes still closed and hands clasped before her. Every ounce of her attention turned to keeping the box and herself where it was, slowly working up to making it stable... The aim being that if she did, it wouldn't take so much effort to keep the box where it was.

Everything around her faded into silence, and all she could hear was the increased beating of her own heart, and her own breathing.

Moon hovered in front of Frea, paws crossed over her chest and eyes locked into both the Energy Dragon Slayer and her box. She saw the silver of her Magic flicker a few times, meaning it was still unstable and she tensed. She would hate for this box to fail, and then Frea would be falling down toward the water and the rocks at the bottom of the cliff... But that's why she was here, so she could catch Frea should she need to.

She narrowed her eyes, already seeing and sensing how hard a task this was for her Partner. It wasn't something Frea was used to and she was still worried about the stress on Frea it would cause... She blinked though, she had expected Frea to immediately go out on a job. Considering she hadn't worked in a month... A job should have been the first thing on Frea's mind.

She gazed at her Partner steadily, she had thought on this over the last few days. It intrigued her, to see that Frea was actually staying in Magnolia... To Moon it seemed as if Frea wasn't just willing to... It was more as if she was committed to, for whatever strange reason.

She had to wonder why and perhaps what that reason for staying would be? Surely it wasn't the lecturing she had received from Porlyusica on the matter... That had never seemed to have any effect on Frea before, and she couldn't even think it was something Master had said either.

Once they had passed into silence for a few minutes, and Frea had managed to keep the box up without failing yet, she decided she would voice her question.

"Frea, why did you choose to not take a job?" Moon asked evenly and she could tell Frea stiffened at the question, through for awhile she did nothing else.

"... Why...?" The Energy Dragon Slayer asked slowly, without opening her eyes. She hadn't been expecting that sort of question... But it made her tense to realize Moon had figured something was going on. Because her Exceed Partner was right in her wonderings. Frea had wanted nothing more than to take a job right away, training hadn't been the first thing on her mind.

But it was what Porlyusica had said on that first day she had come back from Nvindorr, and even just two days ago now that had swayed her from what she would have necessarily would have wanted to do.

_"Don't do that to him."_

Don't get so hurt anymore, stay out of trouble, stay safe, be careful... Give Master some peace of mind for once...

She winced inwardly at the thoughts, because she knew she must put an awful lot of strain and sadness on the Old Man. She knew he cared for her, he cared for everyone in the Guild... And she cared for him as well. Because where would she be if she had never met Master in the rain that very first day? If he hadn't fought to protect her from the Council, and even fought to save her during conflict?

Where would she be without his support? Wisdom? Guidance? Trust?

Porlyusica had been right, she knew that and she was sticking with it. She wasn't willing to let herself become hurt as she had been for Nvindorr, The Balance Shift, Dragon Fight, or anything of the sort. She knew it worried him, it hurt him... And she hated to do that to him.

That's why she didn't take a job. That's why she had settled on staying near the Guild and only training for now. She would give him a period of leave of mind, let him think on other things and not have to worry over her... He wouldn't need to ask her to do so, she would do it willingly. Because she respected him, owed him... Loved him, he was a father she never had, a mentor, a guider.

"Peace for Master." She answered, "I'm not going to make him worry about me any-"

Her eyes snapped open, because she felt her concentration slip, and all at once her Magic failed, the box breaking away out from under her as she began to fall toward the water.

"Shit!"

* * *

 

"This," Frea hissed through gritted teeth. The box under her feet shattered and she swiped her hands out below her, another appearing in seconds. Her feet hit the surface and almost in an instant, it shattered to, not stabilized-

"Is," she gritted her teeth, making another before she could fall to far,

The next one shattered too.

"Fucking...!" She snapped, the next one shattered, and she was getting closer to the water and rocks of the oven, eyes narrowed and drenched, sweat dripping down her face and body tense, painting slightly.

The next box held up but a moment longer than the other, before it too fell apart and she was sent toward the water, no room to make another.

"ANNOYING!" She yelled furiously, being plunged under the water and breaking the surface a moment later.

"GOD FUCKING DAMN IT ALL!" She yelled, swimming toward a flat boulder sticking up out of the water near the base of the cliff. "WHY IS THIS SO DAMN HARD?!"

She smashed a fist into the rock as she came up on it, making it crack under the force before she lay back on the rock, arms crossed over and resting against her forehead, panting even more and completely soaked now.

One would think after two hours of doing this it would become easier after awhile, but no... Frea clenched her jaw, fangs grinding down on eachother. She couldn't remember the last time she had become so frustrated while training like this... It would seem her time being out of commission left her a bit short-tempered.

"Take a break Frea..." Moon said wearily as she slowly lighted down on the rock too, sitting on the surface and letting out a long sigh, sweatdropping. "... You are wearing out... And honestly so am I..." Moon mumbled.

Frea let out a low "Tch..." But said nothing more, she knew it was true. She was wearing out faster than she normally would, but she had expected that... But didn't necessarily like it either. She knew Moon was getting tired though, at first her Partner had been catching her before she hit the water without issue, but after awhile, she had opted for only trying to catch Frea if she was headed to hit a rock at the bottom, otherwise Moon would let her have a quick swim.

"Are you alright..?"

Frea snapped up into a sitting position at the voice, surprised by it because she immediately knew it wasn't Moon. Her eyes shifted to the side, blinking in surprise to see Juvia of all people standing there, just out of the water. The Water Mage looked a little nervous and Frea blinked a few times,

"Juvia... Since when were you here..?" She asked slowly, Juvia blinked and blushed a little, falling her fingers together in front of her as flustered emotions began to dance off of the bluenette continually.

"Juvia... Saw you training while she was in the Guild Hall... And Juvia wondered what you were doing so she started to watch..." Juvia mumbled, glancing away. "Juvia began to watch from the water once she saw you fall in the first time..." She explained with a small gesture at said water.

Frea quirked an eyebrow along with Moon, very surprised at the flustered reaction from Juvia.

Frea of course didn't mind if Juvia was watching or not, she was more concerned with why she hadn't noticed the Water Mage's presence before now... She must have been too occupied focusing on her training to realize she was there.

Moon blinked once, before shaking her head and laying out on the rock, trying to catch her breath, very worn out from flying back and forth so much- that and the stress of worrying about her Partner...

Frea smiled at the flustered bluenette and chuckled, "Well ok, you can watch if ya want, it won't bother me." She said with a wave of her hand, before setting her arms behind her and leaned back, letting her eyes fall closed and head tilt back. Juvia looked her way, a little surprised. "I'm fine, in an answer to your question. Don't worry about me."

"Juvia wonders... If she may... What are you trying to do..?" Juvia asked slowly, Frea cracked an eye open to look her way, letting out a low 'Hmm?'.

"Nothing seriously important." Frea replied honestly, before patting the stone with a smile that flashed her fangs at the bluenette. "Go ahead and take a seat, relax... You don't have to act so nervous around me, I won't bite." She chuckled and Juvia smiled slightly, slowly sitting down. "I'm trying to make a sort of platform that will support my weight in mid-air... The box- which I have to make without the use of a base or sort of staring foundation." Frea went on. "I usually use a base to make any sort of box, and its very hard to do so without one, especially if I'm trying to keep the actual box strong and stable enough to hold me, and for me to even keep it in the air." Juvia blinked,

"Juvia wonders though, why would you need to practice such a thing?"

"Well... Its not that I actually _need_ to practice it." Frea smiled nervously, "Its just something I wanna try. I think it'll be useful sometime... And besides, its always a good idea to learn new things when I can." Juvia nodded slowly.

"Juvia noticed you haven't had any luck with it so far." She commented with a small smile, motioning to the Energy Dragon Slayer and mind flashing to her repeated curses, and yells of rage and frustration she had witnessed. Frea sighed, sweatdropping.

"No... Not really..." She mumbled, looking a little frustrated and downcast at the same time.

"You don't need to perfect it in a day, Frea.." Moon murmured lowly, causing both Juvia and Frea to look her way for a moment.

"No... But it still gets on my nerves." Frea replied and Moon only sighed.

"Whatever..."

Frea smiled slightly and Juvia chuckled quietly, Frea glanced her way. "Not feeling up to taking a job today, Juvia?" Frea asked and Juvia blinked, her laughter dying.

"Juvia..." She placed her hands in her lap and sighed, suddenly looking very downcast. "Juvia cannot work while her beloved Gray might be in danger." Frea blinked, quirking an eyebrow.

"So... He took a job?" She asked and Juvia nodded, Frea gave the bluenette a smile. She knew how Juvia felt about Gray, most everyone did, but she had a good idea on how Gray felt, and she found it both sweet and amusing when Juvia worried over the Ice Mage this much. "I wouldn't worry about him Juvia." Frea murmured, causing Juvia to look up at her. "I understand how you feel about him, and I think its admirable... Just remember that Gray knows how to take care of himself, I'm sure he's perfectly fine." She smirked, flashing her fangs a little. "He's a tough one."

Juvia looked to Frea for a long moment, she and the Energy Dragon Slayer had never talked much before... And she was a little surprised at her now. She spoke with such confidence, Juvia felt a little happier for it, and smiled, nodding in agreement.

She rather liked Frea, though she may not seem like it. The two of them didn't share words as often as they could, never really engaged in conversation, and yet they weren't on bad terms with one another. It was more like they held a set respect and fondness for one another that needn't be expressed in words.

Juvia was thankful that Frea seemed to be so understanding about her feelings for Gray though. Most of the Guild didn't mind, but in a few occasions she had been snapped at for being too 'clingy' or annoying about it. This didn't really bother her to be honest, but it made her happy to think in the fact that Frea had never once snapped at her in any way on the subject- and actually, Frea had never snapped at her at all for anything.

To Juvia, it would seem as if Frea was only... Amused and happy with her feelings for the Ice Wizard, and although she didn't ever truly say it, Juvia had a feeling that Frea supported her love for Gray, albeit if silently.

Suddenly Frea blinked a few times, looking surprised and Juvia tilted her head.

"Juvia, have we ever gone on a job together...?" Frea asked slowly, and Juvia blinked, before smiling sheepishly and shaking her head. Her thoughts immediately snapped to a time when Frea had asked Gajeel to go on a mission with her, as the Energy Dragon Slayer said something about;

_"I make it a point to go on at least one mission with everyone in Fairy Tail. That way I get to know everyone better."_

For this 'point' as Frea had put it, it would seem the Energy Dragon Slayer had forgotten that there was a certain Water Mage in the Guild she had never partaken a job with. Juvia figured realizing such a thing would make Frea a little angry with herself for forgetting the very thing that seemed to he a sort of 'sacred tradition' for the Energy Dragon Slayer.

"Well shit!" Frea said suddenly, "Damn it... Sorry Juvia, its not that I didn't want to take a job with you... I just sort of... Forgot..." Frea mumbled, looking flustered and nervous. Juvia shook her head with a small smile,

"It's alright." She answered sweetly, she didn't mind that Frea had forgotten, the Energy Dragon Slayer and the Guild for that matter seemed to always have something going on, Frea was always seemingly busy, and even Juvia herself had other things to attend to as well.

"... Even so..." Frea mumbled, "Next time I have time, Juvia." Juvia blinked once she saw the determined look appear on the Energy Dragon Slayer's face. "Would you like to come on a job with Moon and I?" Out of the corner of her eye, Juvia say Moon's ear twitch as Frea said her name.

Juvia smiled at Frea, who smiled back with a toothy grin, "Juvia would love to."


	30. Home Again and Trouble Too

**Chapter 30**

**Home Again and Trouble Too**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

"Water Slicer!"

"Energy Dragon Wave Attack!"

Frea and Juvia's arms swept out before them, their Magic swarming out toward the surrounding enemies at an unreal rate. They remained pressed up, back to back and both of them smiling.

Their enemies fell back with a cry, some knocked away from Juvia's water, and some blown backward as Frea snapped her fingers, making some of her waves explode while others only impacted.

"Still good, Juvia?" Frea said with a small glance at the bluenette. Juvia glanced her way and nodded with a smile,

"Are you?" The bluenette countered and Frea smirked, looking away.

"Never better." She replied and stepped away, Magic spiraling out over the ground toward the new line of enemies coming toward them. Several of the bandits stopped upon seeing her Magic, while others ignored it. That same line of Magic suddenly split apart to create a circle around the two Fairy Tail Mages.

"Energy Trap." Frea said levelly, the air shook with the boom of explosive silver Energy Magic, dust rose up and their sight of their enemies was lost. Frea and Juvia's eyes scanned the surrounding brown warily, they could hear the grunts of enemies who were still not out, and Frea's eyes flashed entirely silver for a split second as she murmured, "Energy Sense," under her breath.

"There's ten over there," the Energy Dragon Slayer informed as she looked to Juvia while tilting her head in a direction, Juvia nodded. "You take care of those, I'll take the next ten over here." Her head flicked in the opposite direction she had first gestured in. Frea paused and blinked, "Moon? Still there?" She asked, realizing she hadn't heard the Exceed say anything since the fighting started. Glancing up to see a blob of grey above them, partially hidden by the dust, Frea spotted Moon as she glanced down at them with a bored expression, paws crossed over her chest.

"Yes?" Moon muttered, Frea blinked.

"Why so irritated?" The Energy Dragon Slayer questioned, seemingly moving away from the situation at hand for a moment.

"I'm not irritated." Moon replied and Frea tilted her head.

"Well that's exactly what the emotions coming off of you feel like to me." She muttered and Moon sighed. She really hated that whole 'emotion-sensing' thing of Energy Mages sometimes.

"I'm not irritated," she said again, "I'm... Bored." Frea gave her a disbelieving look. "What?" Moon hissed and Frea shrugged.

"You could join in, you know, since you're _bored_ and all." Frea suggested, eyes falling from her Exceed partner to the surrounding dust as it began to clear away. Moon stared down at the Energy Dragon Slayer steadily, not sure what to reply.

She could fight if she wanted to, but she wasn't feeling up to it now. It wasn't really boredom that she felt now, Frea was right about that, because in fact Moon was a little irritated. She was irritated with her Partner, and not for the fist time recently. She had pulled away from being overly worried about Frea, and she still was worried- just more irritated that the Energy Dragon Slayer was doing... Well- this.

Fighting, taking a job, not resting... Ugh, Frea wasn't getting hurt now, neither the Energy Dragon Slayer nor Juvia had taken a single hit. And still it was the thought, that Frea wasn't actually resting any more.

Moon would admit she had waited awhile, seeing as now it was two weeks since Frea's little 'training' at the cliff behind the Guild. She hadn't gone on any jobs, only continued to work at the same new technique over and over again. This was the first job she had taken, and as she had promised, she had gone on the job with Juvia.

Moon figured she may be worrying a little too much, perhaps she may be being a little over protective. Frea was at full power again, 100% back to normal. Her wounds were healed, everything... She was fine.

 _She's still a Wizard, she still needs to work... And she's still a hot-head..._ Moon thought with a small sigh. If anything, she was hoping after all the times Frea had been getting hurt, that the blonde may actually try to stay away from getting wounded again.

Maybe

Moon shook her head, smiling slightly beside herself. She really _was_ worrying too much... She sighed,

"Energy Dragon Roar!"

Moon glanced down to see the tornado of spinning silver arc out over the landscape, swallowing the bandits in front of Frea entirely. Moon sweatdropped,

"That... Was a little over-kill, Frea." She mumbled, seeing the deep trench carved into the surrounding plain. Frea paused, clearly hearing what she had said, and glanced up with a sheepish smile, looking a little flustered.

"Ah... Haha... Maybe a little." She chuckled and Moon chuckled a little too.

"Water Nebula!"

They turned to see the last of the bandits be swallowed and thrown by Juvia's own attack, before the bluenette came to a halt, then turned to them.

"Great finish." Frea smiled, "That was easy! You did a great job Juvia, thank you for coming on the job, the last few days have been fun." The Energy Dragon Slayer smirked, her fangs flashing as she said the words. Juvia blinked, face going a little red and blushing at the compliment. Moon smiled at the sight, amused by the bluenette's flustered reaction.

"Oh... Ah... Juvia really didn't... Do much..." She stammered, tapping her fingers together.

"Oh, you can stop being so modest." Frea chuckled,

"Juvia should be thanking you," Juvia mumbled. "Its an honor to go on a job with an S-Class Wizard of the Guild..." This time it was Frea's turn to blush a little,

"... I only just got that title... And it doesn't mean so much, I'm still the same Wizard I used to be.." Frea mumbled, rubbing the back of her neck in embarrassment. "Its really not so important, I'd be happy to go on a mission with you regardless of me being S-Class or not..." Juvia blinked at the embarrassed look Frea had, and smiled at it at the same instance that Moon did.

To both Moon and Juvia, they had noticed how embarrassed Frea could get, and they found it both sweet and amusing.

"You ready to collect the reward, then head back to the Guild?" Frea asked, and both Juvia and Moon nodded.

* * *

 

"We should do this again, Juvia." Fees murmured with closed eyes and a small smile as she followed along beside the bluenette, Moon sitting on her shoulder comfortably. "It was really a lot of fun." She smiled.

This was the fifth day the three had been on this mission, to travel around between six different villages in the countryside; and destroy the bandits that had been setting base up in every one of those towns. Most days had been like this one, to find a band of those bandits and take them out- then move to the next band. They had reached the sixth village last night, and the band they had taken out this morning had been the last one left to defeat.

The reward for the job was rather large, especially considering the fact that all of the bandits had proved easy to beat- it was only high in pay because of how far the job stretched. But at any rate, it was a large payoff even when you split the reward between them.

"Juvia agrees," Juvia answered with her own soft smile. "And Juvia... Would love to go on another job with you some time." Frea nodded, considering how long the job had gone in, she had a large amount of time to talk with Juvia and learn much more about her- but not much despite what she had already known about the Water Mage from watching her around the Guild and other missions and fights.

Juvia was a soft spoken person, rather than a loud one. She was very kind and gentle, which may have seemed odd seven plus years ago when she was a member of Phantom Lord oh so long ago. She was also a very skilled Mage, despite outward appearance- she wasn't given a position among Phantom Lord's highest ranking Mages for nothing. Because although she didn't show her entire power to everyone nor very often, she definitely had skill.

Frea smiled slightly, eyes falling closed. She had also come to the conclusion that Juvia was one of the most compassionate people she had ever met. It was very hard to see unless you were really paying attention, but there were many signs of such a thing in Juvia. The first, to name one; was her love for Gray. Although it may seem rather pushy and annoying to most, as if she was truly 'obsessed'- it was rather something different. Juvia truly cared for the Ice Mage, she just showed her affection in a more... Aggressive style than most.

But Juvia also cared for others besides Gray, the bluenette cared for the Guild very much. And even then, people like Lucy, Erza, Cana, and Gajeel- yes, Gajeel. Juvia cared for people like this almost just as much as she cared for Gray, and it was quite apparent to Frea, that Juvia would lay down her life for those she cared for.

Frea opened her eyes and blinked once. While she had learned some things about Juvia... She had to wonder if Juvia learned anything about Frea herself? She realized she had never really considered if anyone learned anything about her while she went on missions with them, and it sort of intrigued her to try and guess if they had.

The sun rose up over the horizon continually as morning continued to drag by, now nearing noon as they passed through the streets. Frea eyes shifted up, head tilted as she breathed in a deep breath.

"... A lot of the Guild is gone today." She murmured almost to herself, but caught the attention of Juvia and Moon anyway. "... Even Master doesn't seem to be here." She said.

Juvia suddenly stopped, causing both Frea and Moon to do the same. Juvia looked to Frea, "If you say a lot of the Guild is gone, does that mean that my Dear Gray is gone as well?" Juvia questioned, and Frea blinked.

"... Yes, Gray isn't here. Why-?" She answered but didn't get a chance to voice her question.

"Then he has left without poor Juvia! Oh my Darling Gray, what if you are out there hurt? Or worse? Hold on my Sweet, Juvia is coming for you!" Frea smiled a little and sweatdropped along with Moon, and suddenly the bluenette charged away and was out of sight momentarily.

"Did you even have to ask?" Moon said and Frea sighed, smiling.

"Probably not," she relented. "You wanna go back to Fairy Hills before hitting the Guild?" Moon paused a moment before nodding.

"Sure, that'll be good." She decided, "It'll be great to finally be back home after the last five days." She grinned and Frea chuckled, as she began to head toward Fairy Hills.

"I'm glad to see you in a better mood now than this morning." The Energy Dragon Slayer murmured, causing Moon to blink at her. "You didn't seem to be having very much fun during the entire job." Frea pointed out and Moon looked away.

"... Sorry about that." The Exceed murmured.

"Any reason in particular you were so tense?" Frea asked and Moon sighed.

"I... May have been worrying about you... A lot." She said after a moment and Frea stiffened slightly, glancing to the Exceed siting on her shoulder in surprise. "I was afraid you were going to over-do it... Or even jump in without thinking and get yourself injured again..." Moon's ears fell against her head as her eyes closed. "... I don't want that happening to you, especially not after everything that's happened lately is all."

"You don't need to worry so much, Moon.." Frea said quietly, smiling just the slightest bit. "I don't plan to let myself get hurt like that for a long time yet, I really hate waiting to heal." The Energy Dragon Slayer's smile grew a little bit more, "Besides, Gran and Master would probably kill me themselves if I showed up in the Guild again, wounded to no end." Frea let out a small chuckle and Moon smiled in return- she could hear the honesty in her Partner's voice, and it put her mind at ease a bit more.

"That is most likely true," Moon chuckled herself. "So, you plan to look for another job when we hit the Guild again?"

"Probably," Frea answered with a shrug. "Maybe something harder than the last one..." She trailed off and smirked at Moon as she began to climb the hill up to their home. "Maybe something where you can show me that 'Copy-Cat' Magic of yours finally..?" Frea's eyes glinted with the slightest hints of mischeif and Moon huffed, crossing her paws over her chest and looking away.

"Why are you so interested?" She muttered,

"Why are _you_ so hesitant to show me?" Frea countered and Moon stiffened. Frea watched her Partner carefully, she had wondered about it since Moon had said she knew the Magic on the train back to Magnolia after her 'Surprise S-Class Exam'. She was quite shocked she had never known the Exceed could use such a Magic, and even more shocked that Moon hadn't told her.

But she didn't understand why Moon didn't want to use it... Why know a Magic and not use it?

Frea frowned a little, remembering that Moon had also explained that Kyo was the one to teach it to her Partner. She knew it was painful for Moon to think about her old friend... And thinking on it now, that may be a reason Moon didn't use her Copy-Cat Magic so often. It must bring up some awful memories, and now she felt a little bad for teasing.

"Moon, I-" Frea began but was cut off.

"Don't worry about it." Moon murmured, eyes falling closed. "I know you don't mean any harm, and quite frankly... Its a little-ah... Refreshing, when someone isn't trying to tread lightly about that sort of subject all the time." Frea blinked, "I figure we've been with eachother long enough that you shouldn't have to worry about wether its 'ok' to ask me questions about my past- so feel free." Moon smiled slightly. "On the note as to why I don't use Copy-Cat Magic regularly;"

 _Or rather, not at all_. Frea added in silently, but smiled a little at the fact that Moon felt comfortable enough with her to share her past more freely.

"Its never been an easy sort of Magic to use, per say." Moon went on, seeming not to notice the small smile Frea had. "Memory Magic grew on me a lot easier and faster than Copy-Cat Magic ever did- and Aera for that matter." Moon shrugged a little, "I was a master with a Memory Magic long before I could use Aera even for the shortest of times."

"That's because Memory Magic mixes with your Energy Signature rather well." Frea cut in and Moon blinked, "I've always had a sense for Magic mixing with someone's own Natural Energy Signature. For example, a more fiery and energetic Energy Signature is more best for for a Magic that is very much the same in nature." Frea elaborated once she caught the questioning look Moon gave her. "Memory Magic has a nature all its own- and it matches your Energy Signature almost perfectly." Frea said, and Moon nodded.

"Then you can probably guess that Copy-Cat Magic doesn't mix well with my Energy Signature?" Moon suggested and Frea shrugged.

"I wouldn't know," Moon gave her a disbelieving look, one she returned with a very meaningful look of her own. "I've never seen, or rather felt Copy-Cat Magic before- you've never used it around me. So, without having felt it before, I wouldn't know if it mixed with your Energy Signature or not." Moon sighed slightly and waved the explanation off,

"Anyway, it takes up more Magic Energy than I rather like, and since I am not whole-heartedly very 'good' at it- I don't see the point." Moon went on, glancing to Frea. "Is that the answer you wanted?" The dark grey Exceed asked as Frea pushed into Fairy Hills and headed up the stairs.

"Its an answer." Frea replied evenly. "I would still like to see you demonstrate it at least once." She added in with a steady look, before finally reaching their room and pushing the door open.

"Maybe sometime." Moon murmured and Frea nodded slightly. Moon jumped from her shoulder and stretched, letting out a small purr. "It feels pretty good to be back." She commented and Frea sighed, smiling slightly at how fast her Partner changed the subject.

"Yeah," Frea agreed, dropping her bag atop the bed, and pulling her hair from its ponytail.

"I think I'm gonna take a quick shower, alright?" Moon said; and Frea nodded, waving a hand her direction as she turned her back to the Exceed, her gaze landing in her desk across the room.

"Go right ahead, I'm not going anywhere just yet." Frea murmured half to herself, faintly aware of hearing Moon close the bathroom door and the shower turn on.

Her eyes swept over her desk, and she sweatdropped slightly. It was covered in papers, old scraps, heavy books, and several different pens, even a quill in an ink jar at the very edge. There was a bulletin board she had set up in the wall above the desk, and it to was covered almost entirely with random notes she had made.

She remembered how it had gotten like this actually, because just before the Balance tipped she had been trying to decipher the Energy Magic Book as best she could manage. She blinked a few times, it didn't feel like so long ago now... But it had been a good amount of time since then, she just had never bothered to tidy up the mess she supposed.

 _Not that I've had a huge amount of time..._ She thought then paused, because that wasn't true really, she had had a full month around the Guild and had never bothered to deal with the mess then.

She was slightly surprised though, she had been determined to figure out what the book held... And yet it had fallen out of her mind, and so had the sense of urgency to read it as well. She had to wonder, if the Book thought she needed to know something? Most of the time it popped up and made itself aware if it wanted to, and that had not happened for some time now- not that she was complaining.

Her eyes shifted away from the desk as she glanced over her shoulder at her bed, where her bag lay atop, the _Enogora Magrea_ book inside. She narrowed her eyes, because before it _had_ wanted something, it had dropped on her head in the Guild's Library just before...

Her eyes widened slightly, it couldn't have been trying to tell her about the Balance Shift, could it? It had stopped pestering her only after mending the Balance had been done... She didn't know why she thought that though. It had to be rather impossible for the book to have known that was going to happen, it wouldn't make any sense if it had known about any of it... And still...

With a shake of her head she looked away and sighed, she didn't want to have to worry about that now. She didn't want to have to worry about anything... Things were finally settling back down, she really didn't need another disaster prompted by an Old Book to rise up... Her eyes fell to her hands, and she sweatdropped, eyes narrowing.

To think those things was wishful thinking, she supposed. She just... Had a feeling. It was a feeling that had been plaguing her since Nvindorr... And even before that. There was some part of her sun-conscious that just... _Knew._

Something was coming, she could feel it in her heart, and she would belying if she wasn't worried about what it could be. Because she could feel... It was going to be something terrible.

_'I don't think things are going to go back to normal.'_

She remembered that now, when she had said it to Moon back in the Guild a bit ago. It had come out of her mouth without her having to consciously think of the words... Just another example, that she felt things were going to crash.

 _"Energy Dragon..."_ Her head snapped up from her hands, as she quickly searched the room, eyes narrowed and body tense. She hated the reaction honestly, because she hated how tense that damn voice made her... Hell, how tense the voice's owner made her.

The words were low and wispy though, as if they were being carried toward her in some non-existent breeze. She couldn't feel the ghost girl's presence in the room, she could only think of the small message she had heard Jynx leave her when she was getting ready to fight the Demon from the Book of Zeref.

 _"... Be alert... Things are going to change, and soon..."_ The voice faded entirely and Frea remained standing rather still for a long while.

Another warning... And warning she didn't need.

"I know..." Frea mumbled under her breath, not quite sure Jynx could hear it. "... I feel it, something... Big..."

* * *

 

"So who is all gone from the Guild anyway?" Moon asked as she walked beside Frea through the streets. "Since you said a lot of them were gone today."

Frea glanced toward Moon for a moment, before letting her eyes fall closed as she cast her sense out toward the Guild for a moment.

"Hmm... The only ones there are... Natsu, Lucy, Levy, Macao, Wakaba... Romeo, Wendy, Sam.. Laki, Lily... Mira, Elfman, Lisanna...Carla, Kinana, Happy and..." Frea answered quietly as she found the familiar Energy Signatures of their fellow Guild Mates. She trailed off though, because there was an Energy Signature there she did not recognize... And to her, it didn't seem at all human.

_Odd..._

But beside that one, there were still three more. And this time she felt a small tug in her stomach, a feeling like nostalgia... But for what exactly, she couldn't place. "That's... Weird..." She mumbled under her breath, keeping her eyes closed as she tried to pick apart why those last three felt so eerily familiar.

"What?" Moon questioned,

"There are four different Energy Signatures there I don't recognize... Three I sort of do I suppose... And the one, it doesn't feel inherently _human_ to me." Frea answered, catching the surprised look from Moon out of the corner of her eye.

"Not human?" Her Exceed Partner pressed, and Frea shrugged slightly.

"I don't know... There's faint Magic... But its a little distorted for some reason... I've never felt something like it before..." She mumbled.

"And the other three?" Moon went on, intrigued now. "You 'sort of' recognize them..?"

"They feel like they should be familiar." Frea mumbled, sweatdropping and eyes narrowed. "Like... Hmm..." Her eyes fell closed once more, and she continued to search the deepest part of her memory. It felt like something she had encountered some time ago... But how long and where, she couldn't place... Unless...

"Coco...?" Frea murmured, eyes opening again and going wide. Before her eyes flashed the memory of the small girl back in _Edolas_ of all places, who had owned the Legion that they had rode upon to try and stop the Lacrima-Guild from crashing into Extalia.

And then it clicked, because this was not Coco from Edolas. This was what it felt like to first be in the presence of Mystogan, and then meet Jellal. Or even Ichiya and Nichiya.

"A counterpart," Frea murmured. "At the Guild...?" She blinked. "Why...?"

"You mean... An EarthLand counterpart of... Coco, was it?" Moon asked in slight disdain, her old dislike for Edolas returning a moment. "I think... She and Lily were good friends from what I remember." Frea nodded, eyes narrowing to silver slits and tensing up a little. She began to strain her ears, because suddenly Magic began to flare up from the direction of the Guild, and she could feel tension floating on the air toward them from that direction- along with the sound of fighting.

"Exactly," Frea replied, the two coming to a slight pause as townspeople began to run past them, looking worried. Moon stared,

"What's going on?" The Exceed questioned quickly,

"There's a fight going on," Frea answered, jumping forward in the direction of the Guild, whilst maneuvering out of the way of fleeing townspeople. Moon jumped to action in an instant, sprouting wings to fly at her side. "The Guild's being attacked." She muttered dryly.

"Great," Moon mumbled with a sigh. "With so many people gone... Its almost perfect timing for someone to attack, wouldn't you say?" Frea nodded slightly,

"True... But I would be really surprised if the Guild was having a hard time." Frea paused. "Though... The Energy Signatures do belong to some pretty powerful Mages..." Frea's eyes went wide, because just then Mira's, Elfman's, Lisanna's, Romeo's, Wakaba's, and Macao's Energy Signatures dulled considerably, it feeling as of their Magic Energy had been... Taken by something weird... An Energy Signature all on its own that had flared up not long before.

"... This makes no sense." Frea muttered, "None of these new Energy Signatures feel... Normal by any means..."

"So.. They need help?" Moon asked and Frea nodded,

"Yes... It feels like Romeo, Mira, Elfman, Wakaba and Macao were just drained of Magic Power." Frea answered, picking up the pace as they turned a small corner. Moon's ears pricked, she blinked a few times in surprise.

"That was fast, especially for that many Mages all at once." she murmured. Now they could hear sounds of destruction from ahead, and the streets were clear. "How-?"

They rounded the last corner and appeared before the Guild Hall, but both of them came to a dead stop. Their eyes Frea wide and jaws dropped, completely caught off guard by what they were seeing. Moon's question died on her lips as they caught sight of the huge mountain of green... Slime(?) in front of the hall- slime that had overtaken those Frea had named.

"The... Hell...?" Moon murmured, Frea grimaced slightly- because however absurd it was to think this; she couldn't help but picture trying to eat that green goo, and her stomach flipped.

Wendy was in the air, being held on to by both Lily and Carla, while Natsu was backed up close to where Frea and Moon were, bruised and slightly beaten. Max and Laki were fighting off the onslaught of green slime, but tiring fast. Levy was standing nearby with Happy beside her,

Frea's eyes landed on the attackers, a woman with purple hair holding a most peculiar looking wand in her hand, a man with blonde hair and a staff- missing the owner of the Energy a Signature now who she had recognized as Coco's counterpart. She noted that Lucy and the other strange Energy Signature had seemed to have run off, into the woods bordering the town to the very right of the Guild from the feel of it.

"Looks like we'll have to go after Coco," the woman muttered with a small frown. The man beside he nodded rather absent-mindedley, singing into his staff as he looked to the goo-

"Yes, yes... Thank you very much... Eat up my Hounds! Wizard Magic is _sooooooooo_ good!" He sang and Frea's head tilted, Hounds? Was he talking to... The goo?

"I ain't letting ya leave!" Natsu snapped, fire erupting around his fists. Wendy was set down by Lily and Carla,

"We won't let you go." The small Dragon Slayer said with a determined look. The woman simply smirked and moved her wand out in the direction of Natsu,

"You will do what I want, I think." She grinned with a dark laugh, Frea stiffened as she felt the Magic rise from the wand the woman held- and felt that same Magic wrap around Natsu. "And I say, attack your friends!"

Suddenly Natsu propelled himself toward Wendy, Lily and Carla, Magic blazing at its fullest. The pinkette's face fell in shock, as the three scrambled to move out of the way, caught off guard by Natsu's attack. "Wha?! I can't control my body!"

"Puppet Magic?" Moon muttered, her eyes left the scene once Frea moved, her ears twitching when she caught Frea mumble a few words under her breath.

"Energy Dragon Wing Attack!" Frea hissed, arms engulfed in blazing silver Magic, as she swung down at the green goo- cutting clean through with a hiss as the substance seemed to sizzle as if placed in a frying pan.

"Frea!" Everyone gasped, finally aware of her presence. The woman whipped around toward where Frea was, the man stared in utter shock, jaw dropped as the slime receded away from those it had trapped and Frea landed on her feet, Magic still blazing.

"M-my Hounds?!" The man stammered, sweatdropping along with his comrade. "Y-you destroyed them that easily?! H-how?! That's impossible!" His comrade stood a moment, looking quite as shocked as the man did.

"Just in time..." Mira murmured from her position on the ground beside her siblings just behind Frea, smiling slightly.

"Hounds!" The man sang, his voice unusually loud as it was being amplified by his Magic. The green swarmed from under his clothes, passing out over the ground at an astonishing rate to rise up before Frea, who let out a small "Tch...", eyes narrowed and tensing.

"Watch out Frea, don't let it touch you! It'll consume your Magic!" Wendy called out as her mind flashed with the memory of Frea being hit with the Eclipse Gate, too late though as half the goo wrapped around the Energy Dragon Slayer's legs in an instant.

The blonde man smirked, "My Hounds will love your Magic!" He said in triumph as the goo made contact with Frea.

Frea growled under her breath and swiped her arms out around her, her Magic spiraling up to ripple out around her at an amazing speed, immediately warding off and destroying the goo, Frea set a deadly look on the man- whose jaw dropped to hit the ground.

"W-WHAT?!"

"B-but... It took our Magic as soon as it touched us..." Elfman murmured in astonishment, eyes wide much like everyone else's as they looked to Frea in bewilderment. "... Why didn't it take Frea's..?"

"You must think you're pretty smart!" The woman snapped, her wand swiping out in Frea's direction. "Looks like Sugar Boy's Hounds have no effect on you, but I'll bet you can't resist my Puppeteer Magic!" She laughed and Frea looked to her slowly, not attempting to move as the woman's Magic rose up and around the wand. "Attack your friends!" She moved her wand out toward Natsu- who she had let out of her control, and Wendy with Lily and Carla, a direction she ordered Frea in. Wendy, Natsu and the two Exceeds sweatdropped, imagining the immensity of Frea's attack that would be sent their way.

The woman stopped, eyes wide as she stared at the place Natsu and Wendy were, sweatdropping as she shook a little- because _nothing happened_. Her eyes snapped back, to see Frea standing there with a deadly glare, and the woman flinched, wearing a look of absolute astonishment and shock that she shared with Sugar Boy.

"B-but... How can you...? My... My Magic is absolute..." She stammered, wand falling a little.

Natsu smirked a little, "All right!"

"Amazing..." Levy breathed with a look of amazement. "Frea seems to be the only one able to resist both of their Magics, while the rest of us can't!"

"That's why Frea's S-Class!" Happy grinned, raising a paw in the air.

Moon crossed her paws over her chest, smirking the slightest bit. "Magic Protect," she murmured, "Absolute Magic Control- a technique that not only protects her Magic from being consumed, but also allows Frea to ward off any Magic that tries to control her in anyway. Be it physically and Magically." The Exceed smirked some more, "These two have picked a fight with the wrong Mage."

"Nice try," Frea growled lowly at Sugar Boy and the woman. "I suggest you stand down and surrender, because I won't stop fighting you until you do." Her eyes turned into a cold, steel-like gaze. "And if you fight me, it isn't going to end well for either of you." Frea's Magic swirled about her feet, the two enemies backed up a little, looking worried because they knew their Magic wasn't going to work against her. "You've messed with the wrong Guild."

The woman swung her wand out, but this time not at Frea. "Attack her with your most powerful attacks! All of you!"

Frea tensed, caught off guard by the action as everyone who had Magic left in the area suddenly came at her with full force- on all sides.

"Oh no..!" Wendy gasped, trying and failing to stop her actions- as all the rest of their Guild Mates did as they neared Frea, all eyes wide as they realized they were about to all come down upon the Energy Dragon Slayer at once.

"Shit!" Natsu growled, fire erupting around his body as he flew toward Frea.

"Frea, we can't stop!" Levy gasped,

"You have to dodge it!" Lily yelled, now in his battle form with his sword in hand.

"Hurry!" Laki and Sam snapped.

Frea glanced around in surprise, because they had all surrounded her and there was no moving. Holding her arms out to the side she closed her eyes.

"Energy Shield!"

The area was lost to the blinding array of light that erupted from the combined Magics of those were were being controlled as they came down all at once on their Guild Member, the attacks called of as their unified voices were lost among each other.


	31. Copy-Cat Magic

**Chapter 31**

**Copy-Cat Magic**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

Once the attacks ended and the light that had risen, faded, the woman and Sugar Boy were gone, leaving the Fairy Tail Mages alone before their Guild Hall.

Natsu, Levy, Max, Laki, Lily and Wendy jumped backward, now in control of their actions once more, all sweatdropping in worry.

Frea slowly let her shield drop, letting out a low sigh and looking around with a wary gaze, trying to spot their enemies as fast as she could- not seemingly at all concerned with her Guild Mates coming after her.

"Frea, I am so sorry!" Wendy gasped, looking slightly panicked. Frea blinked and glanced to the small Dragon Slayer, "I couldn't stop myself!"

"I feel so bad..." Levy mumbled.

"Sorry..." Max and Laki murmured as well with looks of faint shame.

"Are you alright?" Lily questioned, changing out of his Battle Form. Frea cast them all a small smile, nodding a little.

"Don't worry guys, I'm completely fine." She promised, hoping the words would put them at ease. "I'm more concerned with what's happening, would anyone like to explain what's going on?" She tilted her head slightly, "And why is Lucy being chased by those two? Who are they anyway?"

"We think they're the people responsible for the recent burning of churches all over Fiore." Carla explained and Frea blinked- having heard of these incidents but not taken any interest in them.

"They showed up at the doors not long ago, demanding that we hand over Lucy." Levy took up the explanation. "When we refused, they attacked."

"And got our assess kicked.. Damn it!" Natsu snapped.

".. Well, yes. But we meant to keep them busy so Lucy could get away." Levy murmured, pausing only slightly at the interjection from Natsu. "But we are more or less helpless against their Magic, at least the two that were just here." Frea nodded,

"And the one who went after Lucy first?" She asked.

"Coco... Well, EarthLand Coco." Happy murmured. "She ran off before we could stop her, she's super fast!"

"We don't know why they're after Lucy though, or what they want." Carla finished.

Frea nodded slightly, "... But, whose with Lucy?" She pressed, slightly confused why the mysteriously 'non-human' Energy Signature with their resident Celestial Mage hadn't been mentioned.

Not that the Guild would be able to tell the Energy Signature wasn't really human, she supposed...

"Oh, uh... You must be talking about Michelle." Levy said, with a look of surprise, as if she was shocked that Frea would know anyone was with Lucy at all. "She's a relative of Lucy's that showed up at the Guild a few days ago- while you were gone." She added and Frea just stared a moment.

_Relative...? A...Non-human... Relative..?_

She shook her head slightly and sighed, she was only slightly concerned with this 'Michelle's' Energy Signature right now. Her first priority moved to trying to find Lucy and making sure these people weren't able to take her. She would have to worry about Michelle later... "So these guys are definitely after Lucy..." She mumbled, looking to the trees for a moment, while catching the nod of confirmation given to her from everyone around. "Alright," she murmured, turning to the assembled members. Some were trying to get to their feet, winded or void of Magic Power, others were panting, and the rest were still burning with energy.

"Who's coming with me?"

* * *

 

"Why she would have run this far is beyond me..." Frea mumbled as she ran along through the trees with Moon at her side. Lucy had gone much farther and much faster than she had expected, evening was going to fall soon.

"You have to wonder if she got lost..." Moon mumbled.

"Its possible, this forest is pretty big." Frea relented.

"Mm... Frea?" Moon murmured, and Frea spared a glance her way. "You do realize... Everyone went separate ways, right?" She said, motioning with a small flick of her head back the way they had come- a space which had previously been occupied by the members who had come with them into the trees to look for Lucy.

Frea nodded, not seeming at all bothered with it. "Yes, I know."

"You just didn't react when they left." Moon murmured and Frea sighed.

"I figured they would leave, from what I could see... Most of them weren't really paying attention to anything I said to them." She sighed, she had tried telling them she could find Lucy easily- the blonde's Energy Signature took no effort in finding out here, especially with the odd Energy Signature of her supposed 'relative' with her. That fact in itself should have kept them following her, but it had become clear they had other things planned.

It would seem that Lily, Wendy, and Carla had taken off together- Lily seemed to be having trouble comprehending something, and she guessed he was stuck on the counter-part of Coco. She had become aware that Lily and Coco had been close in Edolas, and she could only guess that the EarthLand Coco was probably very unlike the Coco in Edolas.

As for Natsu, who had also come along- he was a hot-head and that was all she could say on the matter. Natsu didn't tend to listen and think things through, he was probably just going to blunder around until he came across one of their enemies.

"I just hope they'll be careful," she continued. "These guys are pretty powerful, the Guild's already had trouble in the short time they were fighting."

"I suppose its a good thing we came back when we did then," Moon commented, Frea gave her a small questioning look. "You're probably the best fit to fight these people- since you can't be controlled, and your Magic can't be consumed either." Her Exceed Partner smirked slightly, "Its almost as if you were born to fight Mages like these."

Frea smiled a little, "Not born exactly, more like I adapted." She replied. "I only just figured out how to do any of those things, remember?" She reminded and Moon shrugged it off.

"The point still stands."

Frea's attention was torn away from the feel of Lucy's Energy Signature, when she caught trace of three very powerful ones somewhere in the forest. One she recognized immediately, and was faintly surprised by the sudden appearance- because she could sense that Gildarts had come back- his Energy Signature was impossible to miss- he was just that powerful.

However the other two beings closest to him she couldn't place, and she didn't have time to-

"Michelle!"

Their heads snapped up at the sound of the yell, easily recognizing it as Lucy. Frea's attention was turned back to what she had previously been focusing on, Magic flaring up around her fists as she readied herself for anything.

Her nose twitched, easily smelling the scent of the woman who had tried- and failed- to control her earlier. Her eyes narrowed when she caught on to an old, musty smell... Mixed with Magic she had never smelled before.

The trees gave way to a flaring at the bottom of a steep, short cliff. They came upon the sight of Lucy clutching to something wrapped in bandages for dear life- the object Frea immediately pegged for having that strange scent she caught. Behind them lay a girl with a pink dress and bonnet, seemingly knocked unconscious by a blow, and then there was the faint outline of Scorpio as the Spirit faded back into the Spirit World.

And then there was the purple-haired woman from before, smiling as she began to close in on her target, now that all other distractions were out of the way.

"Lucy!" Moon called, causing the blonde to look their way. Releif washed over the Celestial Wizards face at the sight of the two.

"Moon! Frea! You're here!" She smiled, while the woman scowled at the appearance of the very Wizard she couldn't control.

"You again?!" The woman hissed, looking oh _so_ thrilled. "I totally hate you!" She snapped.

"Feeling's mutual!" Frea growled back, appearing in front of the woman in an instant by some sort of speed that hadn't been anticipated. Her fist drew back, blazing with the light of her Magic in the on-setting darkness that came with the setting sun,

"Energy Dragon Iron-" she growled, swinging out as she did so, "F- _wha?!"_

She stopped her attack upon the fact that Moon had suddenly flown between her and the woman, Frea barely managed to stop her fist from hitting her Exceed Partner and faltered a little, eyes wide and sweatdropping, giving the woman time to attack again.

"Lets see what sort of Magic _you_ can use!" The woman laughed, Frea coming to a stop as fast she could in an attempt to recover her bearings at the unexpected surprise. The woman's eyes were set upon Moon, whom she was also speaking to. Moon gave Frea a look somewhere between shock, apology and worry.

"Frea, I can't.. Control myself...!" Moon hissed, seeming to have a hard time saying the words. Frea paused, because in that moment her mind flashed to one thing, one thing about Moon she had never witnessed, and one thing she hadn't counted upon- Copy Cat Magic.

She immediately sensed the trouble she was in, and Moon shared that same look with her.

"Oh shit!"

"You again?! I totally hate you!" Mary Hughes snapped, her eyes locked directly on to Frea.

"Feeling's mutual!" Frea snapped right back as she made her way in front of Mary Hughes in an instant.

Lucy blinked a moment, looking confused. The two had met before? Had Frea come back right as she had left? That seemed unlikely and yet she must have. She was planning on warning Frea of what Mary could do, but thought better of it- considering the Energy Dragon Slayer probably already knew that Hughes could control people.

Suddenly Lucy felt the hold of Mary Hughes' Magic release her, and she watched Frea- thinking it was the Energy Dragon Slayer Hughes would try to control next, the thought made Lucy sweatdrop a little. For Hughes to control someone as powerful as Frea? That was just plain dangerous.

"Lets see what sort of Magic _you_ can use!" Hughes shouted, smiling and Lucy tensed.

She recoiled slightly in shock to see Moon fly in between Frea and Hughes, looking slightly panicked.

"What?!" Lucy gasped, eyes wide.

"Frea, I can't.. Control myself...!" Lucy heard Moon hiss, and she blinked again. Why not control Frea? Why Moon?

But something about the way Frea looked upon seeing Moon made Lucy a little wary, because they both shared a look that told Lucy the two of them seemed to know something important that she didn't.

"Oh shit!" Frea snapped, struggling to find her footing and jump back away from the grey Exceed as fast as she could possibly manage.

"Moon uses Memory Magic doesn't she..?" Lucy murmured aloud to herself, clutching the relic to her chest a little more and frozen to the spot. "... I thought Memory Magic didn't work on Frea? So why...?"

"Show me what you got kitty-cat!" Hughes laughed, swiping her wand out.

"Lucy, you might wanna step back a little!" Frea called back to her and Lucy jumped slightly, Frea was giving her a very serious look and she didn't understand.

"But... Wha..?" She fumbled for words.

"Copy-Cat:" Moon muttered through gritted teeth, clearly trying to repel the Magic of Mary. Lucy's eyes widened as she perked at the words, Copy-Cat?

"Regulus Impact!"

The stream of golden Magic shaped like a ferocious feline erupted from Moon's open paw and charged down upon Frea, whose arms crossed over her head as a silver shield materialized to block the blow.

"WHAT?!" Lucy yelled, eyes whited out and sweatdropping heavily- easily recognizing the very move Loke had used before.

"Tch... Damn..." Frea hissed under her breath, eyes narrowed. She was rather surprised at the force packed into that attack- whatever Moon may have said that Copy-Cat Magic only created a weaker copy of any form of Magic, she couldn't honestly tell the difference!

"But, wait- what?!" Lucy gasped, "Since when-?!"

"Copy Cat: Water Nebula!" Moon yelled now, a massive spinning tornado of water appeared from a blue Magic Circle that had appeared before the Exceed in mere moments, bearing down upon Frea who barely had a moment to recover from blocking the previous hit.

"Water Magic too?!" Lucy whispered frantically, standing rigid and having a very hard time wrapping her head around all of what she was seeing.

_When did... Moon... Learn...?!_

Frea jumped away from the attack this time, managing to avoid it but looking a little concerned. Lucy understood the look, because Frea couldn't attack Moon- she wouldn't dare, and based upon what had happened with her own Spirits, she doubted Hughes would give Frea time to attack the puppeteer at any point.

The Energy Dragon Slayer was literally only able to dodge, she was stuck.

"Copy Cat: Mix!" Moon closed her eyes this time, unable to stop herself and not willing to watch. "Fire Dragon Roar- Iron Dragon Demon Logs!"

Frea's eyes went wider than ever, a mix of two different Magic Spells?! And two Dragon Slaying Moves no less?!

She was too shocked to fully react in time, and she tried to place a shield up against the enormous column of spiraling flame, with hundreds of iron spears coming toward her. Her shield imploded at the impact and she was sent backward, hitting the ground hard and hissing.

"F-Frea!?" Lucy called out, she too was amazed at the Magic procured from the simple Magic Circle floating in front of Moon. She was even more surprised Frea had been hit, usually she had no trouble against Gajeel and Natsu when they used those same attacks...

"Woah! Totally cool!" Mary cheered to herself, "You're quite the catch, cat!" Her eyes went to Moon with a sort of dark affection and lust. "Why don't I keep you?"

The dust cleared and Frea emerged from it, standing and looking exceptionally miffed- at least she didn't look hurt by any means. Just a little dusty.

"Not 'good' at Copy-Cat Magic my ass, Moon!" The Energy Dragon Slayer snapped, clearly referring to an earlier conversation the two had had. Lucy let a nervous smile appear across her face, finding she had to agree with Frea on that point. Moon sweatdropped at the statement, but didn't say anything in return. Lucy suddenly remembered the unconscious form of Michelle behind her, and whipped around to crouch down beside her, looking worried.

"Michelle..!"

"Keep going! Keep going!" Hughes ordered, waving her wand around as Moon jumped into action again against her will. "I wanna see what you're really made of!" She sung slightly, looking thrilled now.

"Enough!" Frea yelled, her Magic erupting around her out of irritation and anger. She jumped across the space between herself and Hughes in an instant, "I don't have time for your shit!"

"Tsk, tsk..." Hughes waved a finger before her. "Don't think you can touch me."

Frea had to try and stop again once Moon was directed in between herself and Hughes for a second time, only this time she had ordered Moon to attack immediately.

"Copy-Cat: Ice-Make Canon!" Moon growled, the blast of ice shooting from the cannon that appeared in an a instant, having been created with what seemed like no effort at all.

"Energy Shield!" Frea held of her arms and her shield made contact with the attack, but she was forced back a little- completely deterred from Hughes.

"Has Moon... Learned the Magic of everyone from Fairy Tail...?" Lucy asked quietly, watching in awe at the flawless execution of the Magic from the Exceed. She paused though, "No... Not learned, just memorized and copied certain attacks..." She corrected herself, her mind catching up enough to recall something she had read before; about Copy-Cat Magic. "Copy-Cat Magic requires a certain skill-level for the difficulty of the Spell trying to be copied... And Moon can copy the attacks of two different Dragon Slayers, as well as use them simultaneously..." Lucy murmured aloud and her eyes narrowed. ".. If Moon has that amount of skill, what other Magic can she copy?"

Frea came to a small pause, letting her Magic fade as she growled inwardly, eyes fixed upon her Exceed Partner for whatever she may be forced to throw her way next.

Of all the things she could have guessed to happen, getting stuck fighting Moon was one she hadn't thought of. And she definitely hadn't counted on it being this hard either.

Earlier, she did notice that Moon's Copy-Cat Magic wasn't perfect, and no it wasn't as powerful as the original. Although she hadn't been able to tell with the Regulus Magic, she could tell with the Copy of Gajeel's and Natsu's Magic. Those attacks aren't nearly as strong as they were when used by Gajeel and Natsu themselves, but they had enough power to them to be a nuisance. The only reason she hadn't been able to block the attack, was because she was so shocked at the sight of it.

How in the hell could Moon copy Dragon Slayer Magic like that? She would be having a serious talk about this with her Partner later...

 _But first, I have to figure out how to end this fight._ She reminded herself hotly, she knew it was going to be a challenge. She couldn't attack Moon, and Moon was only going to be forced in the way if she tried to go after the woman. But at the same time, she had to continue to defend against Moon alone.

She took a small step back as a bout of light-headedness hit her, she growled at the feeling. She hadn't used much Magic fighting or defending... And yet she was running out of Magic Energy, just keeping her Magic Protect Technique going.

_Train all I want, gain as much Magic Energy as I can... And still, things like Absolute Control of my Energy is still asking too much for long..._

Bust she knew she couldn't let herself give up Absolute Control of her Energy, not with this opponent. If she did, she couldn't think of anything good to come if _she_ were the one to be controlled.

"Copy-Cat:" Frea's attention snapped to the present. "Ice-Make; Bullets!"

Frea jumped out of the way of most of the frozen projectiles while blocking the rest.

"Copy-Cat: Ice-Make Water Serpent! Water Slicer! Regulus Strike! SandStorm! Sky Dragon Roar!"

Each attack was accompanied with a separate Magic Circle that appeared around the hovering Moon and produced the attack it copied correspondently, all of them bearing down upon Frea at once. Frea created a dome around herself as she blocked the attacks, and they only continued to lash out at her.

"Now I think I'll have that." Hughes smirked, waving her wand in Lucy's direction- the blonde stiffened to feel herself being controlled again.

"I thought she could only control one person... At a time..." Lucy hissed, Hughes raised an eyebrow at this.

"What? What made you think that?" She asked evenly and Lucy sweatdropped, her body being forced to walk toward the woman slowly as she tried to resist.

"Don't try to fight it, Blondie." Hughes smirked. Lucy frowned, looking around and realizing that both Frea and Moon were occupied and busy, unable to help her.

She glanced back to Michelle, "Michelle!" Lucy called, trying in vain to get an answer. "Michelle, please... Wake up...! .. Help... Me!" Lucy called, inching closer and closer to Mary until she was before the woman, and she felt her arms stretch out with the relic from her Father...

"N... No...! Please...!" She hissed, Mary smiled and took it promptly, whilst letting Lucy out of her control, the blonde fell to her knees- suddenly feeling weak from trying hard to resist Hughes' control over her.

"Ah! Great, looks like I got it first!" Hughes smiled and pulled out a flare gun, shooting the signal into the night sky and smiling. She turned from Lucy and started to walk. Suddenly the relentless attacks from Moon aimed at Frea ceased, and the Magic Circles shattered, Moon slowly fell to the ground, panting.

"Running out of Magic Energy so fast?!" Hughes snapped a little, looking to Moon with disappointment.

"I don't... Have limitless... Magic Energy..." Moon hissed in anger, shooting a glare at Hughes.

"Hmm... You have some left." Hughes smirked, flicking her wand a little. "Lets hit her with something good!"

Moon's eyes went wide and she sweatdropped, before the Exceed was forced to her feet, and her paws stretched out to Frea who had let her dome drop, sweat dripping down her face and panting herself, Lucy looked over in surprise, unable to understand why Frea was wearing out so fast...?

"Copy-Cat..." Moon stammered, "..A... Aerial..."

The bubble of air sprung up around Frea in an instant, instantly tempering with the oxygen inside and increasing the pressure. Frea fell to one knee, eyes scrunched closed and hands clapping over her ears in obvious pain to her sensitive ears, and seeming to be having a hard time drawing breath... the oxygen inside being forced out by Moon's Spell.

"Frea!" Lucy gasped,

"... Damn it.." Moon hissed; still being forced to keep the Spell going, even though now she was trying to stop it desperately- she knew this Spell was meant to suffocate her Partner.

"Au Revoir!" Hughes called out, before she was suddenly gone and Moon's Spell ceased.


	32. Predictions?

**Chapter 32**

**Predictions?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

"Damn those guys!" Natsu snapped, fist pounding down upon a table top. "I can't believe they got away with Lucy's property!"

"I'm sorry everyone..." Lucy mumbled, looking downcast as she sat at a table with Michelle.

"Its not your fault Lucy," Moon murmured, looking guilty. "We should have been more help..." Her eyes shifted toward Frea slowly,

The Energy Slayer was sitting at a table, chin resting on top and fists clenched on either side of her with her arms stretched out. She looked straight ahead with a very irritated look on her face, grumbling under her breath incessantly and not seeming to be paying attention.

"Damn that chick... How the hell did I get beat... Next time I see her... We'll be alone and I'll kick her ass... Yeah... Definitely... No showing me up a second time... Bitch..." Frea growled; becoming even more irritated as a vein ticked on her forehead and a dark aura surrounded her out of increasing anger. Her fists unclenched and instead she dug her nails into the tabletop.

A few people glanced Frea's way and sweatdropped, then looked from her to Moon.

"How did you manage to get beat if Hughes can't control Frea?" Natsu questioned and Moon's head fell, ears dropping, looking even more guilty now. Lucy noticed the look and smiled a little sympathetically.

"That's my fault..." Moon admitted while raising a paw slightly, "... Mary was controlling me, and made me attack Frea..."

They all blinked, looking confused. "And... You took Frea down..?" Natsu asked and Moon looked up quickly, waving her paws in front of her and looking nervous.

"No, no! Don't get the wrong idea, I was only keeping her occupied!" Moon explained quickly, "I can't take Frea down even if I tried!"

"I didn't think Memory Magic worked on Frea?" Gray murmured. He had arrived not long before with Erza and Juvia behind- along with them, Cana, Gildarts, Lily and Gajeel had also come back-though Gajeel was off looking for those who had attacked the Guild with a few other members. Master had arrived not long after,

"Moon wasn't using Memory Magic." Lucy spoke up,

"You know another sort of Magic besides Memory Magic, Moon?" Happy asked in wonder, walking across the table the grey Exceed was at. Moon nodded in confirmation,

"Ah," Erza said with a look of knowing that she shared with Mirajane, Gildarts and Master. "So you used your Copy-Cat Magic against Frea then?" Moon paused only a second before nodding again.

"Copy-Cat Magic?!"

"You have many talents." Lily murmured, appearing beside Moon with his paws crossed over his chest. Moon glanced toward him, "Memory Magic, Aera, high intellect and even Copy-Cat Magic strong enough to keep an S-Class such as Frea busy?" He smiled and Moon blushed while at the same time looking guilty again. "Impressive."

"Enough." Master said curtly, causing the questions and murmurings that had sprung up to cease. "We can get into that later, for now-" his attention turned to Gildarts. "You said these people called themselves the Legion?" He asked and the man nodded.

"The ones that attacked us are from Zentopia?" Cana murmured,

"Yes, I'm sure of it." Gildarts confirmed with a nod of his head. Moon's ears flicked a little at the word Zentopia, eyes narrowed.

"Why would Fiore's largest religious organization attack us?" Macao muttered from where he sat at the bar with Master beside him.

"I don't know, but he did spout some crap about a crusade.." Gildarts replied with a grave look.

"Crusade..." Moon mumbled under her breath, eyes closing as she went into thought.

"Who cares about all that?!" Natsu snapped, still annoyed. "Lucy, I swear we'll get that memento back for you!" He promised the blonde before him, Lucy paused a moment before nodding a little, still looking a bit put down.

"What would they want with Uncle Jude's memento I wonder?" Michelle murmured under her breath. Most people had the same question, and still they were all concerned with the news of the Legion as well.

When Michelle spoke, Frea broke off in her irritated mumbling and turned a look to the girl, completely silent and eyes narrowed. She set a piercing stare upon Michelle, one that the girl didn't see nor notice but others did.

This was the first time Frea had taken notice of Michelle since coming back, and she remembered what she had sensed from her, what she could feel now.

_She's not human... But I don't know what she is... I don't get it..._

She could only imagine the reaction she would receive if she were to say such things aloud. No one besides herself and Chase (who wasn't here right now) would be able to sense this of Michelle, and she had no way of explaining what it felt to everyone- she hardly had a clue as to how to explain it to herself for that matter.

But with that, she couldn't get a feel if Michelle was dangerous or not... she promised to keep an eye on her until she knew what Michelle's purpose was here. Her gaze broke off of Michelle, and she closed her eyes.

Master noticed the look Frea set upon Michelle in the few moments she did so, and he narrowed his eyes at the sight. Frea seemed to know something he did not, he made a point to ask her in private later. Because if Frea had reason to be wary of anyone, one had better take it into account.

With a sigh he crossed his arms over his chest, "The church attacks that happened soon before Zentopia's anniversary... A mysterious clock hand and a sinister line... That Legion was after and some crusade..." Master murmured aloud, drawing eyes toward him as he gazed at his mug upon the counter top.

"I don't like it." Natsu muttered, "I don't like that they made light of Fairy Tail. And I hope we don't just let it go with our asses getting kicked." He added in a low growl with a nod of approval from Happy.

"What happened with the members that were in pursuit?" Gray asked suddenly.

"According to Warren, all of the teams lost track of them." Erza explained.

Frea suddenly lift her head from the table and sighed a little, eyes still closed. "I'm not surprised." She muttered at the red-head's words. "They were gone rather quickly, I can't feel any of their Energy a signatures anywhere close... They moved rather fast, they aren't in the area." She opened her eyes to look out a window silently. "But whatever they were here for... Its not over." She warned.

"Good!" Natsu smashed a fist into his open palm. "Then we can look forward to giving them payback, a 100 times over!" The pinkette smirked and Frea nodded slightly, sharing her own feelings for payback with the Fire Dragon Slayer, though she didn't show it in the manner he did. More than anything she wanted to get back at that Mary Hughes woman, and the second time around- she was going to face her alone. "Right?" He asked and Lucy gave him a determined smile.

"Yeah!"

"... The crusade they mentioned." Erza said at length, looking to be deep in thought. "... Legion must be trying to accomplish something big... And for that, the clock hand was necessary." Frea glanced to the red-head, eyes narrowed.

For what she had learned since coming back to the Guild, it was that Michelle had appeared in the Guild bearing what she explained as a memento from Lucy's father- and seeing as how neither of them knew what it was they had begun to look into it. What had been discovered was that it was a key-hand that belonged to an ancient clock- and found a dire warning to go with it.

"And the words that were inscribed on it... 'Time is etched and then chaos descends'." Erza finished lowly.

"That clock actually exists somewhere." Lucy broke in, now looking to a book she had pulled out in the midsts of their talking. "Do they mean to use it for their crusade?" She wondered aloud.

" 'Chaos descends..', my guess is its a reference to that crusade." Cana told the blonde from where she had begun to lean over the book as well.

"If its chaos, then rules are unnecessary." Gray smiled a little.

"That's right up my alley!" Natsu smirked.

"But, everything works more or less because the world has rules, right?" Happy asked, seeing how happy his Partner had become at the 'no rules' prospect of the upcoming danger.

"Like if someone takes something that is not theirs, they're a thief- right?" Cana asked lowly,

"All our freedoms were built upon the foundations of certain rules." Master broke in, having been listening to the conversation silently. "Without them, everything would be pure lawlessness."

"Is that what their trying to achieve in their crusade?" Macao asked,

"Sounds like things are getting crazy again.." Wakaba muttered with a sigh,

"Things are always crazy around here." Frea told him and he gave her a small glance and nodded, sighing again.

"True.."

"You can't exactly call robbing someone of their property and act of holiness.." Gildarts muttered,

"Maybe Legion is looking for another part of the clock now..." Michelle murmured, Erza nodded slightly at the words.

"If we can find out what their purpose is, the meaning of this memento will also become clear." Erza said,

"All we can do is investigate, and maybe that'll tell us where they are..." Gray sighed, but suddenly smirked. "Or maybe, they'll notice us sniffing around and come for us."

"I like that thinking! Lets go." Natsu grinned.

"But where should we start investigating?" Lucy interrupted the two, Cana leaned down beside the blonde.

"I'll try doing a divination." Cana told her, "That should help narrow it down at least." Lucy nodded.

Frea slowly got to her feet and took a deep breath as everyone began to split up into different groups and conversation started up. She had calmed herself down now, and now she was only concerned with letting all this information process.

For what she had heard of the church attacks- it was only reports made within newspapers and whatnot- and to be rather honest, she had never taken interest. She had never been one for religion, and she didn't intend to become one... But it was odd that the warriors of Zentopia were attacking the Guild, especially for some unknown reason.

Her eyes shifted to the side to see Cana, Master, Gildarts, Wakaba and Macao head outside into the night air. She paused a moment, deciding whether or not she should follow- and at length moved toward the entrance.

"What do you make of all this?" Frea's eyes snapped to Moon as her Exceed Partner appeared beside her, having apparently seen her moving away and decided to follow.

"Nothing much, honestly." Frea relied, "I don't understand why anyone would want chaos... And to gain it they plan to use some ancient clock?" She shook her head. "The only thing I can say on the matter, is that if this clock has anything to do with the time of the world- which I doubt it does- then there's trouble." She looked ahead. "Time isn't something someone should mess with, that's one thing I can say for certain." She paused, glancing to Moon as they neared the door. "What do you make of it then? I noticed how deep I thought you were."

"Hmm... Its Zentopia that interests me." Moon replied quietly. "Such a religious organization like Zentopia shouldn't ever come across as something that would try to disrupt the peace of this world... It isn't, mm... Holy? I guess?" She shook her head at herself. "Either way, wouldn't it make more sense for Zentopia and even Legion to be the ones trying to keep chaos from descending? Not the other way around?" Frea nodded a little.

"You... Have a point." She relented. "It wouldn't make much sense, no."

Moon nodded, "That's what I thought, so then- who is calling the shots for the Legion? Who is it that wants chaos? If indeed that is their goal?"

Moon made a very good point, and the question was just. If the Legion was under Zentopia's control, it wouldn't make much sense for a religious organization to try and make chaos happen- so it begged the question of who controlled Legion, because that person would be the one trying to let things fall into Madness.

But as for who it was, Frea didn't have a clue, and she said as much to Moon. "I don't know," she murmured. "But we'll have to figure it out... Something tells me you're on to something." Moon nodded at the words, they were approaching the figures of Master and Cana who stood somewhat away from the figures of Gildarts, Macao and Wakaba- the three men talking about something Frea only caught the last few snippets of.

"We wouldn't ask anyone other than you to do it, its just too dangerous." Macao told Gildarts.

"And we'll set you up with the perfect partner..." Wakaba added in.

"Look at that, he's running off in the middle of the night again." Cana mumbled as Frea and Moon stopped behind them a little.

"Why is it you are always so hard on him?" Master asked lowly, but his question went unanswered as Gildarts approached he two of them- or rather, his daughter.

"Did you hear that Cana?" Gildarts asked with a hopeful smile on his face.

"Some of it." Cana replied softly,

"What about it then? How about another father-daughter trip?" He asked, inching closer and looking absurd,

"Why don't you go by yourself?" Cana muttered, pushing her fathers face away from her own and crossing her arms over her chest.

"But Cana-"

"Get going!" Cana snapped suddenly and Gildarts ran off immediately, calling back that he wouldn't be gone long. Frea shook her head with a small smile,

"You should be nicer to him." Master mumbled, and Cana huffed a little.

"Tch... He acts all cool when he's determined..." Cana muttered as her frown pulled into a soft smile. "... All the rest, he's such a child." The brunette moved away- still smiling to herself as she went back inside with Macao and Wakaba.

"Frea," Master said suddenly, turning toward her and seeming to have known he was behind him the entire time. "Just the person I wanted to speak with." He murmured and Frea nodded slightly, Moon blinked.

"Yes?" She asked calmly, though a part of her guessed what it was that he wanted.

"Earlier, I noticed the look you gave Michelle." Master murmured, "Is there reason for you distrust of her?"

Moon immediately remembered what it was Frea had said before the fighting, that there had been an Energy Signature at the Guild that wasn't human. And she guessed now that it was Michelle who Frea had been speaking of,

"When we came back, I could feel the Energy Signatures of those in the Legion- but apart from them there was another I didn't recognize." Frea murmured, arms crossing over her chest and eyes closing. "It's Michelle's Energy Signature I caught on to, but it isn't normal."

"Hmm?" Master blinked, "How so?"

"I... I don't think she's human, Master." Frea murmured, "There's something about her Energy Signature, its not like any I've ever seen. But even at the same time, its almost as if her Energy Signature is distorted somehow... As if its not in its regular form, if that's even possible." She sighed, opening her eyes to look at him. "I'm sorry I can't explain it further, I don't understand it very well..."

"... Do you sense Magic from her?" Master asked after a moments pause, looking serious now.

Frea blinked now, looking surprised at the question. Simply, because she hadn't taken that into much account, and for a moment she focused her attention on Michelle within the hall- easily picking her out among those she knew so well.

She had noticed earlier the presence of faint Magic around Michelle, yes... But she took a closer look and couldn't help but feel what she noticed couldn't be all of it. The distortion wasn't helping in trying to gather more detail...

"Faintly, for sure..." Frea said at length, a pause in which Master and Moon remained patiently in silence. "... I can't tell with all the distortion, but... I think there's more." She blinked her attention now focused away from Michelle. "She's not a Mage, from what she said, right?"

Master nodded slightly, "Yes, she told us she couldn't use Magic." He confirmed. "But if you can sense Magic from her and you say she doesn't feel human to you..." He paused. "It gives cause to wonder if all that Michelle has told us, is even true."

"I'm not sure I trust her, Master." Frea said lowly, "I can't get a feel for her and I don't like it..." Master nodded to her slowly.

"In my experience, Frea." He murmured. "If you have cause to distrust someone, there's reason to it."

"What do you plan to do then?" Frea asked, "Knowing this, I mean."

"Do you think Michelle means harm?" Moon asked suddenly, and Frea sighed.

"I'm not sure, Moon." She replied honestly. "But I'm also not sure I'm willing to rule it out either, there's something about her story... Even Lucy doesn't remember her as a relative." She shook her head. "Whose to say she really is Lucy's relative at all? We only have her word for it."

"True." Moon murmured as Master nodded in agreement.

"However, I believe this is what Gildarts is looking into." Master spoke up and Frea blinked in surprise. "We've had misgivings much like you have, and are looking into them." Frea nodded a little, "But, I would like you to do something for me." He said with a nod at Frea and she blinked.

"Yeah?"

"Keep an eye on Michelle, and be careful." Master told her, "Since we have no idea what her true aim for coming here is, be ready for anything." He crossed his arms behind his back. "In short, I'm asking you to make sure nothing happens to anyone in the Guild on account of actions made by Michelle. I don't want to risk anything, not now."

Frea nodded solemnly, "You got it." She promised.

"Be careful, please." Master said as an after thought, "I don't want to see _you_ hurt either." Again Frea nodded and he looked to Moon. "For you Moon, I have a separate favor." Moon's ears perked at this and she blinked in surprise,

"Yes, Master?" She asked hesitantly, never having been asked for anything by the Old Man before- well, nothing in a dangerous situation such as this.

"I would like you to keep tab on the separate members of the Legion, as you meet them or hear of them." He elaborated upon seeing the look of confusion on her face. "You have a knack or remembering things, and your high intellect should prove useful in determining the different weaknesses and strengths of these people." She nodded slowly, "These are the things I want you to take down, and send to me as you can."

"Sure, no problem." Moon nodded once and he dipped his head to her,

"Thank you, both of you." He said softly and turned away, as he lead the way back inside the Guild Hall.

* * *

 

"... I kind of remember seeing this before." Natsu murmured as he gazed up at the mansion before him in wonder, Frea shook her head at him and sighed.

"Its the Heartfilia Mansion." Erza reminded him gently.

"Wasn't it put up for sale?" Gray asked, turning to Lucy who nodded.

"Its in good shape, considering seven years have passed." Happy commented.

"The administrator of the estate says they haven't been able to find a buyer." Lucy explained,

"Probably because its too big..."

"This brings back memories..." Michelle smiled, "I used to think of this as a castle back then.. And it hasn't changed."

"Michelle, you've been here before?" Lucy asked with a rather confused look. Frea glanced sideways at the girl, finding it very odd indeed that Lucy wouldn't remember such a thing.

And then suddenly Michelle was on the ground, looking very downcast. "We... We used to play a lot together...!" Michelle choked out and Lucy sweatdropped, looking flustered.

"Oh.. Uh, that's... Right...?" The blonde fumbled for words,

"Nee-san, you used to make clothes for me..." Michelle told her and Lucy tapped her fingers together. Frea's head tilted a little at 'Nee-san' but she looked away and crossed her arms over her chest, standing a little ways away from the rest of the group with Moon beside her.

"Y-yeah... I may have.." Lucy replied lowly, looking as if she was trying to remember.

"Clothes?" Wendy asked with earnest interest.

"She must be better with he hands than I thought." Carla commented,

"That's cute." Erza smiled.

".. Although, the clothes were made with colored construction paper and flowers.." Michelle added in lowly, Lucy started at the words.

"Oh jeez.." Gray murmured with a small smile. Frea stiffened at the words and Moon's ears twitched a few times, both of them exchanging glances of the utmost confusion.

"Construction paper and flowers...?" Moon mumbled.

"For clothes?" Frea finished, both of them unable to think of an explanation for that.

"How do you make clothes with construction paper and flowers?!" Natsu asked suddenly, leaning in close to Gray. Gray blinked before looking skeptical,

"Well, think..." He murmured before but of them went off into a dream land of their own fantasies, grinning like little children. Frea growled a little and promptly let her fists come down on each of their heads, vein ticked on her forehead.

"Idiots..." She hissed as their faces hit the ground, it being fairly easy to figure out what had been going through their minds, and that it wasn't necessarily decent. They moved toward the doors of the building and entered at Erza's lead, leaving Frea to drag the still stunned Gray and Natsu inside behind her, still looking a little annoyed.

"Um... Where should we start?" Wendy asked as they went down a hallway,

"And what are we looking for anyway?" Carla put in as Erza came to a stop and turned to face them. Frea let to go Natsu and Gray so they could climb to their feet,

"That's why I had so many of us come here." Erza said simply, as if answering some unasked question. "We'll spread out in groups of two and search every room, look for clock parts, old clocks- anything that reminds you of those words. Books that have anything to do with ancient Potamelion, anything. Examine anything that makes you think, 'How about this?' " she looked to them all with a level gaze, "Understood?" She asked and they all nodded silently.

Frea cast one last look toward Michelle and Lucy as they moved off, not sure if she was exactly willing to let them go off alone- still not quite sure if Michelle would do anything.

Moon sensed this reluctant behavior in her Partner and sighed silently, before gently pulling at Frea's leg and motioning for her to follow. "Come on Frea, she'll be fine. I doubt Michelle will try anything with so many of us here."

Frea slowly followed her away and sighed, "I doubt she would too..." The Energy Dragon Slayer said in reply, "but still, I can't shake the feeling of... Uneasiness, I get."

"Its not like you to worry so much," Moon pointed out suddenly and Frea blinked. Her Partner was glancing up at her with the faintest signs of a smirk, "Usually you are very content to let things roll as they are- not brood on how things are gonna go."

Frea smiled slightly and nodded, rubbing the back of her me I and letting out a long breath. "I suppose you're right..."

"Of course I am." Moon answered and Frea smiled a bit more.

"Oh, so now you're all hot stuff." She smirked. "What happened to the modest side of you?" Moon shook her head at the teasing.

"Yeah, yeah... Where to?" Moon asked, changing the subject to the task at hand. They had begun to walk deeper into the building toward its center and for a moment they paused, looking every which way to see where they should go.

"Lets try here," Frea mumbled after a moment, not being able to sense anything in the house Magic-wise. She lead the way into a room, opening the door slowly to see it filled to the brim with stacked boxes and completely dark besides the light from a single grand window letting in the sun. Moon nodded a little at the choice and followed her inside, the two immediately stared to dig through the piles of old stuff in search of... Well, whatever the hell they were supposed to be looking for.

"Hey Frea," Moon called over to her Partner once they had been searching for a good while. She was standing on a box while going through another, just near the window. She cast a small glance back toward the Energy Dragon Slayer, to see her rifling away in a different box across the room.

"Hmm?" Frea asked, not lifting her head or glancing Moon's way as she continued what she was doing.

"I know it seems rather late to ask this but..." Moon murmured, sounding nervous. "... You never really explained what happened after you opened... The Gate in Nvindorr..."

"In simplicity... I almost died." Frea answered rather curtly, Moon's ears twitched at the rather cold tone. "... But you already guessed that, right?" She asked after a moment.

"Yes." Moon replied.

"... I don't really... Know what happened." Frea murmured. "Which isn't really true... I remember everything, I'm just still pretty.. Confused about it all." Frea's head shook a little. "... Jynx already explained the basics about what we did, and apart from that... There wasn't really anything else."

"... Do you still not know what it was that took control of you?" Moon asked, though she knew the answer already. Frea shook her head and closed her eyes,

"I don't have a clue... But it had to be something pretty powerful, especially considering I couldn't detect it or refuse its control over me."

"Do you think... Whatever it was is going to come after you again..?" Moon asked and Frea paused.

"Probably." Was the answer and Moon sweatdropped, ".. I wouldn't doubt it..." The Energy Dragon Slayer's voice trailed away.

Moon's ears perked at this, because only just now it occurred to her that Frea seemed to be jumping back and forth about saying something- as I she was unsure if such a thing should be spoken.

_But what..?_

"There was one other thing," Frea sighed. ".. Whatever it was that controlled me, I think it wanted the Power of the One released, because it _wanted_ that Power. That somehow it had a hunch it could control it." Frea said suddenly and Moon blinked in shock.

"Surely there isn't anything that could control that Power!" She said in shock and Frea shrugged a little.

"I don't know..." She mumbled and Moon stood still, trying to let the words process. She had only felt the force from the Power of the One very briefly and never in its full extent, and even then it was beyond a power she had ever felt. She couldn't honestly believe there was anything in this world that could control that much power...

"For now, Moon." Frea pulled her thoughts back to the task at hand. "Lets worry about what's happening now. We'll worry about everything that happened later, al-" suddenly Frea's voice died in an instant and her eyes snapped sideways, head tilted slightly as if she was trying to catch on to some sound. Moon was immediately alert, sensing that Frea had picked up on something that hadn't been there before.

"What is it?" She asked, sprouting wings and flying closer to her Partner.

"There are 2 people... In the Mansion..." Frea mumbled slowly before her eyes went wide and she grabbed on to Moon and jumped sideways away from the door they had moved in front of, just missing the huge oak slab that was suddenly launched off its hinges, about six times as big as it had been moments before.

"What in the hell..?!" Frea growled, releasing Moon and looking to the enlarged door.

"Two Mages alone, on the eastern side of the Mansion. One an Exceed and the other the affirmed Mage capable of bypassing Hughes' and SugarBoy's Magic- just as I predicted."


	33. Tiny!

**Chapter 33**

**Tiny!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

Frea growled under her breath, eyes trying to make the figures of whoever had showed up through the dust cloud that had risen. _Just as you predicted? What the hell!?_

The dust cleared to reveal the figure of a man wearing a full suit of armor, while carrying a grand shield and spear to go with it. Beside the man floated and Exceed- one dressed in robes with a large hat and spectacles upon his nose, holding a book at his side while looking toward them with a neutral stare.

"You are the first person we need to dispose of." The cat said with a wave of his paw at Frea, "According to my calculations- you have the most chance of beating us, and so you must be taken down first. After all, Ms. Frea; S-Class Wizard of Fairy Tail, you are not unknown- and surely are not to be taken lightly." Frea stiffened, and the Exceed's eyes switched to Moon. "After she is dealt with, the Copy-Cat will be taken care of as well." Moon frowned,

"Good luck with that, jack-ass!" Frea hissed, Magic erupting around her fist as she launched forward, intent on striking the strange Exceed.

"Dan." The Exceed said simply.

"Right!"

The man accompanying the Exceed sprung forward between Frea and her intended Target- much in the same manner Hughes had ordered Moon between the two of them- only this time Frea didn't even attempt to stop her hit from making contact.

The man- Dan apparently- smiled at Frea and lift his shield up between them. Her eyes flashed in irritation and she clenched her fist harder behind her, "Hello! My name is Dan Straight! Its a pleasure to meet such a pretty face such as yourself!"

_Is he flirting with me?!_

"Energy Dragon Iron Fist!" She swung forward and made contact with the shield, Dan was still smiling and she hated the goofy look.

Her hand was thrust backward by the reflected force of both her physical strength and her Magic all at once- her eyes went wide, immediately reminded of trying to punch at one of Chase's Ricochet Shields.

"Frea!" Moon hissed, but had to pause to dodge out of the way of the launched Magic that had bounced back from the shield.

Frea was thrown backward, twisting in midair and slamming a hand down on a box to flip herself over and land on her feet, eyes narrowed. Dan smiled, lowering his shield and looking to her.

"A pretty face who's super strong!" He cheered, lifting his spear up and nodding. Frea frowned, "I was looking forward to this!"

"We need this done quickly." The Exceed reminded softly,

"Sure thing!" Dan smiled and jumped forward toward Frea in the same instant she did the same.

"Energy Dragon Claws!" She hissed lowly, stepping down on a box at the last minute to get around his shield and strike out at his armor. Her finger-tips grazed the metal slightly as he shifted and she only managed to leave a few shallow scratches, from the corner of her eye she saw him lift his spear-

A sudden hit from his weapon into her side made her hiss. Then the room grew about ten times larger, and she found herself falling toward the floor with a churning sensation in her stomach. She had a hard time registering what happened.

First of all, why were there giant cubes around her? And why was the roof so high? And damn it, when did he manage to knock her off her feet?!

She hit the floor with a small bounce and blinked at the ceiling, still trying to understand... Dan, Moon and the other Exceed... _They were all giant..._

_WHAT?!_

"What the hell?!" She snapped, sitting up and jumping to her feet, looking this way and that while sweatdropping heavily. Her furious gaze fell upon the giant form of Dan, who smiled down at her. "What the hell did you do to me, you damn Bastard?!" Her magic sprung up around her, relatively small due to her new size- though surprisingly the feel of that power still seemed rather strong.

"Haha! My spear shrinks anything I want!" Dan smirked at her and a vein ticked on her forehead. He held the spear out toward a nearby box full of old things, "It can also enlarge things as I want!"

Suddenly the box of things he had been gesturing toward glowed with green light and grew to three times its size along with everything in it- sending a cascade of dust, as well as super enlarged books, junk, and everything else down upon Frea, who was now very, very small.

She was buried with a last yell of anger and lost to the mess, where the eyes of Dan turned toward Moon who had been getting ready for her next move.

Moon held a paw out toward Dan with narrowed eyes, a golden Magic Circle appearing before her. "Lets see how well you do against my Magic." She growled lowly, intending to disarm Dan's mind and avoid conflict.

Her eyes went wide, because as soon as she tried to so as she planned, her Magic was met with a solid wall, a block that wouldn't allow her to even get close to the armored man's mind- a feeling she was all too familiar with because of Frea.

"I predicted you would try to disarm Dan through use of your power related to Memory Magic." The other Exceed said in a monotone voice. "For this, I prepared a block be put up around our minds." Moon's eyes narrowed. "You will be dealt with quickly."

"You think you thought of everything, do you?" Moon hissed lowly, eyes dark and ears against her head. That Magic Circle before her paw shattered in a flash of red, her eyes flashing in anger as her eyes fixed upon Dan with an intense stare. "The block on your minds isn't half as powerful as the one on Frea's."

Dan's smile faded as he clutched his head in apparent pain, teeth gritting as he groaned. In his mind, it felt as if someone had climbed inside his skull and was striking out at the bone with a sword. His shield and spear dropped, no longer able to hold them and unable to move from his position.

Moon's fierce blue gaze turned to her fellow Exceed, who simply pushed his spectacles up his nose and sighed. "As expected, you were easily able to break the block." He mumbled, his ear twitched and he allowed a small hiss to escape his lips.

Moon tore down the block around the Exceed's mind and began to work her Magic, attempting to get him to back down and stand still. However, this time that wasn't so easy as it was with Dan. The spectacles of the Exceed flashed with light as he looked to Moon, his eyes hidden from view.

"However, by my calculations: my intellect is high enough to resist your control." He continued and Moon growled under her breath, unable to take control of the Exceed. He was smart, only those with a high level of intellect of skill could resist the control of Moon, and she hated the fact just now. But how this Exceed knew that...

"It would seem, as our intellects are around the same level, this will have to be decided by physical and magical means." The Exceed carefully took the spectacles from his nose, folded them, and stored them away. Moon tensed, paws clenching into fists and eyes narrowing more.

In a physical fight one on one, she wouldn't stand a chance. And since she couldn't manage to break through the level of control the other Exceed held over his mind, Memory Magic and any Mind Related Magic was out of the question. That only left Copy-Cat Magic.

"Dan, you continue on. I don't expect this will take long." The Exceed said to his motionless partner, who was still under the influence of Moon.

".. R... Right..."

Moon's eyes went wide as the other Exceed's body glowed a moment, and before her was the figure of an Exceed in a Battle Form not unlike Lily's. She sweatdropped, backing up a little and trying to come up with what to do.

She couldn't take Lily on in his Battle Form for long with all her Magic ability, and she doubted she would be capable of doing so with this Exceed since she couldn't use Memory Magic or anything of that sort...

He flew forward at an unreal rate and she snapped forward both paws, letting her Magic flare up. Her attention on Dan ceased, and the man made his way out immediately once he was in control of himself once more.

"Copy-Cat: Sandstorm!" The flurry of sand sprung up before her and streamed toward the other Exceed, who seemed all too ready for it and dodged with ease. He came at her from the left and she held a paw toward him that way, mind flashing to a move she had seen performed while scanning someone else's Memory, "Copy-Cat: Fairy Machine Gun!"

He was out of the way once more, easily evading the bullets of glittering light that streamed toward him. "So predictable." He muttered and was suddenly behind her. He brought his leg down upon her head in an instant, and she hit the floor with a painful cough- not being fast enough to keep up.

And then the other Exceed nudged the heavy bookcase behind her and it toppled over, crushing her with a pain-searing impact she yelled out a little, tears filling her eyes as the breath was driven from her. "Fuck..." She hissed, teeth gritted and eyes shut tight. The books fell around and over her, sending up more dust.

"Just as I calculated." Was all the other Exceed said as he changed back into his regular form and floated from the room without a second glance back.

* * *

 

_God damnit all! Graaaahhhh! How many times are these people gonna make a fool of me?! This is getting really annoying!_

"I'm so damn pathetic!" She hissed to herself, struggling under the enormous weight to the random objects pinning her down. "I keep getting beat damn it!"

She could hear things muffled, like the three were talking but she couldn't make it out under all the random stuffs.

"Moon?!" She yelled at the top of her lungs, doubting her tiny voice would carry very far or even be heard. She sweatdropped, concerned of what was happening with her Partner. She heard and felt the vibrations of a very large crash, and sweatdropped. She pushed her Magic to flare up in an effort to try and push the heavy book on top of her off- only feeling it lift slightly. She growled, becoming even more irritated.

This was getting annoying, these Legion people- they were a pain in the ass to her, they may very well be some of the few Mages she had this hard a time fighting, which in itself made her angry.

She hated herself for not using Absolute Control, if she had she may not be in this mess. For a moment she considered the idea of maybe turning herself back to normal, but she couldn't even begin to imagine how she would do such a thing. _Damn it.. Damn them!_

Her Magic flared brighter out of her increasing irritation, and she thrust up on the book with all her force. The book was shoved off with both her psychical strength and her Magic all together. She made her way up and around everything else, before managing to find her way out of the pile and see the roof again.

Her eyes widened and she rushed forward, "Moon!" She called, immediately spotting her Partner pinned under a huge bookcase, looking dazed. She stopped beside her now very large partner and tapped her paw, "You ok?" She asked quietly, earning an ear flick from Moon and one eye to look down at her.

"Uh... Sort of..." She mumbled and Frea sighed. "That hurt... A lot..." Moon blinked. "You are so _tiny."_

"Shut up... Can you get out?" She asked and Moon growled, trying to push herself out from under the bookcase. She stopped trying and sighed,

"I don't think so.." She mumbled, wincing slightly.

"Where did those two go?" She asked, finally taking notice that the man and the Exceed were gone from the room.

"They left," Moon muttered, "I warned Erza... But too late, she's already fighting." Frea narrowed her eyes and moved toward the heavy wood, letting her Magic flare up. "I warned everyone else too... Frea?" Moon struggled to shift her eyes and watch the movements of the miniaturized Dragon Slayer. "Look... I really don't think you're gonna have much luck moving this thing, being how small you are..."

"Gotta try." Frea muttered, placing her hands on the shelf and closing her eyes, focusing her Magic underneath it. It was pretty clear her Magic wasn't as powerful while she was like this, apparently Dan's magic didn't just shrink your body, it also made the amount of Power you had shrink too.

She focused on trying to force her Magic to push up on the bookcase, if only to lift it slightly so Moon could wiggle free. She started, and found her efforts almost for nothing- the bookcase felt like she was trying to move the entire Mansion... It lift slightly and she clenched her jaw, eyes scrunching closed hard as a bead of sweat appeared on her forehead.

This was definitely not going to be her week, the way it had already started out and the way it was going now...

She forced her Magic up against the bookcase harder, feeling her Power increasing by the minute as she let more and more flow freely.

Her Magic was great for fighting against Hughes... It may even prove so if she had used Absolute Control when going for Dan...

The bookcase began lifting a bit more and she pushed harder,

But even then, she was still getting beat when she fought these people, it was embarrassing, it was annoying... And she hated it.

She let her Magic flow faster, push harder, the bookcase was still lifting slowly. Moon blinked in surprise, even with Frea's Magic limited to her new size, she could still feel the raw power from it, as if it really wasn't changed at all.

_I'm not invincible... People can defeat me, I'm not always going to win... Even with all my Power... But hell if I'm giving up without a fight until I get back at these bastards!_

In that instant she ignited her Magic so it had the effect of being an Energy Bomb, and the bookcase jumped high enough to leave Moon time to roll away before it hit the floor with a loud crash again. Frea jumped back, taking a deep breath and letting her Magic fade.

"You ok?" She asked, taking a small seat and looking to Moon who was lying on her stomach with her eyes closed.

"My back's killing me..." She mumbled and Frea smiled sympathetically. ".. How did you manage that?" Frea blinked and Moon looked at her.

"What?"

"Moving it, your so tiny, and so's your Magic." Moon asked and Frea smirked a little.

"Being small doesn't mean I can't pack a punch with my Magic." She smiled and Moon laughed a little, slowly picking herself up. "We should make sure everyone else is ok."

"You read my mind." Moon smiled and grabbed Frea in her paw, sprouted wings and they flew off.

* * *

 

"It looks like Natsu got hit by that Dan guy too.." Moon mumbled as the hovered before a shattered window, and they looked down upon the courtyard behind the large mansion- where everyone was, looking confused and miffed.

Moon's attention had immediately caught on to the small figure of Natsu, who was yelling insults this way and that- though his voice was so small it couldn't be distinguished what he said very well.

Everyone else was standing around, looking both embarrassed, confused, and annoyed. They weren't hurt at least, but Frea huffed from where she stood in Moon's paw- already feeling that Dan and the Exceed had made off already, even in the short time they had made their way here. The fight must have been short...

"What the hell happened?!" The Energy Dragon Slayer yelled, she felt that their group had been beaten- _again... Damn it!_

Wendy's head snapped up toward them, blinking and seeming as if she was the only one who had heard her correctly, while everyone else glanced around. The small Dragon Slayer's eyes widened and she sweatdropped,

"Oh dear..." Wendy murmured, Moon flew down and reiterated what had been asked- but a lot calmer.

"What happened?" Her Exceed Partner asked.

"We found a clue," Erza said, "But as you warned, we were attacked... And beaten, but our adversaries left."

"I can't believe we got beat again, and so easily." Gray muttered rather hotly. His feelings were shared with everyone else, all these defeats were just embarrassing.

"Is everyone alright?" Moon asked, blinking.

"Everyone is fine, they didn't even take what we found." Erza muttered, looking miffed herself for having been beaten so easily. "Well, everyone beside Natsu." She said with a flick of her head toward the miniature Salamander. Erza blinked, "Where's Frea?"

"I'm right here!" Frea snapped, her temper short. Erza's eyes snapped to the figure in Moon's paw and she sweatdropped, much like everyone else did as they came up around Moon and her Partner.

"You were shrunk just like Natsu." Lucy mumbled,

"Never thought I'd see you like this." Gray commented, leaning in closer to get a better look. Frea growled,

"Shut it, Popsicle." She hissed dangerously and he leaned away, quite able to tell she wasn't in a good mood and didn't feel like testing her. Though, she couldn't do much to him at any rate with her current size.

"How are we supposed to change back?!" Natsu yelled, having been brought up by Happy. He shared the same disgruntled look Frea held and both of them looked to those around for an answer.

"I don't know.." Erza murmured, then waved her hand. "But never mind that, we must do focus on what's at hand." She said, quickly changing the subject- and not to the happiness of either Frea nor Natsu.

"What was this 'clue' you guys found?" Moon asked, very happy to steer away from the tiny, extremely annoyed Dragon Slayers for now.

Lucy presented a small children's book, "It was this- the story of the 'Key of the Starry Heavens'." She explained. "I used to read it a lot when I was younger, it tells the story of a great clock. It had something to do with everything I had read up in the clock hand- and since those guys were after it, its definitely something important."

"Why didn't they take it then?" Moon questioned, blinking.

"The other Exceed, he said he memorized the book." Carla explained and Moon blinked. "In only just a few moments at that, then he gave it back and they took off."

"Hmm..." Moon murmured, her eyes closing a moment. "... He has an even higher level of intellect than I thought..." The grey Exceed murmured almost to herself, then opened her eyes again. Frea glanced to Moon a moment, feeling that her Partner had made an extra mental note on the information she must be beginning to collect on their foes- just as Master had asked her to do so.

"I believe it best to head back to the Guild." Erza said, "We can ask the Master about what we found..." The red-head glanced to Frea and Natsu. "... And see if he has any idea how to turn you two back to normal."

* * *

 

"Oh... He's so cute!" Mira smiled sweetly down at Natsu from where he sat on Happy's head, still tiny and still miffed.

"I'm not sure that's really important..." Cana murmured with a small smile.

They had come back to the Guild, and to their luck- Master wasn't around, so both Natsu and Frea, were stuck in their new small forms for the time being. _Why is he gone all the time now anyway? First he was holed up in his office forever, and now he's nowhere to be found!_

"You're pretty cute too, Frea." Mira smiled as she glanced toward the other miniaturized member of the Guild, who sat in the bar with Moon beside her, arms crossed. She shot Mira a dirty look, not at all in the mood for her teasing.

"Shut it, Mira." She muttered, Mira just smiled a little more.

Everyone had gathered around Natsu, whether because he as more fun to mess with like this, or because everyone thought it better not to tick Frea off- they left her alone at least.

Lucy was at a table by herself though, reading through the book they had brought back from her old home.

"Hey Max," Gray said as he picked Natsu up by his scarf and turned toward the Sand Mage. "Maybe you should open up your shop again, I'm sure you'd have a pretty good time selling little Natsu's." Natsu wriggled in Gray's hand while shouting insults, Max only smiled nervously in return. But Gray's suggestion brought up a chorus of laughter, laughter that didn't make everyone happy.

"Gah! Guys! Be quiet, I'm trying to read!" Lucy snapped, and the laughter died instantly. The blonde sighed and stood up, walking toward the gathered group. "This book... I think my father tried to follow it." She said and everyone blinked.

"What do you mean?" Gray asked.

"The story tells of a little girl who is told she'll be happy if she goes off and collects these six special keys, so she starts looking for them. But in the end, the people around her become unhappy."

"What kind of ending is that?" Happy muttered.

"If you keep interrupting we won't be able to understand the story at all!" Carla snapped at the tom-cat, Happy sighed, looking downcast.

"Aye... Sorry."

"So then?" Erza pressed of the blonde.

"It says, 'The first key goes on a journey'." Lucy continued.

"How can a key go on a journey?!" Natsu asked, Frea sighed.

"Its just a metaphor, you idiot." She muttered, Natsu looked to her.

"What the hell is that?!" He asked again and she blinked, a vein ticking in her forehead while Moon sweatdropped beside her.

"How can you be so stupid?" Frea muttered as her patience was running even lower, Natsu just stared. The level of ignorance Natsu seemed to hold at times was perplexing at its finest... She didn't understand him sometimes and it pissed her off- especially now.

"Where did the first key come to?" Erza butted in,

"... _Here_ , Legion came after the Clock Hand." Lucy said, "That means, the 'key went on a journey'- because Michelle brought it here." The blonde affirmed. "And that's when all the attacks started." Everyone nodded, Lucy looked to the book in her hands.

"The little girl went on a journey to find the remaining five keys... And she found them in various places." Lucy announced as she began to flip through the pages. "In the end, she finds the sixth key in a church..."

"A church?" Erza asked, "Such as Kardia Cathedral?"

"Not there though," Lucy replied.

"How do you know?"

"Well... I loved this book as a child, and researched it quite a bit." Lucy murmured. "What I found was that each of the places in the book were modeled after a real location... I think my father scattered the five remaining pieces of the clock, hiding one in each place of the book." Lucy suddenly turned to Michelle who had been listening in silence. "You didn't know about any of this?" She asked.

Michelle's face turned to one of sadness, and she turned away slightly. "No... Shortly before he passed away, he didn't speak much..." Frea's eyes narrowed at the sight of tears in Michelle's eyes... She growled under her breath at them. Lucy looked away after a short pause,

"Anyway, I believe if we go to these five places- I'm positive we'll be able to obtain the last five parts of the clock." Everyone blinked in shock, Lucy narrowed her eyes a little. "I don't know why Legion is after those Clock Parts, but we can't let them succeed after seeing the prophecy about chaos descending!" Lucy clenched a fist, "I'm going to look for them." She said firmly.

"By yourself?" Natsu asked and Lucy nodded.

"Yeah, Master told me to leave this alone but I can't stop thinking about it..." Frea blinked once,

Apparently Master had told Lucy to leave all of this alone before-hand, but that was only a sure sign he knew more than he was letting on about all this...

"What are we gonna do?" Gray turned to Erza. "Legion has probably figured all of this out already, and if I'm right- this is becoming a race against time." Erza let out a small 'hmm' and closed her eyes.

Frea's attention snapped to the door, she had been aware of a familiar Energy Signature drawing closer to the building before- "When the remaining parts are all gathered, it is uncertain of what will happen exactly." Master's voice reached them as he appeared in the entrance to the Hall and all eyes turned to him. He closed his eyes and sighed, "However... 'Chaos upon the world' must be avoided."

Lucy's eyes went wide, because it sounded as if Master was... Giving into letting her pursue this. Frea let out a low breath, even Master was smart enough to realize that ignoring this wasn't a good idea...

"Hey Gramps!" Natsu sprang to his feet and Master opened his eyes, blinking. "Can you turn me back to normal?" Master looked him over and raised a finger,

"Nope." Was the simple answer and the pinkette deflated- Frea just stared. _Seriously... ? Did you even think about it, Old Man?_

"Lets split up into groups." Erza said, taking charge at some unspoken order. "Each one will go to a seperate location to retrieve a part of the clock." They all nodded.

"Gray and and Juvia." Gray moaned and Juvia nearly jumped for joy.

"Jet, Droy, Levy and Lily." Each one nodded.

"Natsu, Happy, Michelle, Moon, Frea and Romeo." Erza looked to all of them and they nodded too, though Frea had to wonder why so many..?

_Oh right.. Natsu and I are tiny._

She zoned out as Erza called together the last of the groups, not particularly bothered by knowing them for now. At least she had the chance to keep an eye on Michelle, even if she was this size and all... When they were ready to go, the rest of her group would let her know, so she was content to sit and wait.

"I wonder where we'll be headed?" Moon murmured, Frea shrugged her shoulders and let her eyes close.

"Beats me.." She mumbled.

"Calmed down yet?" Frea's head tilted a little at the teasing tone in her Partner's voice.

"Yes..." She mumbled. "Your back still hurt?" She asked, remembering the bookcase that had fallen on her Partner earlier.

"I'm still sore, but I'm fine." Moon replied softly, Frea just nodded. Her eyes snapped open at the feel of Magic appearing in the hall suddenly, and she blinked once as she tried to quickly determine what it was-

_**SLAM!** _

The breath was driven from her as something extremely heavy fell on top of her with a painful thud, _what in the hell?!_

The smell of mold and sharp tang of ancient blood hit her nose, with the relatively old smell of leather. She scowled, catching her breath as best she could, "You picked... The wrong damn time to try and drop on my head!" She snapped furiously, trying to push the heavy weight of the 'Energy Magic' book off of her, immediately realizing it had appeared in the hall on its own will- again.

Moon sweatdropped, getting to her paws and reaching out toward the book, looking quite confused. "How the hell did it get here?" She asked.

"By itself!" Frea huffed, even more irritated. "It does that, and its annoying."

"By itself?" Moon echoed, suddenly looking concerned. "Frea... Its a book..."

Suddenly the book shifted and swung open, the pages making noise as they flipped rapidly all on their own accord. Moon jumped back a little, sweatdropping more. The pages stopped, and Moon looked down at them with an expression of haunting and terror, her face darkened and she sweatdropped more, her jaw dropped slightly, she even trembled a little.

Frea felt the fear from her Partner instantly and her annoyance at the book disappeared in way of feeling her Partner's emotions so suddenly. Moon felt that fear as she looked to the open book, but Frea couldn't see what was on the open pages-

With another sharp slam of the book, and the breath knocked from Frea once more, Moon promptly shut the book and pulled it off her Partner, dropping it back on the counter beside them. The grey Exceed had managed to get rid of the horrified look in a moment, and instead looked reserved if not a little angry.

"Tch..." Moon hissed and Frea sat up, blinking in confusion.

"Moon..?" She asked but didn't get a reply.

The sudden interruption had been noticed by many in the Guild, who most crowded around with looks of confusion. They all blinked at the book, many of them recognizing it from when Frea had brought it to the Guild Hall a few times some time ago now.

Frea didn't care about the others in the Guild at the moment though, and she didn't even care the book had showed up anymore. Her eyes remained fixed upon Moon, who had closed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest with a disgusted look on her face.

How fast she had changed her mood... How fast fear had appeared in her Partner, and how fast she had managed to repress it into anger...

What could Moon have seen in the book that had caused that? She was fairly certain her Partner couldn't read the language in which it was written, and even if she could- how could she have read anything so quickly?

_Moon... What did you see..?_


	34. On We Go

**Chapter 34**

**On We Go**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

"... It had to be... A boat..." Frea mumbled lowly, lying in her stomach atop the table that Moon sat at, trying we best not to retch all over the place as her stomach flipped and tumbled in tune with the feel of the boat rocking over the waves.

Moon looked toward her with a sympathetic smile. "I didn't think you got motion sickness?" She murmured and Frea huffed a little. "Clearly I was wrong." She chuckled.

"... Shut up..."

Moon glanced away toward the neighboring table where Natsu was suffering just as Frea was, and she shook her head. "You know..." Happy murmured. ".. I'm the strongest one on this team now!" He smiled and everyone looked toward him, blinking. "With Natsu and Frea all tiny, we're left with Lucy whose so-so, Romeo and Michelle." Happy grinned. "That means I'm our best asset. I'll protect you guys!"

"Hey! I'm strong too!" Romeo snapped,

"Happy... Romeo... No offense... But..." Frea mumbled, "... I think Moon has you beat..." Happy's smile faded and Romeo glared, and Moon smiled at them apologetically.

"Oh right..." The tom-cat sighed, "Copy-Cat Magic..."

"Tch... Whatever..." Romeo huffed indignantly.

"Sorry to steal your thunder, Happy." Moon murmured, getting up to give the Exceed a small pat on the shoulder. Lucy and Michelle smiled a little, Natsu just groaned and Frea closed her eyes.

She had tried to get Moon to talk about what she had seen in the Energy Magic book when it showed up in the Guild Hall. She didn't get anything out of her though... It would seem Moon really didn't want to say anything about it. And yet, the horrified look she had seen on Moon's face would not leave her mind... She couldn't remember the last time she had seen her Partner look like that, and she didn't like it.

Her eyes shifted sideways when she noticed a group of four men all wearing the same outfit approach the band of Fairy Tail Wizards, and she blinked a few times. "You... You're Fairy Tail Wizards aren't you?" The man at the head, who looked the youngest of the four asked and Lucy looked up with everyone else.

"Yes, and you are?" The blonde murmured, standing up from where she had previously been sitting.

"Actually, we're the Archeological Society." The man answered,

"Archeological Society?" Lucy echoed.

"Indeed." A smaller man beside the first answered. "Actually, we've heard rumor that Fairy Tail is seeking out certain clock parts."

Frea blinked, _how the hell was that a rumor already?_ Her surprise was shared, because everyone else stiffened in shock. "Where did you hear that?" Michelle asked.

"Well, that doesn't matter does it?" A third man answered curtly, Frea narrowed her eyes.

"Information's leaking out..." Moon mumbled beside her, she nodded slightly but Moon didn't see it.

"You don't think there could be a traitor in the Guild do you?!" Michelle asked, shaking at the thought and looking a little frantic.

"What do you mean?" Happy mumbled.

"I'm sure that Legion had strict information control. Its hard to imagine an information leak coming from them." Michelle's brought her hands up to her mouth and sweatdropped at the thought. "That means the information could have only come from someone in the Guild..."

"There's just no way!" Lucy replied immediatley as she turned toward Michelle defensively, and Frea found herself agreeing. Unless some dumb-ass at the Guild got drunk and started blabbing, there really wasn't a way in hell any of their members would start giving out information on something like this for no reason. They were too smart to slip up and do that, Frea couldn't believe any if the Guild's Members would talk... Her eyes narrowed at Michelle as a feeling of further distrust seeped into her stomach.

"Its really not for me to say, since I don't know everyone that well!" Michelle added in quickly, looking a bit panicked at how Lucy had reacted. Frea shut her eyes as the boat rocked and her stomach flipped- though she could hear Moon mutter some things beside her in a slightly disgusted tone.

"... Not for _you_ to say is right, there is no way anyone in the guild said anything... Tch..." Moon hissed lowly so only Frea could hear her, and she could feel those emotions of distrust and contempt she felt start to come off her Partner in waves. At least she and Moon were on the same page when it came to Michelle.

"I feel sick..." Natsu moaned.

"You should be worrying about other things!" Lucy snapped at the pinkette in a fit of annoyance. "In fact, you get sick too much from riding on transportation!"

Romeo smiled nervously at the furious blonde and turned to the 'Archeological Society' as they waited before them. "Uh.. You were saying?"

"Actually, we would like you to cease your quest to collect the pieces of the clock, actually." The first of the men went on. Frea blinked,

"Why?" Lucy asked.

"You say 'actually' too much!" Happy shot in.

"We've heard that the components have been dispersed and hidden in ruins and churches." The second man took over, suddenly lifting the telescope in his hand to peer at the group. "You intend to collect the pieces all together don't you?"

"How do you know all of that?" Lucy asked quietly, looking very perturbed by how much information these men knew. Frea would feel the same way, but she was hardly focusing- the wind picked up as the boat was rocking harder, which did nothing to help with her motion-sickness.

The first and tallest of the men stepped up right into Lucy's face, lifting a finger and causing the blonde to lean back. "Actually, we believe that from an archeological standpoint "Key of the Starty Heavens" is extremely significant, actually."

Moon's ears twitched, "They know about the story too..?"

Lucy sweatdropped, "What do you mean?"

"Actually, its thought that story identifies important places from an archeological standpoint, such as ancient ruins and churches. Actually, there's a hypothesis that the places the girl in the book looks for are modeled in real locations." The man leaned in closer, "Actually, we in the Archeological Society wish to identify those places and protect them as part of our cultural heritage."

_Wait, don't we already know where these places are?_

"Searching for the pieces of the clock would do damage to the ruins you see," the second man put in.

"Therefore, we would like you to forget about the clock." The third man finished.

"Forget about it?" Lucy echoed with a nervous smile. "From the book, I quickly figured out about the ruins..." She smiled a little more and sweatdropped. ".. And that's when I was only a small girl.."

"Huh?!" The Archeological Society stiffened in utter shock as they stared at Lucy with wide eyes- looking as if they couldn't believe Lucy had figured everything out so easily.

"Lucy.. You're smarter than I thought." Happy murmured, looking surprised. Lucy frowned slightly,

"There was no need for the 'than I thought'..." She muttered.

The man at the front leaned forward as if he was about to speak, but faltered, narrowing his eyes. "Lucy..?" He murmured. His eyes grew wide and he leaned forward more, "Lucy! Forget about the clock!" He yelled now with more vigor than before,

"There's no way I can forget about it!" Lucy shot back, the man leaned away and blinked.

"Why not?" The second man asked, Lucy's fists clenched at her sides.

"Because of the last words my father left me before he died!" She replied, the men looked taken aback. "He waited for me for seven years... My father..." Her voice cracked a little, tears appeared at the corner of her eyes. "... Believed in me and in the end, entrusted me to keep chaos from descending on the world. I can't forget something as important as that!"

Frea opened one eye to look Lucy's way, suddenly feeling a little sorry for her... Even though Lucy fought to hide it, when it came to her father or her family, she was still rather torn up about it.

Frea sighed a little, she herself couldn't really relate.. At least not in the same way. She couldn't remember a father... And her only mother she remembered was Chaitanya. Of course, she had lost the Energy Dragon but she had hope that she was going to show up some time.

But she felt the sadness flowing off Lucy easily despite her determination to find what they were looking for. She closed her eyes and sighed, perhaps doing this would bring Lucy some closure... She paused, her mind flashing to the Energy Signature of Michelle, and she frowned.

"Actually... Actually..." The man stammered, before straightening up with stars in his eyes. "That was a really beautiful speech, actually!"

"You can really feel the great familial love!" The second man smiled. They all nodded,

"Frea... I don't feel good..." Frea looked up as Natsu stumbled toward her across the table, his cheeks puffed up and arms hanging at his sides limply.

"Don't come complaining to me.. Natsu..." She muttered, "I don't feel good either..." He fell on top of her and she huffed, he was splayed out and heavy, not daring to move anymore. But why did he have to fall on her anyway?! "Tch... Natsu... Get off me..." She hissed,

"I can't move... Too... Sick..." He mumbled, breaking off to cover his mouth.

"Don't throw up on me or I'll kick your ass into next week!" She snapped, much more irritated now.

And then suddenly the wind picked up immensely, Lucy and the others braced themselves against it- but it was so strong, it picked Natsu up easily.

And Natsu held on to Frea.

"Let go of me Natsu!" She yelled, feeling them lifted up in their small size by the wind, and eyes wide at where they would be ending up. The water was below them, they had been blown off the side of the boat! Or rather- Natsu had, and being the dumb-ass he was- he took Frea with him. She tried to get of of his arms, as they hooked around her stomach, but he wouldn't let go.

"Natsu! Frea!" Lucy, Moon, Happy and Romeo yelled, running to the side of the boat just as the two miniaturized Dragon Slayers hit the water.

Natsu still wasn't letting Frea go, though she was practically pushing against his face in an attempt to get him to let up- but his arms were locked on their own will, a reaction to being blown away and feeling so sick he hardly noticed what he was doing.

"Flame-brain! Let me go!" She snapped, vein ticked on her forehead and glaring at Natsu, who was still trying not to throw up as the waves bombarded their small forms- having the same affect of the boat ride on the Fire Dragon Slayer.

And then suddenly there were a series of splashes, Frea turned her gaze away from Natsu to see the figures of four men all wearing the same uniform swimming out toward them. She blinked, sweatdropping.

"What in the hell are they doing?" She mumbled, quite confused.

The arms of all four men shot out at once toward Frea and Natsu, where they were grabbed by those of the Archeological Society and promptly flung into the air, being launched back toward the boat.

"Return to your true forms!" The Society called all at once, Frea felt Magic surge through her body at the touch- Magic she didn't recognize... Magic she immediately knew the purpose of as the feel of it rushed through her.

In a flash of green, Frea felt her world turn around and she knew immediately what happened. Her hand grabbed on to the back of Natsu's shirt midair and she shook him loose, holding him up as she landed on the deck of the boat neatly- where she quickly let the pinkette hit the ground with a thump by releasing her hold on his shirt.

The members of the temporary band stood in awe at the two- both Frea and Natsu had been changed back to their true sizes. "You're back to normal!" Romeo, Happy and Lucy exclaimed with smiles.

Frea sighed, smiling slightly and rolling her shoulders. Damn it felt good to be regular size again... She glanced back toward the Archeological Society as they bobbed in the water, not looking to get back on the ship.

"But how?" Lucy asked, looking to the band in the sea for an answer.

"Actually, we know a bit of Magic too!" The head man at the front called out, "So we have turned your friends back to normal."

Moon blinked, "How did they know what could change Natsu and Frea back?" She wondered aloud,

Natsu got to his feet and gave the hand of men a toothy smile, waving to them. "Haha! Thanks guys!" He called and they nodded. Frea waved once and smiled in her own gesture of thanks, they nodded to her as well.

"Lucy, pursue this course if you wish! And good luck to you!" The men called out the last words as they were lost to distance and couldn't be heard anymore.

Natsu fell backward, his cheeks puffed up again and he groaned. Frea slid down to sit on her heels, her eyes closing and suppressing her own groan- as their motion-sickness caught up with them again.

"I think I preferred the water..." She mumbled,

"They were an odd bunch weren't they?" Moon asked with a small smile, paws crossed over her chest. Lucy nodded along with Romeo,

"They were..." Lucy agreed, then smiled. "But lucky thing they knew how to change Frea and Natsu back." She looked to the two motion-sick members of the party.

"After all, where would we be without our two strong Dragon Slayers?"

* * *

 

"There... There's nothing here..." Lucy mumbled as they stood atop a hill overlooking the landscape before them- endless miles of desert all around.

"Damn..." Natsu mumbled, taking a seat and letting out a sigh.

Frea narrowed her eyes at the expanse, looking for anything out of the ordinary among the heat waves rolling off the sand. She was faintly aware of everyone but Moon and Romeo moving back a bit and starting up.. Lunch.

"This is where the spot's supposed to be..." Moon murmured. "... Well, 'supposed' to be anyway..."

Frea narrowed her eyes a bit more, but focused most of her attention on casting her senses out over the desert as far as she could manage, trying to pick out anything.

Anything that could indicate Magic or any Energy Signature's of living things... She let out a low sigh when she picked up on the feel of Old and unfamiliar Magic she would most identify with the sort of Magic lingering over Lucy's memento before it was taken.

"Hmm?" Romeo murmured beside her, a hand up to shadow his eyes as he leaned forward. "Natsu, there's something shinning out there." The small Mage said and glanced back to see everyone well into eating food behind them, not paying any attention. "Natsu?"

Moon floated up beside Frea's shoulder, having noticed where her Partner's gaze was riveted. "You sense what Romeo is seeing?" She asked and Frea nodded.

"Yes, its out there." Frea replied. She caught the flash of light reflecting off of whatever held the feel of Magic she was picking up on, knowing it was what Romeo had seen too. She found herself a little surprised he had seen it so fast, and placed a hand on Romeo's head to call his attention to her. She smiled a little, "Good eye kid." She told him and he blinked in surprise, before smiling in a flustered way.

"T-thanks.." He chuckled and she drew her hand away, from the corner of her eye she saw Moon give Romeo a smile and a small thumbs up when the young Mage looked toward the Exceed with a questioning gaze.

Frea turned to the group sitting behind them, half-way through their meal. She placed her hands on her hips and sighed, shaking her head a little.

How fast they would get sidetracked was amazing...

"Guys," she murmured, they looked toward her. "There is something here, why don't we go find out what it is?"

* * *

 

Their group stopped just before the gold surface of some ancient object floating in pieces just over the sand- held up by its own power from what Frea could tell.

"What the hell is this?" Natsu muttered, looking the odd form over as they all were.

"Do you think this may be an entrance?" Michelle asked.

"But how did it get out here?" Lucy asked,

"And what is it supposed to do?" Moon murmured, tapping a paw to her chin as her pale blue eyes scanned the strange markings welded into the metal.

Frea blinked, her eyes snapping from where she had been looking to the strange object, to Natsu- who she sensed moved and his Magic flared up suddenly.

"Everyone, watch out!" He ordered, springing forward with a fire-encased fist as he slammed it into the surface of the object, everyone started at the action.

"Cut it out!" Lucy yelled,

"What the hell are you doing dumb-ass?!" Frea snapped, her own fist coming up to hit the pinkette out of irritation. Natsu suddenly stopped though, his eyes wide and Frea stopped too- because there was a lot of pain radiating from him suddenly, and then there was a small, but distinctive sound of something cracking.

Natsu jumped back with a yell of pain, cradling a hand that was already bruised from punching the golden object so fiercely. Her eyes moved from him toward the metal- feeling the rise of... Nullification Magic fade from it, something she hadn't caught before.

"Looks like Magic doesn't work on it.." Frea murmured lowly, running her hand across the thing slowly. "There's a Nullification Charm over it.. A strong one." A type of Nullification Charm infused with the metal like the Dorma Anim had possessed back in Edolas. However this charm was quite a bit stronger than the one on the Dorma Anim, otherwise Natsu may have done some damage.

"You idiot, why would you try that?" Lucy sighed in exasperation. "We'll get nothing out of it if you break it!"

"Do you think there's a way to activate it?" Michelle murmured from where she was looking the object over with Romeo close by.

"Are we even sure its an entrance?" Moon asked, looking skeptical. The gray Exceed glanced to Frea, "Does it feel... Dangerous to you?"

"Objects don't usually feel like that." Frea replied. "Sure, they may have Magic to them... But things don't usually feel 'good' or 'bad' unless they're living, really powerful, or possess a separate Energy Signature not their own..." She paused. "But I would say no. The Magic with this thing seems rather docile to me."

"What's this..?" Romeos murmured, earning their attention. "Could this be... A keyhole?"

"But.. We don't have a key." Michelle murmured, Lucy stepped up.

"If that's the problem then leave it to me!" She smiled, holding a key before her. "Open! Gate of the Giant Crab: Cancer!"

In a moment, Cancer appeared before them. "What can I do for you, baby?"

"Could you open this lock for us?" Lucy asked, gesturing toward an opening in the center of the lock that did indeed look like a keyhole.

"With scissors?" Happy murmured.

"Sure thing, baby." Cancer smirked as he set to work picking the lock.

Everyone began to gather around behind Cancer as the Spirit set to work, Natsu came up beside Frea- still clutching his hand and face pulled into a frown.

Frea glanced his way and smiled sympathetically, he cast her a sideways glance and huffed. "You know Natsu, if you had given me a moment to get a feel for this thing, I could have told you Magic wouldn't work." She said softly and he huffed again.

"Shut up..." He muttered crossly, irritated by the pain in his hand, she could still feel that pain now though it had dimmed a little- she would guess he had broken a few of the bones hitting the 'entrance' so hard, if the cracking sound she had heard earlier wasn't an indication.

Everyone moved before the two of them as they peered over Cancer's shoulder, trying to see what was going on as best they could, leaving Frea and Natsu in the very back. Frea shook her head and smiled softly, reaching out and grabbing Natsu's hand gently.

Natsu winced and gave her a confused look, "What are you-?"

"You're probably going to need your hand later." Frea murmured, her eyes fixed on his hand and not on his eyes. "But do try to learn patience, ok?" She smirked, her eyes closing a moment as her hand glowed with soft silver light.

Natsu starred, not quite understanding what she was doing... But then he felt warmth flood into his hand at her touch, and he looked down to see her Magic rise up a little. The pain receded and he blinked, his ears easily catching on to Frea murmuring something under her breath, "Morana Drearand." Something in what he guessed was the Dragon Language, and he didn't understand it.

Frea pulled her hand away and let go of his, opening her eyes and giving him a toothy grin. He opened and closed that very same hand a few times, the pain was gone completely and the bruises were too... Like he had never hurt it trying to hit the entrance.

_Healed..?_

"How did you...?" He murmured, his eyes snapping up to Frea in shock. Only Wendy would heal people, or at least he thought only the little Dragon Slayer was capable of that-

Frea shook her head and winked, "Its complicated, Natsu." She murmured, "Just be happy it's fixed."

He could only stare, completely dumbfounded and having a hard time processing what she had just done. Why wouldn't he have known Frea could do that? He had known her for so long and yet this had never shown up...

Their attentions turned toward something else though, as Cancer managed to unlock the object and Frea stiffened at the feel of Magic flowing from it so suddenly and at such a strong force. Her head snapped to it, and she could feel the ground starting to shake under their feet.

The Magic rose and she felt it hit the ground under them as some sort of invisible barrier was thrown open- just as the sand under their feet erupted and they were thrown down, almost in the exact same way Moon, Happy, Lucy, and Natsu had fallen back in Nvindorr when Frea had opened the Gate. Only this time, it was a shaft lined with bricks that dropped down a ways, there was light- and it wasn't spilling wild Magic.

"Frea!" Moon gasped, reacting rather quickly as she grabbed onto the Energy Dragon Slayer to keep her from falling as everyone else was sent downward. It wasn't a long fall, and they had sand to land on at any rate.

"Thanks.." Frea murmured, blinking at the hole in surprise. "I wasn't... Expecting that..." Moon nodded. "You guys ok?" She called down into the cloud that had risen up, where she could hear the moans of those who had hit the ground.

"We're alive at least..." Romeo mumbled, Frea smiled a little and Moon flew down before letting her go.

"You forget you could fly?" Moon chuckled a little, lighting down to walk over and help pull Happy to his feet, who looked dazed.

"Aye..." He mumbled, taking Moon's paw and getting to his feet. Frea moved over and offered Lucy a hand, Natsu helped Michelle to her feet.

"I guess the place was under the desert, huh?" Lucy smiled a little, looking up at the shaft that had dropped them in.

Romeo moved across the space they had landed in, a small little corridor lined with brick with a single, circular door in one end, sealed shut. Frea followed him over with the others not far behind.

"Looks like another door," Lucy murmured.

"But this one doesn't have a keyhole." Happy mumbled, motioning to the whole and smooth surface of the door. Natsu patted it with his hand and frowned,

"Magic won't work on this either..." He muttered a little crossly. Moon blinked and glanced to Frea,

"Do you think you could bypass this?" The grey Exceed asked of her Dragon Slayer Partner. Frea glanced down at her a moment, then at the door with narrowed eyes.

"Oh right! Like you managed to hit the big monster with Magic on your S-Class Exam." Happy said,

"Would that be possible?" Lucy asked,

Frea stepped toward the door and placed a hand on its face and closed her eyes, "It might be possible." She murmured lowly. Yes, the material of this door was made of the same material that had made Natsu's Magic impossible against the earlier object. It was a Nullification Charm, and theoretically- she should be able to bypass it.

If she could foil the Nullification Magic of a Demon of the Book of Zeref, how hard could a door be?

She drew her hand away and clenched her fist, letting her Magic flare up around it and her eyes opened. She activated her 'Absolute Magic Control' and swung her fist forward,

Her fist stopped with only a small space between the entrance and it, her Magic still blazing around it with cold light, Frea's eyes narrowed as everyone else blinked.

Something clicked in her head, a strange feeling over came her, and she knew immediately that this wasn't going to work. Her Magic wouldn't leave a mark on this thing, and she inwardly knew it.

Weird really, because the only reason she could come up with as to why it wouldn't work- was because the Nullification Charm was so ancient. The Magic of the Demon from Zeref was ancient in its own right too, but this was Nullification Magic of a different caliber.

It wasn't so much the door would take hold of her Magic and crush it. To Frea, it felt more as if the door, the material it was made of... Just wouldn't take it. Like, she could hit it over and over with every shred of Magic she had and it wouldn't do anything- because the door didn't, and wouldn't feel the power. Magic wasn't something that could touch and harm this door... Because this sort of Nullification Magic, this ancient form of it that had probably fallen out of living use, was made to be numb to Magic, and that made Magic useless.

No amount of power was going to do anything to this door, because the charm on the material it was made out of didn't recognize Magic as anything at all- like it was nothing, and 'nothing' wouldn't do anything.

For a minute she sort of found it odd how easily she managed to pick up on all of this about the charm put on the door... But she forgot about it pretty soon.

"It won't work." She murmured, drawing her hand away and becoming aware of the confused emotions floating around now that she was brought out of her thoughts.

"What do you mean?" Moon asked in surprise, Frea sighed and rubbed the back of her neck.

"Its not the same sort of Magic as the Demon I fought with." Frea murmured. "Magic won't work on it no matter what I do, it just won't."

"Then it must open some way." Lucy murmured, Frea backed up to give the blonde room to look the door over. The Energy Dragon Slayer noticed the surprised looks on her group's faces when she admitted she couldn't touch the door with Magic like the rest of them, but she ignored them. She herself didn't quite like he fact she wouldn't be able to get past it... but she wasn't 'all-powerful'.

Lucy smiled a little, "Leave this to me! These sorts of puzzles are my speciality." She grinned at them, "Perhaps there are words we have to say to get it to open. A pass phrase."

"Open Sesame!" The blonde said, it seemed foolish but she tried it anyway. The door didn't budge.

"Open Says Me?" Lucy tried again and nothing. "Maybe we'll have to try things that are similar?"

And then there started up a chorus of words and phrases being shouted by the lot of them as they tried to guess the right one to get the door to open. Frea, Moon and Romeo stood in the back. Romeo looked confused while Moon and Frea looked on with flat stares, quite sure nothing that was being shouted was going to work.

 _"Giteh."_ Frea said lowly, the word coming into her mind in an instant. She didn't expect it to work, but she tried anyway.

Moon's ear twitched, and she shivered slightly. She recognized that single word from Nvindorr, it was one of those Frea had said before they had fallen into the Magic. She had long guessed what that certain word had been: 'open', and she guessed Frea was testing to see if it would work on this door.

Nothing happened though.

Natsu glanced over his shoulder to see Romeo watching, "Romeo! You gotta guess something too!"

Romeo sweatdropped and sighed, clapping his hands together and bowing a little. Any suggestion he had felt rather useless, but for the sake of pleasing Natsu he would say something.

"Door, please open."

With a grinding noise, the door slid open to reveal a hallway. Frea glanced over in surprise,

"You just had to be polite?" Lucy murmured.

Frea sweatdropped a little and looked to Romeo. First, spotting the initial entrance and now guessing the right phrase? She couldn't decide if Romeo was getting lucky or... If the small young boy she used to know had changed much more than she had thought- that he was smarter now, and stronger too.

Frea followed them in the next room, remaining at the back with Moon next to her. The next room had a pedestal in the middle, and the walls on each side bore circular designs, while their group remained in the middle.

In the center they gathered around a stand with a golden emblem, "That's the Zentopia symbol isn't it?" Happy asked, pointing a paw at it. Lucy looked around and smile a little, nodding her head.

"I know this place, its called the Sacred Graveyard." She murmured. "Its written about in Zentopia history books and various other documents. But its existence has never been proven."

"Until now." Moon murmured, looking around at the odd structure and design of the room with narrowed eyes.

"That means we're the first ones here!" Natsu smirked,

"So this is what those guys on the ship were talking about.." Romeo said, clearly referring to the Archeological society they had come across earlier.

"It would be unbearable for them if this place were destroyed." Happy murmured, smiling a little. "Like by Natsu..." Natsu frowned, looking a bit put off while Frea couldn't help but smile a little at the fact that the pinkette had been called out on his habit for breaking things.

"Shut up..."

Frea's head snapped back to the way they had come, a faint wave of Magic passed and the door they had come through slammed shut, sealing them in.

"We're trapped in here?!"

"Don't panic." Lucy smiled, she approached the emblem upon the pedestal. "In an adventure novel, at a time like this..." She turned the emblem on its head once, "You would do this."

Moon and Frea exchanged quick glances, not sure if comparing this with a novel was the best idea, or even the right response to the situation.

"Then what would happen?" Natsu asked, just as a speed ate faint wave of Magic sprung up and the grinding of old stone sounded.

"A hidden door would open." Lucy smiled, now facing the new 'exit' that had opened up, just where the circular designs were on the walls. But more than one opened, all of the four on each wall slid up and revealed what was behind them- a giant, rather ugly, statue of a... Face?

Those faces began to emerge from the wall toward their group, while pillars moved from the spaces in between the faces toward them as well. Frea stiffened, there wasn't anywhere to go,

"This is a trap!"

"We're gonna get squished!" Natsu of lower a flurry of fire at the oncoming face before him, Frea placed a wall of her own Magic in front of a different face to try and stop it.

"Ow! Ow!" Lucy gasped, jumping from one foot to another as Natsu's flames burned the ground and made it unbearable to stand on, while the face he had been trying to stop kept advancing, his Magic having no effect on it. "Quit it Natsu!"

"Sorry!" The pinkette muttered, looking panicked.

"Maybe if I turn the emblem back-" Lucy sweatdropped, moving to twist the symbol but the pedestal disappeared into the floor completely before she could get at it.

"Tch... Everyone bunch together!" Frea ordered, letting the wall she had placed before her widen and encase the group entirely on all sides, while everyone got as close to one another as they could, leaving no space between them.

Frea's hands hit the side of her Dome as the faces hit it on all sides, pushing relentlessly to try and completely devour the space they were occupying, and crush them with it. She gritted her teeth, eyes closing as the faces pushed harder and harder...

Then they gave up and receded, just as a crack appeared upon the surface of Frea's Magic. She slowly let her Magic fade as they all stepped apart, breathing in sighs of relief.

"That was too close..." Romeo mumbled,

"Good thing you were able to keep those things away, Frea." Lucy smiled a little. "Thank you."

Frea nodded once and sat down, letting out a sigh. "No problem... But now we have to figure out how to get out of here." Her eyes moved sideways as the pedestal emerged from the floor again.

"Maybe if I turn it the opposite way." Lucy murmured, doing as she said and turning the Zentopia emblem in the opposite direction she had the first time.

And then, pillars shot down from the roof, threatening to crush them as they approached, and the faces came back again, this time the squeeze would be too much.

"Not again!"

"What are we gonna do?" Romeo muttered, his eyes snapped toward Lucy who had disappeared inside of Horologium, looking quite hopeless. Michelle crouched next to the clock, tapping at the glass.

"Frea?" Natsu asked, realizing that Lucy was going to be no help.

"There won't be room for me to keep us from getting crushed this time." The Energy Dragon Slayer replied as her silver eyes swept about the room in an instant. She swept out an arm encased in Magic at the pillars coming down from the roof, "Energy Dragon Wave Attack!" She hissed, her Magic making a serious of booms as it hit the pillars, they were left without a scratch.

Frea paused, blinking rapidly and sweatdropping. Now why wouldn't trying to destroy the things work, but putting up a shield had stopped them? That just didn't make any sense!

"Wha...?" Moon mumbled, clearly thinking along the same lines Frea was and looking just as confused.

"Punishment time?" Suddenly Frea felt the Energy Signature of a rather familiar Spirit pop up in the room, and she glanced sideways to see Virgo in a swimsuit, sitting atop an oncoming face as it moved closer and closer.

"Virgo?" Natsu murmured, "Did Lucy summon you?"

" 'I didn't call her!' The Lady says." Horologium announced for Lucy as her voice was lost,

"Why is she in a swim suit...?" Romeo mumbled,

"What? Are you not attracted by girls in swimsuits?" Virgo asked in her monotone voice, Frea blinked.

" 'Who cares?! Make a hole in the floor!' She says," Horologium replied, Virgo sat up and nodded.

"As you wish." Her eyes glowed and the floor fell out from under them just as the space was lost, and they were sent falling.

It wasn't long before they hit the bottom, Frea managed to land on her feet, albeit a bit awkwardly as she was forced to crouch and place a hand on the ground to keep herself from hitting the ground completely.

 _A hole in the floor..._ She glanced up at the hole they had come through, which was now only a speck. _How did Lucy know there was another space under that room? Or did she just guess?_

Either way, they didn't get crushed at least.

The room they had fallen into was just as odd as the last, it was much larger and on both sides, reaching all the way up toward the ceiling, were rows upon rows of stone statues- all of them the same one statue, and all of them heading the mark of Zentopia... She narrowed her eyes, they weren't statues actually... She wrinkled her nose a little at the scent in the air.

"Everyone alright?" She asked, standing up and looking around at everyone who were climbing to their own feet slowly. Moon sighed,

"How many times are we gonna be sent falling?" Her Exceed Partner mumbled, this time she hadn't used her wings to keep her from hitting the bottom and she dusted her clothes off in embarrassment.

"Yeah... Where's Virgo?" Lucy asked, no longer inside Horologium as she had been before. Instead, it was Virgo who was inside her fellow Spirit this time around, and Lucy sweatdropped.

"Alright! I say we keep going." Natsu murmured, earning a nod from most everyone- while Lucy was handed a whip from Virgo, explaining that it had been repaired. Natsu looked around and sweatdropped, "Only... There's no door or anything." He mumbled.

"Look at these statues!" Happy exclaimed, floating over to one. Michelle walked over,

"... These are coffins aren't they?" She murmured and Hapoy recoiled,

"All of them?!"

"Maybe there's another hidden device.." Romeo suggested, approaching Happy and Michelle as they all began to look over the coffins a bit more closely.

"I really want to touch them but after the last room..." Lucy murmured with a sheepish smile. "... I'm not really sure its a good idea..."

Frea slowly turned around, her eyes resting upon the back wall of the room, where it wasn't really a wall... She blinked, Moon walked up beside her.

"It looks like a... Ramp...?" Moon murmured and Frea nodded,

"Why though?" Frea murmured.

Suddenly the sound of cracking stone echoed over them and they turned to see Natsu punching at the face of a coffin, though this one was different than the rest, it was golden and the face wasn't the same as any other- and Natsu had just destroyed it.

"What are you doing?!" Lucy snapped, Natsu paused and chuckled nervously.

"Uh... It kinda looked like Gray, and it just ticked me off." He replied, they all shook their heads.

Then the room shook and Frea stiffened, her ears catching on to the sound of something very big rolling toward them from the direction she had previously been facing.

"What is that...?"

A huge stone ball rolled down from what Moon and Frea agreed had looked like a ramp of sorts, it was heading toward their group at a speed unlike any other, they turned and ran.

Natsu swiveled around in his running while leaping into the air, fire encasing his fists.

"Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!"

Frea hissed under her breath, the same strange feeling she had felt earlier with the second door suddenly hit her. The feeling that this wasn't normal, that any Magic would fail, and Natsu's Magic did nothing.

Natsu landed back on his feet and ran on, "Magic won't work on this either?!" He yelled.

"That Ancient Nullification Enchantment is getting really annoying..." Frea huffed,

Ahead of them, the path split into three different, and very narrow bridges hanging over a dark pit that went down for what seemed forever. "There are three?!" Happy yelled,

"One of them's probably the real one." Michelle panted,

"And the other two are dead ends probably." Lucy finished,

"We don't have time to think about it!" Natsu snapped, his finger pointing toward the bridge on the right. "The right one!"

"The left!" Lucy shouted.

"The middle!" Michelle chose simultaneously. Frea and Moon blinked, no agreement?

"Alright, Romeo! You decide!" Happy said and Romeo stared at each path, Frea glanced to Happy with a flat stare. _What was she, invisible?_

"The middle one!" Romeo picked and they all ran forward, leaving Frea and Moon in the back to follow, though a little grudgingly. Frea shook her head, she didn't know why but... She sort of felt like she would have picked the middle one too, and let's be honest; Romeo had been getting things right so far.

The bridges on the left and the right of them collapsed, "Romeo was right!" Happy exclaimed, Frea smiled slightly.

"Wha- what's that?!" Romeo gasped, looking ahead where, unbelievably, another stone ball was rolling toward them as they ran toward it.

They skidded to a halt, caught between the two with no where to go, they didn't have room to get around either stone ball.

"Caught between two stones... Perfect..." Frea muttered, sweatdropping a little.

"We're gonna have to time this right and jump!" Natsu exclaimed, looking to Frea who nodded in agreement. Lucy stared,

"Impossible!" The blonde snapped, knowing she'd never have a chance to jump it.

"We have to, Lucy." Frea muttered, her eyes snapped to Moon. "Moon, you pick up Lucy."

"Happy, you pick up Michelle!" Natsu ordered, both he and Frea thinking along the same lines now. "Romeo, you grab on to me." Natsu said, looking to the young Mage who blinked, his expression turning to one of determination.

"I-I can do it myself!" Romeo exclaimed while clenching his fists, Natsu smiled.

"Alright, give it a shot." Natsu replied, while Happy picked up Michelle and Moon picked Lucy up.

Frea tensed as the rocks drew closer, as did Romeo and Natsu. She glanced from side to side,

"Ready..." She murmured, eyes narrowed. "Now!" She ordered, jumping up to avoid the rocks and glancing over to make sure both Natsu and Romeo had leader them too. She smiled slightly to see Romeo had done just fine, though she hadn't been particularly worried.

"I did it!" Romeos exclaimed,

"You did great, Romeo." Natsu grinned.

The rocks crashed into eachother and crumbled to bits, leaving the bridge clear for them to land on again-

The bridge crumbled and they were left with open air. Nothing to grab on to, and by some unknown force- a piece of rubble hit Happy over the head, knocking him senseless, and Moon's wings were crushed by a separate piece of rubble, causing them to disappear, and everyone in their group were left to fall down into the deep dark black under them.

Nothing but dark open air, and they were going to hit the bottom.

"Crap!" Natsu growled,

"Michelle!" Lucy gasped, grabbing on to the girl in midair.

Frea closed her eyes, letting her Magic flow free as she canceled out all noise around her, focusing. She swept her arms downward, her Magic encasing each hand. She couldn't let them keep falling. They had nothing to grab on to, and she needed to do something before they fell too far...

"If there's ever a time I need this to work," she muttered, her Magic glowing in a clean sheet a little below all of them, "Its now!" She growled, clapping her hands together as the sheet widened out to create a box held in the air, Frea tensed, feeling the Magic flicker though she couldn't see it.

Her feet hit the surface with a soft tap, while she could hear the thuds of everyone else hitting the surface and she flinched at the feel- her box weakened and threatened to break, and with the added pressure she had a hard time keeping it floating...

Lets not mention how big she had to make it to make sure everyone landed on it.

"Ow..." Most of them mumbled, not realizing the box was there until they hit it, it had jut appeared so fast.

"What is...?" Lucy murmured, hands pressed against the glowing silver, "Magic?" Her eyes snapped to Frea to see the Energy Dragon Slayer standing quite still in the center of the floating box, eyes closed and rigid, a bead of sweat dripping down her face.

They all jumped slightly when they saw the box flicker out of being pure silver and they dropped a few inches, and then it dropped a few inches more.

Moon sweatdropped, this box wasn't stabilized, the surface was jagged and fading in an out of even being a shape of any kind. And, Frea was having a hard time keeping it up with all of them on top of it...

"Tch..." Frea ground her teeth down and let her Magic flow freely from her feet and other the box, she pressed her hands together harder and in a flash of light, the surface of the box shinned, becoming smooth and former than it had ever been,

Moon stared at the Magic holding them in up amazement, Frea let out a sigh and sank to sit on her heels, sweatdropping but much more relaxed.

_She finally... She did it!_

Frea managed to stabilize a box, and keep it that way. What was even more, she even managed to do so with much more added weight, and a bigger box than what she had been practicing back at the Guild... It would seem, all Frea needed to get this box trick to work was the threat of herself and others actually dying of getting hurt if they were allowed to fall all the way.

Frea's Magic swirled in place under the box, where it formed a Magic Circle and the box stopped in hung downward.

Frea let her hands fall away from eachother and she clenched them, opening her eyes and letting a toothy grin spread across her face.

"I finally got it!" She grinned, "Oh hell yeah!" She let herself fall onto her back as she just smiled, but tried to catch her breath.

It wasn't easy, no. It took up a good amount of power to completely stabilize the box, and was more to keep it in the air. But, she did something she had never thought of before- the Magic Circle under the box. It was a Magic Circle projecting her 'Energy Force' Spell upward, keeping the box in place. That Magic Circle would only last so long, so they would need to come up with a way to move... But none the less, Frea couldn't help feeling like she won.

"When did you learn this?" Natsu's voice made her glance over to him, he was tapping a foot down on the smooth silver surface cautiously.

"Not long ago." Frea replied. "This is the first time I've managed to get it to work..." She smiled again.

"That definitely saved us." Lucy murmured, smiling at Frea much as the rest of them were. "Its a good thing we have you around!"

"Definitely." Natsu smirked.

"This is really cool..." Romeo mumbled to himself, peering down at the box with wide eyes. Frea smiled slightly and nodded,

"Its not a problem," she said lowly, looking a little flustered. Moon walked up and patted her arm with a paw, looking amused. Frea blinked, "We can't sit here for very long though, this box won't stay floating forever." She got to her feet and looked over the edge, happy to change the subject. "We're going to have to reach the bottom."

"How?"

Frea paused and sighed, before sweeping her hand out and pointing it down a little. In the dark below, flashes of silver appeared as dozens upon dozens of silver Magic Circles appeared in the air, and then boxes began to materialize over each in turn.

Each box flickered once or twice, until they all shone like ice, smooth and completely stabilized for a long ways down, each close to eachother, within jumping distance. Everyone crowded to the edge to see what Frea was doing, Happy having come to his senses by now.

"Moon, Happy?" Frea murmured, taking a silent breath to slow her increased heart rate. She was using a lot of Magic doing this, but there really wasn't much choice. She was silently aware of the box groaning under their feet, however stable she had made it, this was still a lot of weight to hold, especially since she had only just started doing this and hadn't had more successful practice at it.

Each Exceed looked to her in fullest attention. "Are you both ok to fly again?" She asked, Happy nodded and after a small pause, Moon did too. "Alright. I'd like you both to do what we did before, grab Lucy and Michelle. Romeo, Natsu and I will use my boxes to get down, and with less people there's less weight for me to worry about."

They all nodded, and they began to move off, the three left began to jump from one box to another as they continually went down, every box they left behind glowed and crumbled away into hundreds of soft pieces.


	35. Deficiency?

**Chapter 35**

**Deficiency?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

The group walked along the underground streets of what looked like an ancient city, buildings rose up around them and candles glowed upon every flat surface to provide light in a place that would have otherwise been dark.

They had made their way to the bottom of the long drop through use of Frea's boxes. Frea had managed to make all the boxes needed and she hadn't let any fail for the hour or so she had been making them almost nonstop.

She took a deep breath, feeling very strained. It wasn't easy to make those boxes, it wasn't easy to maintain them, and to make so many and for so long was almost _too_ much...

Moon glanced sideways at her Partner, easily able to tell how tired Frea had become. She was seated on Frea's shoulder now as they walked along, taking in all the sights of this underground ruin. She felt sympathetic to how much strain using that new technique she had created had put on the Energy Dragon Slayer, usually it wasn't wise to use something one had so little practice and success with on such a large scale, but Frea hadn't much choice on the matter.

"What is this place?" Happy murmured in awe,

"It was said that the priests who tended the Graveyard lived here as well." Lucy explained, "This must be where they were, for their whole lives."

"Do you think the clock piece we're looking for is down here?" Michelle murmured, Lucy nodded.

"Most likely," she murmured, sweatdropping. "But this place is so big, it'll take a long time to find it..."

Frea halted and the small movement caused the others to as well, all of them tense as Frea looked around the ruin with narrowed eyes, slowly moving her gaze up toward a staircase above them.

She had sensed it easily, the Energy Signatures of two people they had come across before- more specifically, two people who had thoroughly pissed her off.

"What is it?" Natsu asked.

"The guy we ran into at Lucy's Mansion... And the counterpart of Coco." Frea muttered lowly, "They're here."

They moved at a slow pace, approaching the top of that same staircase Frea was looking at as if they hadn't a care in the world. And then they appeared there, looking down at them.

Dan Straight grinned down at them and waved a hand, "Hey! Good to meet you guys again!" He called, Frea frowned. He was the man who had turned her tiny, and buried her under a pile of junk to add to it. To say the very least, she did not like him.

"So you bastards are here too huh?!" Natsu growled, fists clenching at his sides. Frea's own fists clenched, eyes narrowed.

"Samuel told us about 'The Key of the Starty Heavens'." Dan answered with a smile, "and we know a part of the Clock is here."

"Tch..." Moon hissed, Frea catching on to the noise easily but without looking Moon's way. "That 'Samuel' cat is starting to piss me off.." Her Partner muttered lowly.

Coco raised a hand, "It seems you haven't found the part yet either, huh?" She asked. Dan took a step forward before halting, his eyes wide as he caught sight of...?

"Isn't that Lulu-chama over there?!" The man exclaimed, his eyes landing to Lucy who had moved behind Michelle. Frea blinked at the name, sweatdropping at the emotions dancing off of Dan and Lucy so suddenly, quite confused. Had she missed something? Moon glanced to her and she could see her own confusion on her Partner's face.

"Who you calling 'Lulu-chama'?!" Lucy snapped, looking very nervous.

"He didn't call you that before.." Happy murmured.

"Before..?" Frea and Moon murmured.

"His pet name for you has gotten even more embarrassing." Michelle said with a nervous smile.

"Pet... Name...?" Frea and Moon mumbled again,

"Encountering each other like this... Its a fated reunion indeed!" Dan went on, a very absurd look coming upon his face as he seemed to be overwhelmed with his odd.. Attraction... To Lucy so suddenly. Frea gave the man a flat stare, so not only did he flirt, he fell in love with woman on the spot too?

"Its proof that we're joined by the red string of fate!" He went on, moving closer to Lucy who moved away.

"That's not for you to decide!" The blonde snapped, Dan didn't hear her and clapped his hands together.

 _"L-O-V-E!"_ He sang, but in an instant Natsu jumped forward in a flurry of flame to interrupt his daydreaming. The pinkette looked annoyed, and Frea blinked at the expression on his face, pausing a moment.

_Annoyed..._

"I'm gonna get you back for last time!" Natsu growled, his fist hitting Dan's shield as the man blocked it, and then kicking off into the air. His cheeks puffed up as he sucked in air for that well-known attack.

"Fire Dragon Roar!" The tornado of dancing flame simply rebounded off of Dan's shield in random directions, Frea took a step in front of Lucy, Romeo, Happy and Michelle- her hand raising as a silver shield appeared before them to ward off the randomly thrown fire.

"I don't have time for you." Dan said in a bored voice. "Right now, I'm facing a major turning point in my life!" He grinned and behind her, Frea felt Lucy shudder.

"Natsu! Be careful!" Romeo yelled, his eyes landing on the wildly thrown flame. But Natsu didn't listen, _as usual_ \- and instead went at it again with his 'Fire Dragon's Iron Fist'. The flame ricocheting from the shield bounced against Frea's own shield harmlessly, but some of it bombarded the ancient buildings behind them and they began to crumble.

Frea growled, "Run!" She ordered, letting her shield drop as they took off, she didn't want to risk getting buried by sitting still. She grabbed Natsu's shirt as she passed him and hauled him along as they took off in the flurry of stone and dust that rose, in the great amount of distraction that had been caused in so little time.

"They're not chasing us," Romeo said as they slowed to a small halt, leaving the crashing noise of the falling ruin behind them.

"Maybe if we're lucky, they got buried." Lucy said,

Natsu grinned, "Just as I planned!" He exclaimed, Frea rolled her eyes and dropped him.

"Don't lie." She muttered, sending him a stern look. "Next time, try to remember your Magic is going to be deflected- you're going end up causing too much damage if you fly at him blindly." Natsu simply huffed,

"Either way, finding the part is our priority." Lucy murmured, they all nodded.

"I agree... We'll have to search everywhere though, since we don't have a clue as to where it could be." Moon mumbled,

Frea's head tilted slightly sideways, and Moon blinked. Frea's eyes narrowed and without warning, she swiftly spun around and threw an Energy Bomb she had created in her hand in a split-second, toward a bend in the path they had taken, Moon nearly fell off the Energy Dragon Slayer's shoulder at the unexpected action. Everyone else jumped, sweatdropping at the cold look that appeared on Frea's face in a single instant.

"Frea?!"

That Energy Bomb barely missed the head of Dan Straight as he appeared around the corner and noticed it without a second to waste, the silver sphere promptly hit a building farther behind him and wore a trench through it- Frea didn't bother to let it explode.

"Oh-ho!" Dan smiled, his eyes landing on Frea with a wide grin. "I see you are here too, Ms. Frea! What a lovely surprise to see such a beautiful face as yours again!" A vein ticked on Frea's forehead and she glared, while everyone else blinked.

"Cut the crap before I punch your face in." Frea said lowly,

"Ah, oh well~" Dan sighed, "You are beautiful, but you lack the feminine grace of Lulu-chama!" He grinned, sliding over to Lucy just as Frea lift a hand and another Energy Bomb formed in her palm, she looked quite ready to hit him in the face with it, another vein ticked on her forehead and Moon sweatdropped at how angry Dan's antics seemed to make the Energy Dragon Slayer.

"Dan! Right now, finding that part takes priority over everything else!" Coco jumped down from an overhanging ledge, looking serious. Dan glanced back at her, his smile fading. "We have and important duty to carry out!"

"I know!" Dan responded, "But love is important too! _L-O-V-E!"_

"I'm sick of hearing that!" Natsu yelled, the first to react to the word as he had been before, Frea blinked, before letting her Energy Bomb disperse and she placed a shield in front of her and the rest of the group one more time, just as Natsu let loose a flurry of flame at Dan.

 _He gets so angry when Dan says he 'loves' Lucy..._ Frea smiled a little more, chuckling under her breath as she saw the look of utter anger and annoyance on the pinkette's face.

Natsu's flames bounced off Frea's shield before she let it drop, and Dan raised his spear in the air, looking just about as mad as Natsu did.

"Anyone interfering between two people in love will get sliced up like a fish!" Dan snapped, pointing his spear at Natsu. "Fear the might of my Magic Spear, Happy Lucky!" He brought it forward in a powerful stroke, one that sent forth dozens upon dozens of green flashes of Magic- the same Magic that would shrink you should you get hit.

"Careful Natsu!" Frea called to him,

"I know!" Natsu yelled frantically, struggling to dodge the Magic.

Frea's eyes widened when she saw a bit of green flash by her in a moments time, and she turned her head just in time to see Lucy get hit with it- before she was just as miniature as Frea and Natsu had been not long before.

"What happened?!" Lucy yelled, Frea blinked. How had that one blast of Magic managed to get passed her, without her noticing it until it was too late?

Dan paused, his jaw dropping at what he had done and intent to shrink Natsu completely forgotten. "Forgive me! I didn't mean to do it! I shrunk the woman that I love!" Dan balled, looking distraught. "I-I'm a failure as a lover!"

"If that's how you feel, than change me back to normal!" Lucy yelled, looking very unamused at Dan and his behavior. Dan pointed his spear toward Lucy and smiled,

"Of course!" He grinned, before he paused again and blinked, looking skeptical. Lucy looked to him, confused as to why he had paused.

"What?"

"Actually... A tiny Lulu-chama has a charm that I'm reluctant to give up!" He bent down toward the miniaturized blonde. "I think I'll keep you like this as my mascot!"

"You gotta be kidding me!" Lucy yelled.

"Nah, I think I will leave you like this." Dan smiled, "and when I get home, I'll put you on my desk and appreciate you at my leisure!"

Frea stared, _what was she, a toy to him?_ But suddenly a mental image of the figurines of the Guild Members that Max sold came to mind...

"I'm not a room decoration!" Lucy protested, looking very put off by the words.

Suddenly, Dan swooped Lucy up and quickly tied her to a small red string- which he presently attached to his belt. Natsu and Frea stepped up, not looking to let the man get away with Lucy so easily.

"Now that my love and I are one, its time to finish you off!" Dan grinned, letting loose the fragments of his green Magic fly through the air with quick thrusts of his spear. Frea and Natsu took to dodging them, she hadn't time to put a shield up before the Magic was already upon her, and neither she nor Natsu were looking to be shrunk down again. Moon held on to Frea's shoulder tightly, ears flat as she relied on her Partner to dodge of the Magic, knowing if she let go she may not be able to dodge as effectively as Frea could.

"Dan, attack them later! Right now we have to look for the Clock part!" Coco yelled, looking quite flustered that her comrade wasn't listening very well, nor sticking to their assignment.

"I've got them right where I want them! You go on ahead!" Dan called back,

"Samuel didn't tell me any of the details! I can't search without you!" Coco protested, Moon's ears twitched as she held on to Frea. Her eyes narrowed at Dan and she let her Magic cast out toward him- she had used up a lot constantly carrying Lucy down and catching Frea, but she always had enough left to scan Memories, and she quickly did so to Dan's.

"What are we going to do? We need to search for that Clock part too!" Happy asked,

"But we can't leave Lucy-neesan like that!" Michelle protested.

"This is... Making me... Dizzy!" Lucy exclaimed, being bounced around and twisted as Dan moved to send his Magic at Frea and Natsu alike. The blonde produced a gold Key and swiped it before her,

"Open! Gate of the Archer; Sagittarius!"

The Spirit appeared in plume of smoke, but Sagittarius was the same mini size as Lucy. "What's going on, my Lady?!" The Spirit explained in shock,

"Since I'm tiny, so are my Spirits?!"

"Even so... I will try my best..." Sagittarius murmured shakily, aiming his bow toward Dan as Magic infused with the arrow and he let loose, it struck Dan in the cheek but was nothing more than a pin-prick. It did distract the man enough to take him away from trying to shrink Natsu and Frea.

"Hmm?" Dan murmured, pulling the small arrow from his cheek and flicking it away. His eye turned to Sagittarius and he grinned, "I think I'll deal with you-" his foot lift to stomp on the small Spirit, but Lucy sent him back immediately.

"Say Dan," Michelle spoke up suddenly, catching the man's attention as she walked to him. "What would you say to marrying Lucy-neesan right now?" She smiled sweetly,

"WHAT?!" Lucy yelled, looking frantic as Frea and Moon stared in silence, Natsu's head snapped back and forth between Michelle and Dan with wide eyes.

"Right here?" Dan asked, interested.

"Sure, this is Holy ground- and it has a lot of historical value. I think its perfect!" Michelle smiled and Frea narrowed her eyes, _what the hell-?_

"Ooh!" Dan hummed, looking enthusiastic. "I believe you are right!"

"Then I should start planning the bridal party!" Michelle smiled, going on to detail the plans she held for the two- such as the guests invited, the honeymoon, how they would be portrayed in the stars for all eternity and all manner of ridiculous things that honestly, didn't have any reason to be discussed in any way, shape or form.

Natsu and Lucy became even more infuriated as Michelle went on, and Dan only grew more excited. Frea would have been amused by the reaction from Natsu at the words, if she hadn't caught on to the sight of Romeo approaching Dan from behind, and letting loose his yellow fire.

She blinked at the sight, realizing that Michelle must have told Romeo to do so while she distracted Dan in the only way possible- by making a story of his wedding to Lucy.

But Romeo over-did it, and soon the air was laced with the disgusting stench of the Mage's Yellow Fire to the point it was unbearable. Frea held a hand to her nose, trying her best to block out the scent as it invaded her sensitive sense of smell. Her reaction was shared by everyone else as they gagged and coughed, and Dan jumped a little.

The string holding Lucy snapped and she was sent into the air, where Happy flew to catch her. The blue Exceed took off, and Dan noticed the action immediately, realizing he had lost his 'love'.

"No! I'll turn her back so you both fall from the weight!" Dan snapped, jumping into the air and sending a flurry of his Magic at Happy and Lucy.

They were both hit, and Lucy hit the ground with a thump- she was back to normal and jumped to her feet in happiness. "I'm back!" She exclaimed, looking to everyone else and expecting relieved looks-

Everyone was looking past her with wide eyes, and slightly dropped jaws, sweatdropping heavily as they gazed upon the figure casting a massive shadow over the form of Lucy- who slowly turned to see what had happened.

Happy was nearly the height of a building, having grown in size as he was hit with Dan's Magic. The blue Exceed stood in shock, eyes staring straight ahead and not daring to move for the moment.

Dan sweatdropped, his lance lowering as he gazed at what he did it. "I missed my target again..." The man murmured.

"You're no master lancer are you?!" Natsu snapped, still looking to be trying to process what had happened to his Partner.

"You idiot!" Happy yelled, starting to move uncontrollably out of his extreme confusion. Each foot step shook the ground, and in his new size Happy was so uncoordinated that he began to knock into the ruins and make them crash, while also managing to crush Natsu under his foot. "I stepped on Natsu again!"

Frea braced herself as Happy tried to regain his bearings and avoid hitting anymore buildings, but he failed and instead decided to take to the sky for a better alternative, though that didn't make anything any better and more ruins began to fall and crumble as the huge figure of Happy crashed into them.

"This is a historical site! Stop destroying it!" Coco shouted, dodging in and out of falling debris as everyone else was.

"I'll change him back!" Dan shouted, sending a flurry of Magic at Happy until the blue Exceed was back to his regular size- and he promptly slumped over on Natsu's shoulder looking as if he had gone through a horribly traumatic experience.

"Now we're all back to normal!" Lucy exclaimed, "come on! We need to find that Part!"

"But where are we gonna start?" Romeo asked, Lucy pulled out the 'Key of the Starry Heavens' book, and consulted it.

"This might tell us where to start looking-"

"Then I need that book!" Coco announced, running toward Lucy with an unbelievable burst of speed. The blonde started to run and Romeo, Happy and Michelle followed her. They were soon out of sight,

"I'm going to finish you!" Dan sprang toward Natsu and the pinkette met the attack head on, gaze hard.

"Leave him to me, Frea!" Natsu shouted, seemingly sensing that Frea had been about to jump in the fight with him- she herself had a bone to pick with that guy, and for a moment she scowled at what Natsu said.

Natsu jumped back away from Dan a moment and looked over his shoulder toward Frea, and she paused. He looked much more determined now than she had seen him in a long time, and she blinked in surprise. "I know you wanna get back at him for turning you tiny," Natsu murmured, "But I'm gonna beat this guy." He said firmly and she paused.

She thought to how angry Natsu was with Dan. She knew he wasn't so angry for the man shrinking him, as he was for Dan's constant chasing of Lucy... She smiled slightly.

 _He's angry at Dan for trying to pick up Lucy. He's angry he's declaring his love for her..._ She chuckled slightly, if he was really determined to finish this fight himself, and not just for simple revenge... Then she would leave him be.

"Alright Natsu," she murmured, Moon's eyes snapped to her as she looked to her in shock. "Beat him then, and get your ass moving. We'll meet up later." She smirked and Natsu smirked back.

"You bet." He answered and turned away, Frea turned and began running in the direction the others had gone.

"Why'd you give in so easy?" Moon asked and Frea smiled,

"Because he's not fighting for himself. Not for his own revenge against Dan." Frea replied evenly, she glanced to Moon, her eyes shinning in amusement. "He's fighting for Lucy." For a moment, Moon looked to her before she smiled herself.

"Of course he is..." She sighed,

"We need to catch up with the others," Frea murmured, running at full-speed without activating her Magic. Her eyes narrowed as they went on ahead, easily able to feel the Energy Signatures of her Guild Mates ahead of them- and that of Coco.

"Frea," Moon murmured, catching the Dragon Slayers attention easily. "I scanned Dan's Memories, and I found out a few things."

"Such as?" Frea asked, not bothering to stop her running.

"They're leader, he's been taking Orders from a Cardinal within Zentopia." Moon murmured, "Which isn't surprising, because they do work for the church."

"So that much of what they said was true." Frea murmured and Moon nodded, "Anything else?"

"None of them know what they're doing all of this for exactly. At least not according to Dan, they're being given orders and simply following them- for what higher purpose, that's been hidden from them so far." Moon went on. "And as Dan sees it, this Cardinal giving out the orders is being sent by the Arch-Bishop himself, so they're chain of command seems just about as simple as that." Moon sighed slightly. "Its really isn't much, the only other things I didn't already know was something about the Arch-Bishop having a lot of nightmares or something.."

"Even if it isn't much, its still more than we had." Frea told her evenly, "You're taking that job Master gave you pretty seriously already." Frea smirked and Moon blinked, before Frea looked away and went on faster. "Now its time I take the one he gave me just as seriously as you, and keep an eye on Michelle."

She hadn't been thinking about that when she allowed the group of Romeo, Happy, Michelle and Lucy to run off after Coco without her- that was her fault but she took a little solace in the idea that with Romeo, Happy and Lucy all there that it wasn't likely for Michelle to try anything, if that was her plan at all.

From how far the Energy Signatures of her Guild Mates felt now... They were moving exceptionally fast, and even with her own speed she wasn't drawing closer as she dodged among the ruins of the city, jumping over low walls and vaulting over roofs all the while.

From what Moon found out, what on earth could be the point in all of this? Was it simply the want to bring chaos upon the world? But who would want that- certainly not the Arch-Bishop himself? None of this made any sense at all...

Her thoughts snapped away from that when she felt the ground shake a little, and a strong and powerful Energy Signature sprung up suddenly, a sickly sweet smell hit her nose and she sweatdropped at the Negative Emotion in the air so suddenly.

She whipped about in an instant, feeling Moon's claws dig into her shirt at the sudden movement as her Partner tried to hold on. Frea's eyes widened at the sight of a dark purple haze spilling out through the air toward her, too fast and too wide to avoid. That bitter-sweet scent turned to one of sourness... Her eyes widened a bit more because she knew what that cloud was immediately, and the image of a tall woman with long black hair and purple eyes shot up before her, as dark clouds filled the sky and hundreds of arrows oozing black Magic clouded her mind a moment.

"Cover your mouth! Don't breath it in!" Frea hissed to Moon, as her arm shot up to cover her own and Moon did the same with a paw, sweatdropping heavily as they were both engulfed by the cloud and they came to a dead stop.

Frea's eyes narrowed and watered a bit at the small sting that came with the cloud, it wrapped about her like a heavy blanket and she clenched her jaw.

_This wasn't Senna, nor her attack... It was something similar though._

"Hmm... You saw it coming?" A voice murmured lowly from the cloud about them, the dark purple lifted slightly to allow sight of a man standing before them in the cloud, undisturbed by the deadly fumes about them. And why should he be? He's the one that made them.

His hair was red in color, his eyes narrowed and one left closed by a sharp scar running across it. His hands remained in his coat pockets as he gazed at Moon and Frea with a cold expression.

Frea's Magic bubbled to the surface and spiraled around her in a sphere shape, glowing amongst the sudden dim and warding off as much of the poison as she could manage- which, was very little considering she couldn't effectively ward off what was part of the air. Moon guessed her Magic did little too, because the Exceed didn't dare suck in air until she couldn't hold it any longer.

Cobra didn't flinch as Frea's Magic rose up, he simply looked it over a moment- knowing full well she did it in vain.

Why was he here? She knew who it was, she guessed it... She had never met him in person, but she had felt his Energy Signature before- in Crocus when they had been fighting the Dragons. They had been allies then, now however... It didn't seem that way.

"I can hear your lungs begging for air." He muttered, eye narrowing at her.

Frea sucked in a bit of the poison-laced air and hissed, it stung on her throat and immediately she felt a chill run through her.

"Its... Cobra... Right...?" She asked slowly, attempting not to suck in as much poison as she could manage. Her eyes narrowed a bit,

"Hmm?" He murmured, head tilted slightly. "Have I seen you somewhere before?" He asked, eyes narrowing, before they widened with a look of knowing. "No... But I heard your Magic, back in Crocus. I felt it flow through my body..." Frea stiffened slightly, "... And I heard it when you set off that supposed Magic Anomaly. You are the Mage with the great power." He murmured.

"Heard..?" Frea murmured, eyes narrowing a little.

"I did not expect to run across you here." Cobra went on, "And I do not think I have time to fight with you either- I don't expect you will be easy to defeat."

Moon coughed out, unable to hold her breath anymore as she sucked in the poison- which only made her cough more. Frea sweatdropped, glancing to her Partner a moment, it wasn't the best idea to sit in a poison cloud very long, they needed out of it rather fast.

"I can hear your thoughts." Cobra said suddenly, looking at Moon with a cold expression. The grey Exceed flinched a little, "You won't be able to read my mind so easily, nor control it." His eyes switched to Frea for a moment, "Now why is it... I can't hear _your_ thoughts..?" Frea blinked and took a small step back,

"No one can." She replied lowly, "Now why... Are you here... Cobra..?" She hissed, each breath of the cloud stung at her throat painfully- she could hear Moon's painful breaths easily and winced at the noise. Cobra's head tilted a little. "We worked... Together in Crocus... I figured you were... Attempting to repay for... What you did in the past..."

"I was." He answered, "And I still intend that." Frea stiffened, blinking in confusion.

"And poisoning people... Is the way to.. Go about it...?" She muttered, her tone betraying a hint of annoyance.

He sighed a little, "I make it a point to repay the debts I owe." He said, "I don't want this personally... But honor holds me to try and repay _this_ debt."

"Debt...?" Frea murmured, teeth gritting a little. "To... Who...?" She muttered, but her attention was forced away from that when she felt Moon's pawhold on her shoulder weaken suddenly, as the Exceed began to slide from her shoulder out of weakness from the poison's fast oncoming effects.

"Moon!" Frea hissed, Moon's eyes fell halfway as she looked to Frea, who had grabbed her before she could fall, now being held on the Energy Dragon Slayer's arms. Frea didn't get an answer, and she let out a low "Tch..."

"This poison isn't meant to kill you." Cobra muttered, "... Just weaken you into exhaustion..." He paused. "... It is lethal with a prolonged exposure, however." He added in a slight warning tone, Frea growled a little and turned a deadly stare in the man- one he blinked in shock at.

"I understand debts... But this is wrong." She growled. "If you oppose us... And my Guild... You'll get a fight from me." She muttered darkly, her Magic flaring up suddenly.

"Fight me, and leave Moon out of this." Frea growled dangerously.

"I already said I don't wish to fight you-" Cobra muttered.

"You don't have a choice." Frea snapped coldly, "Because either you're getting rid of this poison willingly, or I'm going to _make_ you." Her Magic increased again and Cobra seemed to hesitate a moment, his eyes scanning her in silence.

He knew very well that this was not a woman he could intimidate so easily- and as of yet, she was clearly resisting his poison. Most people would have succumbed to it by now, even with her Magic attempting to ward it off... And yet, he wasn't going back. He couldn't, he had this last debt to pay and then he would have all the time in the world to try and make things right.

Perhaps she was right, doing this was going to set his wishes back by quite a bit and yet he didn't have much choice in his mind. This was what he had been ordered to do, and he would do it... Even if it meant going against his own wishes, and having to face someone like this woman who was clearly rather powerful- so much so he might actually _lose_.

"You'll have to defeat me then." He muttered, his hands leaving his pockets as he readied himself. "And I would hurry, you may last longer against my poison, but your precious cat won't." Frea let out a low hiss, she swept her hand out before her as a stream of silver streamed trough the air toward Cobra- who jumped away in surprise at the quick action, looking back to see Frea was no longer where she had been.

His ears caught onto the sound of her steps, but they were nowhere near him and he glanced about, eyes narrowed.

"Energy Dragon Wave Attack!" Her voice snapped, this time suddenly above him as his head snapped up to see her flip in air above his head, her arms thrusting down toward him and lacking her Exceed Partner. Several waves of Magic flew toward him, and he hissed- jumping away with accuracy and quick movements.

"Energy Dragon Iron Fist!" Frea growled, suddenly behind him as she brought her fist forward to land a hit on the center of his back, launching him forward as he growled in pain.

He was sent away with an insane amount of force, as he struggled to flip in air and regain his balance, whipping about to face her and wincing.

How fast was she moving?! He could hear her movements, but they were so quick and sudden he hadn't any chance to know _where_ he was hearing them... Of anything he might expect, this insane amount of speed wasn't one of the things he had guessed.

Frea's hands clapped together and silver erupted about his feet, causing the ground to shake under him as his head snapped down.

"Energy Trap!"

Silver encased him on all sides in the next instant, and he tensed. His own Magic swirled up around him and his arms became covered in purple scales, as he slashed out at her Magic with unusual claws oozing his Magic, tearing the sides of the box just as it exploded around him.

He was thrown back and yelled out in pain a moment, Frea took a breath- she was drained already... And this poison about wasn't helping. She was doing a fairly good job in spite of it, but she felt herself weakening and her vision was growing hazy in response to the toxic air and rapid use of Magic in it.

Cobra slid back in a crouch, his eyes coming up to meet hers as he scowled, taking a breath himself. Already he was losing... She was much stronger than he had first thought, even he wasn't much a match for her... And she was attacking so rapidly and at a pace he couldn't keep up with, he hadn't any time to counter attack at all or even think of doing so!

He stiffened and recoiled as her hands separated and she swiped them in an upward motion- just as several silver Magic Circles appeared on the ground around him.

"Energy Lance!"

Cobra jumped, his feet pushing off the surface of one of her Lances as he propelled himself away from them- not looking to be hit full on. Frea hissed in annoyance as he managed to dodge, she squared her feet and sucked in air as he slowly arced in the air before her.

"Energy Dragon Roar!"

The spinning tornado of silver spiraled out toward him, rather large for a breath attack as Cobra was engulfed. The city around them trembled with the force and air spiraling out about them from the attack alone,

Frea broke off halfway into the attack as her body convulsed with harsh coughs, the poison in the air tearing at her throat as she sucked in. She tasted the tang of blood and hissed, rubbing her throat and eyes scrunching closed as a bout of lightheadedness hit her. "S-s.. Shit..." She hissed lowly, the Magic surrounding her faltering.

Her eyes went wide when she heard the sound of Cobra behind her suddenly, having taken advantage of his poison affecting her- her head turning in time to see his now scaled arms swing out toward her and his claws made contact with her back- tearing her shirt and skin with a painful slice, while detonating with a force that sent her forward, skidding back over the street a ways before coming to a painful stop. She began slowly pushing herself up as she felt blood well up on her back- the scratches burning with fire as she felt more poison seep into her body.

Cobra paused a minute, all he had needed was one good hit to poison her with a very concentrated power- and he was hoping that one good hit would have much more affect than the cloud around them seemed to have on her. While his original intent with the Poison Cloud was to knock her out, it clearly wasn't working as well as it should be so he upped the power of the Poison with that claw attack. That much Poison he had just let loose into her blood was enough to kill someone in two minutes- he was hoping it to work as well as it should, he had no time for this.

She was a nuisance. She was too much trouble to deal with, he couldn't fight with her unbridled for long- she was too strong. And he would admit her Breath Attack had gotten him, he more than a few scratches and bruises to count for from barely missing the tornado of silver and being engulfed completely, which he was sure would have seriously injured him. He wanted her to quit, he didn't want to seriously hurt her, nor kill her and this fight was only going to get worse if he hadn't taken harsher measures. But... He knew quitting wasn't going to work for her, and he wasn't sure if it was a good idea to continue this fight- so he opted for ending it.

"F-fucking... B.. Bastard.." His ears caught onto the sound of Frea muttering the words under her breath, she was slowly sitting up- her bleeding back to him as she winced at the pain. He could immediately tell she was feeling the effects of the poison, she was weaker suddenly and he sighed silently- thinking he had mange to end this short-lived exchange between them.

Then his eyes widened when he caught sight of something... Something like steam coming from her body suddenly, and the sound of sizzling reached his ears. And then he was hit with the feel of her Power rising, rising rapidly and erupting enough to make the air tremble, though no silver appeared around her. Her Power was tripling, and why he didn't quite know... _But how...?_

 _... How could she have so much Power all of the sudden?_ The Poison he hit her with should be forcing her into unconsciousness... It should be _killing_ her, she shouldn't be able to use Magic let alone let it _triple!_

His eyes went wide as he froze, because the scratches he had carved into her back... Steam was coming from the wounds steadily, as they burned hot with white- her skin stitching back together on its own until nothing was left- even the blood was burned away as her Magic overflowed.

"H-how... That's... Impossible..." He stammered, that _couldn't_ be possible, had she _healed_ herself? Even then, was she seriously able to do that? She couldn't be! No one but the Sky Maiden and that girl in Lamia Scale should be able to do that!

Frea got to her feet slowly, still not facing him as he stood in a shocked stupor, all the while- the pressure about her presence increased with the feel of her Magic getting larger.

He took a small step back, because something hit him- a feeling... _He couldn't beat her_ , even with his apparent win with poisoning her more. This Power radiating from her, it was nothing like he had ever felt... He couldn't match it, not at his own full power... And she was even being weakened by his poison!

 _No_ , this definitely was not a battle he wanted to fight. He had known that, and now he knew it more than ever in that one moment, just as he felt her Power increase so steadily. He could poison her, he could wound her- and yet it wasn't making a difference. Perhaps it was her determination to save her cat, or maybe it was something else... But he was done for if he went on, he wouldn't win, and now he knew it.

Frea suddenly turned around and her Magic broke the surface, exploding about her in a flurry of silver spiraling all around and sending a wave of air out- catching rubble and sending it into his face. He stared,

_Such Power... It couldn't be possible, not when poisoned... Not... Never before had he seen this, it was quite impossible and yet, there she was. Right before him..._

"What... Is she...?" He whispered.

"Energy Dragon Slayer:" she hissed, not moving a muscle as her Magic began to move faster about her. "Earth Shock."

The ground was torn up in a flurry of immense power pouring from it and around it, shaking the ground all around and sending up large slabs of street and earth alike as her Magic made a beeline toward him. The Ground began to crack under his feet even before the whole attack made it to him, and he took a few frantic steps backward in shock.

The whole of the underground city seemed to tremble as the beeline headed toward Cobra- the Magic tearing the ground apart as it traveled through and around the Earth suddenly exploded with immense force where Cobra was standing, sending blinding light up amongst the cloud of poison covering the air where Frea was.

Natsu paused in his fighting with Dan as he felt the ground under his feet shake, and even the feel of the air trembling with the force- it was the other Members of Fairy Tail close by to him and they reunited not long before and the wandering figure of Coco who paused at the sudden shaking and sweatdropped, not knowing what it was.

Cobra stopped, having moved far enough away from Frea to at least avoid being seen, holding a heavily bleeding arm as he cast a glance backward, sweatdropping.

_No.. No._

He couldn't win against her, he knew that now- retreat was the best option and he knew it- that woman, she was a level much higher than him, though she didn't seem like it at first glance. He wouldn't win against her now and he doubted he ever would... his only option was to hope his poison would manage to wear her down to a level he could contend with, for when he was sure they would be seeing each other later.

Frea's Magic faded as the ground stilled and the Poison Cloud disappeared suddenly, being allowed to die off as Cobra moved away.

Frea stood where she had been, her Magic dying down completely as she stood at the head a very large line of torn-up earth before her, that ended in a crater of broken up slabs of rock that stuck about at jagged angles.

'Earth Shock' was an attack she had been shown once by Chaitanya, but never taken any interest in. It required an overwhelming amount of Magic Force to pull off, and she hadn't ever had that much needed until now it would seem...

Her knees trembled before she allowed herself to fall onto them and lean over, painting heavily as her throat continued to burn and the lightheadedness remained- she could still feel large traces of Cobra's Poison flowing in her body, though she had managed to destroy a good amount of it while she used 'Morana Drearand' to heal the wounds he had dug into her back.

If using those Energy Boxes to climb down here for so long had been draining, she couldn't imagine anything worse than the strain of using Magic while being poisoned... She shook her head to try and clear the dizziness, failing to get rid of it.

She was aware Cobra got away, but right now she wasn't focused on trying to go after him. He had left on his own, and let his Poison Cloud fade too- that was good enough for now. But she did have to beg the question, who was he with? And why? She tried to pick out any other Energy Signatures but couldn't find any.

She paused a moment longer to collect herself and took a deep breath, slowly pushing herself to stand. Her sudden upsurge of raw Magic had been quite a shock to her as well, considering how drained she had been already- and the burning away of some of the Poison in her system, and even the use of _Morana Drearand_ hadn't been of her own conscious accord, they had just happened without her trying to _make_ them happen.

Her shirt hung about her loosely, the entire back had been cut and it was no longer a full shirt, she sighed and tore the bottom half of it off, before tying a bit of it about her neck and another part together on her back- leaving the shirt to reach up just above her stomach and remain secure.

She made her way toward a small encloser lined with stone nearby, the glow of silver coming off the Energy Dome she had set up around Moon, who she had moved a decent ways away to avoid getting her caught in the fighting with Cobra. With a flick of her hand, her Dome melted away and she crouched down, gently nudging Moon.

"Moon..?" She murmured, only receiving a low moan. Frea placed both hands just above her Partner and closed her eyes, she could easily smell the sickly scent of poison hanging over her Partner and knew she had been exposed to a good amount- too much for comfort. She was willing to use her Magic to heal Moon as best she could and tried to get rid of the poison in her Partner's body, even if it was going to be another huge strain on her already strained body.

"Morana.. Drearand..." She mumbled, her hands glowing silver as she channeled her own Life Force into Moon- destroying as much Poison as she could and closing her her eyes, feeling more lightheaded immediately.

"F.. Frea...?" Moon's voice caused Frea to open her eyes and let her Magic fade, panting a bit more now after using the Spell. Moon blinked and pushed herself into a sitting position, looking around as Frea caught her breath again. "What.. What the hell happened?" She asked and Frea sighed.

"Glad to see you awake." Frea murmured with a small relieved smile, ignoring Moon's question for the time being. "How do you feel?"

".. Weak..." Moon mumbled, "But... fine." Moon paused and Frea nodded, her eyes falling closed. Moon's eyes swept over her Partner as she took in the cuts and bruises, the frayed and torn clothes and the dried blood that had mostly been burned away. "Frea... Are _you_ ok?" Moon asked urgently and Frea nodded,

"I'm fine, just a bit drained." She replied as she opened her eyes with another small smile, it was more like 'seriously drained'. "I'm just glad you are alright." She murmured, taking a comfortable seat for a moment.

"What did..?"

"I had a bit of a fight with Cobra." Frea answered, "He took off though,"

"And the poison?" Moon asked and Frea sighed.

"Well... You were in it for a bit, and so was I..." She paused, "He also managed to scratch me and poison me a bit more too," Frea smiled. "But, I'm more resistant to poison than most people, ever since I fought with a Poison Mage a long time ago. And I got rid of most the Poison in you. I... I'll be ok in a bit." Moon gave her a stare and shook her head slightly.

"Where did he go?" Moon murmured and Frea's head tilted back a little,

"Not far," Frea murmured, "But he did get rid of that Cloud willingly- I didn't do it. So I expect he probably won't move to come after us for awhile..." Her eyes narrowed, "... I don't know who he is repaying his debt to though, which means we may be in for some more enemies and soon..." Her eyes switched back to Moon who nodded in understanding,

"Then we need to find everyone else." Moon murmured and Frea nodded. The Energy Dragon Slayer got to her feet slowly and helped Moon to her paws, before picking her up and placing her back on her shoulder. Frea began to move off, following the feel of their Guild Mates Energy Signatures up ahead- where she noted the quick appearance of two more Energy Signatures.

They passed the place where Frea had torn up the street and ground while fighting with Cobra, Moon stared in shock at the sight and glanced to Frea. "A little fight?" She murmured, her eyes scanning over the completely destroyed place surrounding, she couldn't remember the last time she had seen so much destruction... Frea sighed, blinking a few times as the haziness over her vision continued to grow.

"Somewhat..."

* * *

 

"Last time, we didn't have a chance to cross swords. But we finally meet, Byro Cracy." Erza appeared before the lowered figure of Coco as the girl awaited an attack from her comrade- having willingly saved Lucy and the others from being hit by a devastating attack. Natsu had previously been fighting with the man, taking a hell of a beating when he found his Magic useless against Byro.

Erza appeared in an instant, seemingly from thin air as she had not been anywhere in the ruin but moments before. Natsu, Lucy, Romeo and Happy smiled at her appearance.

"Erza!"

"Titania." Byro growled, immediately recognizing the redhead.

"Don't Titania me!" Erza muttered coldly, "Aiming an attack at your comrade in a fit of rage... It makes me sick." She hissed, eyes dark- having apparently overheard what it was Byro had been saying moments before.

"Hell yeah! You don't bully the weak," Gray called down from farther up, standing beside Juvia and Lyon as they remained around the Clock Piece they had collected.

"Huh? Why Lyon?" Happy murmured, spotting the Lamia Scale Wizard.

"I had a hunch there was trouble, so we hustled on over here... And look what we've got." Gray smirked, looking at Natsu who scowled. "Seems like the Pyro's getting his ass kicked."

"Shut up!" Natsu snapped angrily, "The real fight was just about to start, and then you waltzed in!"

"Everyone, you all found the parts of the clock!" Lucy exclaimed in delight as she spotted the surrounding figures of the other Fairy Tail Teams sent out to to search, all of whom who seemed to have arrived in the nick of time.

"Gajeel's team is here too?" Natsu muttered, spotting the Iron Dragon Slayer not far off.

"Carla's team found a Part too!" Happy grinned, spotting the white she-cat and the Clock Part beside the other members of that search team.

"Look, everyone! There's the one we found!" Romeo called, pointing toward the large piece he and the other Members of their group had found tucked away before Byro had arrived. Erza requiped into her regular armor and gave Byro a stare, he frowned.

"As you can see, we've obtained all five parts. All that's left is the clock hand you people stole from Lucy." She lift a sword toward him in warning. "And you _will_ give it back." She growled.

"If you want it, come and get it, Titania." Byro muttered darkly, scowling.

"You stand against all of us?" Erza questioned in mild amusement. "We're going to seal away all the parts of the Clock and keep them safe. So just give that to me without protest." She muttered in a last warning.

"I can't do that. The Infinity Clock originally belonged to Zentopia. We're bound to take charge of it." Byro told her in return.

"Hmm?" Erza hummed.

"Is this true?" Lucy asked as she turned to Dan, who shrugged in return.

"Uh... This is the first I've heard of it..." Dan replied uncertainly.

"You're all in too deep, you peered at the darkness that mustn't be seen. Already, I cannot allow you to leave here alive." Byro raised his staff, Erza tensed with everyone else, sensing their fight was about to begin.

"Try it!" Erza said, Requiping into her Heaven's Wheel Armor and sending a flurry of swords out toward the man, while they combined with the force of every Fairy Tail Mage around them sending out their own attack at the Legion Commander.

"Everyone! Wait! Magic doesn't work!" Lucy called, too late as the attacks were already sent out.

"Pitiful." Byro muttered, all of the Magic seemed to slow as it was engulfed in a glow of green, and then everything disappeared into pieces- completely Nullified and Destroyed.

"So this is what Gildarts was talking about!" Gray growled.

"Even against our numbers..." Erza muttered,

"Magic doesn't work on him!" Natsu hissed, looking rather annoyed.

"Who knew he was this strong?" Erza murmured,

"For sure, this is a pain in the ass..." Gray replied, backing up toward Natsu with Erza beside him.

"No matter how many of you attack at once, it makes no difference. Against me, Wizards are no longer Wizards." Byro explained lowly.

"Right when we need Frea, she's nowhere to be seen." Erza murmured half to herself. Lucy and Romeo exchanged glances, looking around as they sweatdropped.

"That's right... Where is Frea anyway?" They asked quietly,

"Then there's nothing for it." Erza sighed,

"Well just have to beat the crap out of you with our bare hands." Gray smirked.

"Then come. Even in a physical fight I'm trained to take on 50 people at once." Byro growled.

"You're fired up too, Octo-Man?" Natsu grinned, slamming a fist into his palm.

"Be careful, he's a master of the fighting arts." Erza warned. Byro lift his staff out toward the Fairy Tail Members and smiled darkly,

"Try all you want, I will turn everyone of you to dust. You are powerless without your Magic." Byro chuckled lowly, the Fairy Tail Wizards tensed slightly, feeling an insane amount of Power begin to rise off the man.

"Try _me!"_ Byro's head snapped up at the voice as his eyes widened to see a beacon of glowing silver appear over him, as Frea flipped in air with her arms out to the side.

"Energy Dragon Wing Attack!" She growled, coming down on him as he lift his staff and pointed it at Frea- looking to Nullify her Magic only to find it wouldn't work. He was too shocked to move, and Frea hit him with full force- wind picking up around them and hitting everyone surrounding them with the amount of Power put into the attack. Byro's yell of pain and shock rung out around them as silver flooded the ruin and the ground shook, Byro was sent flying and hit the ground hard, struggling to regain his balance.

"Frea!" The surrounding Fairy Tail members said in delight, glad to have their ace against Byro's Nullification Magic. Frea came to a halt, eyes trained on the man and glowing with the light of her Magic around her.

"No way..." Dan murmured in shock, eyes wide along with Coco as they stood beside eachother.

"Her Magic can't be Nullified by Byro...?" Coco whispered quietly,

"Good to see you." Erza murmured, smiling slightly as her fellow S-Class Wizard came to a halt. Erza's smile faded when she noticed the state Frea was already in, with the bruises, dried blood and ripped clothing. "It would seem you've already been fighting..." Frea cast a glance back at the redhead, frowning a little.

"Sorry I'm late." Frea replied, sighing a little. "I got caught up fighting Cobra..." She hissed, looking a bit annoyed. Erza stiffened at the news, eyes growing wide in surprise.

"Cobra?" She echoed, Frea nodded once and looked back to Byro- who had gotten to his feet by now and was looking extremely pissed.

"What would he be doing here..?" Gray mumbled beside Erza, who he shared a glance with. Moon floated down beside the two, having arrived not long after Frea and Erza looked to her.

"We don't know, but we think he may be here with someone else." Moon explained to the redhead quickly.

"This is impossible." Byro growled lowly, pointing his staff out toward Frea who looked back in utter calm. "No Wizard can resist my Nullification Magic."

"I'm not any normal Wizard." Frea muttered, her Magic growing about her as Byro backed up slightly. "Nullification Magic is void around me, you and you're comrades had better back off now and give us that Clock Hand- before I _take_ it from you." Frea's voice dropped to a low hiss, her tone cold and filled with a warning. Byro looked back to her steadily, not willing to back down.

"I will not give into you, Magic or not." He muttered and Frea narrowed her eyes. "Come at me then, lets see if you can-" he broke off suddenly, eyes wide as the air suddenly felt heavy, and turned cold around them. Frea stiffened in shock at the feeling, eyes growing wide as she glanced around quickly, not sure why everything felt so dark all of the sudden.

The glow of gold in Byro's hand coming from the Clock Hand he held caught her attention and the attention of everyone else, before it was ripped from his grasp and floated through the air, accompanied by the figures of the other Clock Parts that had been collected by those in Fairy Tail. All thoughts of fighting were put on hold as Frea whipped around, watching as the Clock returned to form and hovered before them in air-

The ruin filled with the sound of the Clock letting out a series of rings that boomed continuously, shaking the air and the ruin around them as waves of sound traveled all around. Frea winced at the incredible noise, feeling the sound vibrate through her core as everything around them threatened to break down, the noise and its effect worsening her already swimming vision.

"That thing's noisy!" Natsu yelled, clapping his hands over his ears.

"It'll destroy the crypt!" Erza growled, noticing the ruins about to give way.

"What is this?" Lucy mumbled in awe,

"Hey! Lets not just stand around, we gotta hurry!" Gray snapped, Frea took a step backward and closed her eyes. A surge of Power radiated around the Clock suddenly, it hit her as much as the sound waves from the Clock's booming did.

"What's this smell?" Natsu mumbled, eyes narrowing as his nose twitched. Frea cracked her eyes open as she caught on to the scent herself, only one of which she recognized as the very same one she had come across not long before- only now noticing the appearance of several other Energy Signatures within the ruin.

"I know what it is...they're here..." Natsu growled, stepping forward as his fists clenched at his side. His eyes traveled up to a higher slope ahead of them, just as a group of people to which Cobra stood among appeared on the rise, just before the booming Clock as its noise died out, and the shaking in the ruin ceased altogether.

"Oracion Seis!" Lucy gasped, immediately recognizing the group. Moon blinked in shock, having heard stories of the time Fairy Tail had fought with the Dark Guild. Frea growled slightly, knowing the story too though she had been thought dead at the time the conflict with Oracion Seis had taken place.

"Don't they seem really different?" Gray asked lowly, noting immediately the sense of newfound Power hanging about the group. Power- Frea noted, that was no small amount between all of them.

"It looks like the members are different too." Erza told him in return, her eyes immediately picking out those who hadn't been there before.

"Three in a row! Haha, Oracion Seis-Oracion Seis-Oracion Seis! It really is Oracion Seis!" A strange figure that looked like a pink bear shouted. "No, no, no! The _Reborn_ Oracion Seis! I'm very glad to make your acquaintance!" He corrected himself,

"Reborn Oracion Seis?!"

"That's right indeed. The Reborn Oracion Seis." The man at the head said calmly, in a tone that was no more than being mildly bored.

"Are you Midnight?!" Natsu snapped,

"That name belongs to the past. From henceforth, please remember me as Brain II." Midnight replied curtly.

"What do you mean II?! You bastards just come strolling in.. What do you want?!" Natsu yelled, his anger growing.

"I just have one wish. To carry out my fathers will. To destroy everything that has a form.." Midnight or rather, 'Brain II' said.

"You're still talking that none sense?" Erza growled lowly. Midnight gave the redhead a passing glance but decided to ignore her.

"Legion, Fairy Tail- your mission is now over." Midnight said simply, causing everyone to blink in confusion at the words. Frea's attention snapped toward the Clock as she felt the Magic of every Oracion Seis member suddenly rise up and in a glow of white, their Names appeared upon the face of the Clock.

"What the hell is that?!" Dan snapped, noticing the names as soon as they were carved.

"Dan, don't let them get it!" Byro ordered, having by now come over all of his shock.

"Alright, got it!" Dan replied, jumping forward with Byro at his side as they began to run toward the Oracion Seis members.

"You gotta be kidding! That's our line!" Natsu yelled, catching up with the two immediately, heading straight past Frea who stood at the foremost.

"The maggots are swarming." Midnight sighed. Frea stiffened, just as Midnight held a hand forward and a flash of green began to streak out toward the three running men.

"I'll knock that right back at you!" Dan hissed, lifting his shield as he planted it before him. The green simply encircled him and then detonated with a heavy boom that shook the very air, sending the man flying backward with his shield thrown away.

"The shield didn't repel it?!" Coco gasped in utter shock.

"Back off!" Byro barked at Natsu, lifting his staff.

"What!?" Natsu snapped,

"To me, all forms of Magic..." Byro muttered, but in the next instant both he and Natsu are engulfed in Magic an thrown back with a boom just as Dan was.

"What happened to his Nullification Magic?!" Gray muttered, "It should work against everyone but Frea.."

"What was that?" Erza muttered lowly a her eyes narrowed at what happened,

"It refracted the range of Byro's Magic and attacked simultaneously." The odd bear-thing from before spoke up. "That's why he's called Brain!" Frea narrowed her eyes and shook her head slightly, a feeling of lightheadedness had been growing- the poison Cobra had hit her with was still in her, though she had gotten for of a large part of it, and she could feel herself succumbing to it even if slowly.

"Ownership of the Infinity Clock is determined by the Wizard that carves his seal upon it." Midnight told them. "Therefore, just now- this Clock has become our property."

"Hey! Suddenly coming out of nowhere and snatching it away is cowardly!" Lucy snapped defensively.

"I can hear your indignation..." Cobra murmured lowly, "You're all in a state of confusion..."

"Laughable.." A man beside him murmured.

"People of the darkness like us aren't even permitted to touch this Clock. So that's why we gathered you!" The woman amongst the group laughed. Moon's eyes widened at the words,

"It was our plot!" The odd bear-thing put in.

"You..." Gray murmured lowly. It all began to come together in the heads of the Fairy Tail Wizards, Frea hissed slightly as she realized it.

"We were used..." Lucy whispered, "I don't believe it... Then why on earth... Did my father...?"

"They've been planning this..." Moon hissed lowly, her eyes traveled over toward Michelle in the same moment Frea's own eyes did the same. To them, they both knew that it was unlikely Lucy had been given that memento with her father without Oracion Seis having something to do with it... And Michelle had been the one to being it to the Guild. They had no proof of course...

"The Magic I feel coming off them..." Erza murmured with narrowed eyes.

"Its in a different league than what they had before.." Gray answered her,

"Who gives a damn?!" Natsu snapped at the two, having overheard the small exchange.

"You danced in the palm of our hand... Think of it as an honor." Cobra said in a rather bored tone, arms crossed over his chest.

"Shut the hell up!" Natsu snapped. "Why are you helping these guys anyway?! I thought we were on the same side!" Cobra sighed,

"Think again."

A vein ticked on Natsu's forehead and he leaned backward, cheeks puffing up as he let loose a flurry of spinning flame toward Oracion Seis, but in an instant the form of a man appeared before the flames- accompanied by a Magic Circle. Natsu's flames split apart, warded off by a whirl of...

"His flames were dispersed!" Gray muttered in shock,

"That's.." Erza muttered lowly, noticing the Magic used.

"Wind Magic?!" Wendy gasped, able to spot the same Magic as hers from anywhere.

"Wind..? Nothing as gentle as that.. Its a storm, a storm is coming." The man murmured in a low, monotone voice. He sat cross-legged, holding a scythe as he floated in air.

"That face, that voice... Could it be...?" Happy said suddenly,

"You're..?!" Lucy stammered, realizing what Happy seemed to.

"You saw right through him! This man was formerly in Eisenwald! He is most definitely.. Erigor!" The bear-thing laughed, apparently able to guess what the Fairy Tail Mages were thinking.

"My name is Grim Reaper." Erigor muttered.

"Erigor?!"

"Whatever! Come down here so I can beat the crap out of you!" Natsu yelled,

"Brain, how long are we gonna waste time here?" Cobra asked suddenly, he didn't look to wish to keep this up- his eyes slowly traced toward Frea who looked back at him with a deadly stare. His earlier realization hit him, he knew that if she were to come after her he would be done for- but then he noticed her sway a little, though almost imperceptibly, and he sighed a little. _Finally..._

"We have a grand aim don't we?" The woman asked, her eyes going toward the apparent leader.

"I know. But there's Fairy Tail... I can't forget the humiliation from seven years ago..." Midnight sighed, before he smiled slightly. "Play with them a bit, Cobra, Racer." All of Fairy Tail tensed,

"They're coming! Engage!" Erza, Requiping into her Robe of Yuen, Natsu and Gray race forward just beside her as the rest of the Fairy Tail Members prepare for the incoming attacks.

All in a single instant, the man named Racer managed to kick all three of the approaching Fairy Tail Wizards down as they crash into the earth with painful thuds.

"What was that?! I couldn't see anything!" Happy yelled, his eyes not able to follow the movements of the man as he took Gray, Erza and Natsu down.

"Damn it! What the hell is that?!" Gray snapped, pushing himself up.

"Its like another person all together, in both speed and power! What happened to his Slow Magic?!" Erza hissed,

"I don't think he's using it!" Gray muttered back, before being hit again by a flash of white that was the only indication of Racer with his newfound speed- before Erza was thrown down again and then followed by Mira, Efman, Lisanna...

"Hey, its been a long time Sky Maiden." Cobra murmured, suddenly appearing before Wendy who whipped about to face him, fists clenched at her side.

"Leave her be, Cobra." Frea placed herself before the small Dragon Slayer instantly, not looking to let the man go after Wendy under any circumstance. Cobra looked to her and frowned,

"Hmm... I already decided I do not wish to fight with you." He murmured, his hand rubbing against the bandaged arm that Frea had managed to injure. "... And I still hold to that, however-" he vanished in a sudden burst of speed, appearing behind Frea in an instant as she hissed, turning to him,

"It would seem my poison is finally getting to you."

Cobra swung his open palm into the center of Frea's back with an insane amount of force, Frea's eyes went wide as pain shot trough her entire being and she coughed out, blood springing into the air as it came up her throat, her entire body burning with fire as his Magic flowed through her with incredible speed at the contact.

She fell to her knees, wheezing and eyes shut. Blood continued to drip from the edge of her mouth as the lightheadedness she had been feeling suddenly became overwhelming, and she felt her strength fade almost entirely.

"D.. Damn it..." She hissed, had it been able to see it that easily? She had seriously misjudged how strong his Poison was, and how much of it was left inside of her... And seriously misjudged her ability to resist it.

"Frea!" Wendy gasped, her eyes wide in shock at what happened to the Energy Dragon Slayer.

"Your opponent is me!" Natsu suddenly appeared behind Frea, having seen what happened and the action against the Energy Dragon Slayer enraging him.

"Tch.. As always, your voice is abrasive!" Cobra muttered in annoyance, his fingers snapping as a wave of pressure suddenly erupted around Natsu- seemingly fueled by the pinkette's shout of fury. The pressure increased until it became a wall- and then it detonated around them, tearing up the ground and the ruin while making everything shake with the immensity of the power behind it.

Wendy, Carla, Frea and everyone around them were thrown away and knocked down by the boom. Frea hissed in pain as she hit the ground, her body burning with a newfound fire as she cringed.

"His voice... became a powerful wall of pressure..." Wendy mumbled, struggling to try and get up after being hit by the boom.

"Damn it Cobra, you bastard!" Natsu shouted, his eyes scanning around to see the damage that had been done in his effort to go after Cobra.

"I can hear your despair... Be destroyed by your own voice." Cobra snapped his fingers again, as another boom went off and Natsu was taken down as well. Cobra slowly began to walk toward the rest of Oracion Seis and paused beside Frea, who was slowly struggling to get up. For a moment, their eyes met and hey simply stared.

He couldn't beat her at full power, but she seemed to have been considerably drained before their meeting, and his Poison had finally taken hold of her. Perhaps on another day, this may have been a fair fight.

But not today.

Fairy Tail was being demolished in the presence of these new enemies, half had been taken out by Cobra and his Sound Pressure Technique alone- while the rest were steadily taken out by quick, powerful hits by Racer.

"The difference in Power between us is obvious." The woman among Oracion Seis murmured.

"Fairy Tail is weak.." Racer murmured lowly, appearing beside his comrades along with Cobra.

"Lets get going." Midnight murmured, satisfied with the payback given to those in Fairy Tail. "Angel, get rid of them."

"Understood..." The woman murmured with a small smile, "The cost is 30.." She paused, just as three shining coins appeared before her. "I was once the maiden who walked with the Celestial Spirits.. I was a child then. But now, as my name implies, I am an angel! You think that Spirits can stand up against an angel? I'll show you some beautiful Angel Magic. But before that, people will grovel before me in despair. And sacrifice their own lives!" Her face twisted into a deadly smirk and Frea stiffened as the woman began to glow with radiant light- and her Power suddenly surged, dangerous, potent...

"Look at the power that ones from the light in my own name! I summon the angel that calls forth victory... Barakiel! Protect the seal and seal away this burial ground!"

Frea hissed, her eyes narrowing against the glow as the feel of Angel's Magic grew exponentially, and she perceived the figure of a stone angel appearing before them- just as everything began to shake and they were engulfed in the white brilliance.

Frea could feel the ruin giving in to collapse as sections of it began to tumble down, and she glanced around quickly- everyone was out, and she was following fast... But they were going to be buried, and that wasn't something she was willing to let happen... But her eyes were falling and she was finding it hard to stay awake, the poison in her body was working too fast, and the exhaustion of using so much Magic all throughout the day was coming on fast too...

The white was clashed against with a single moment of silver, before her mind fell away into black and everything was lost around her...

* * *

 

_"F... rea...?"_

_The blurry outline of someone came to her amongst the darkness... It was moving about, everything was in slow motion... She couldn't focus on anything.. Couldn't see anything clearly.. Everything was too fuzzy, too dark..._

_What's going on...? W... What happened...?_

_Everything was hazy... They had been... Fighting, right...? And then... Yeah, that woman... She collapsed the ruin on top of us... Damn it..._

_The black about her swirled, the figure before her was lost and she felt her body shift- they were floating, moving fast..._

_But shouldn't... We be buried...?_

* * *

 

Frea jolted up, her breaths coming in ragged gasps as she struggle to gain her bearings, her gaze sweeping around the place frantically. Her heart beat faster than ever, her body was aching with a dull fire, she was covered in sweat and she felt extremely frayed...

She blinked, sweatdropping when she finally registered where she was. Someone had laid her down on a couch, a damp cloth fell into her lap where it had been on her forehead, and she had been given a t-shirt to replace the torn one she had been wearing.

She narrowed her eyes, gaze still lingering on blurry and quite lightheaded from moving so fast. She felt hot, and her body ached... Oh right, Cobra had poisoned her, she could still taste the blood she had started coughing on her tongue.

Her eyes swept about the room, taking into account the decor and the fact that every other Fairy Tail member that had been in the ruin along with her, they were all unconscious and spread about the room on different couches and such. She allowed herself a small sigh, relieved they hadn't been crushed under the collapsing ruin...

Her eyes switched toward the smaller couch next to her, where she smiled a little to see Moon fast asleep. She rubbed the top of the grey Exceed's head slightly, before slowly swinging her legs from the couch and sighing as pain flared up in her body, she stifled the wince.

She recognized the building almost immediately though, even despite her hazy vision. How they got here though, she didn't have a clue...

"Oh! Frea dear, you're awake!" She blinked in surprise at the voice, her head snapping in the direction of Master Bob as he appeared next to her, hands clasped together before him and smiling slightly, but still looking quite worried.

"Master Bob.." she murmured.

"Good to see you up. Men~!" In the next instant, Ichiya was before her too and she blinked again.

"Ichiya.."

"You're the first one up too, quite a surprise after what happened." Bob murmured, "You have quite the fever you know, you've been sick since Ichiya found you." He sighed, a hand resting against his cheek as he tilted his head at her, his eyes sympathetic. "Not surprising really, not with all the Magic you used up keeping the ruins from burying everyone completely. You must be exhausted!" Frea stiffened a little, _now what did he say...?_

"I was impressed with how long you kept your dome up around your Guild," Ichiya spoke up. "You must have been holding the ruin up around you for quite awhile before I finally made it there. And you held it up right to the point I managed to get all of you out, men~!"

Frea glanced between the two of them quickly, blinking a few times. She had _what?_

"You... You're saying, I placed a dome around us back in the ruin?" She asked quietly, Ichiya and Bob paused a moment, exchanging quick glances with one another.

"Frea dear..." Master Bob said slowly, "You don't remember doing that...?"

"No..." Frea murmured, her eyes closing as she tried to recall it.

Master Bob and Ichiya glanced to one another again, nodding slightly. They had discussed it before Frea woke up, just as Ichiya had come back with everyone. What he said had happened, he had come upon the ruin worried that the people of Fairy Tail had been crushed underneath the rubble and destruction, but what he had found was most shocking.

The rubble inside the ruin was being held up by a massive dome of silver, and inside it were those in Fairy Tail, everyone unconscious but the one.

Frea was surrounded in silver as her Magic continued to flow and keep the weight of the ruin above it from toppling down upon her and her Guild-Mates.

But it wasn't just a dome.

But even outside her dome, the falling debris was... Stopped. It was fixed in air, floating... As silver specks of Magic floated about the air around it, her Magic keeping everything in a complete stand still... The air had been laced with an extreme sense of Magic, Magic that stifled the person breathing, radiated in massive waves- all of it Magic belonging to Frea.

Ichiya couldn't remember seeing so much Power come from Frea on any other occasion, because she was using an extreme amount of Magic that flowed from her continuously. But even at the time, he noticed that she wasn't necessarily awake and controlling her actions. No, it had seemed Frea was acting unconsciously, her body doing so of its own will all in effort to protect her Guild, though her mind must have long given in before then.

Neither Ichiya nor Master Bob had been assuming Frea would remember what she had done, simply because she hadn't been _consciously_ doing it.

Frea sweatdropped. She recognized this feeling, this feeling of being drained after a long time of nothing but black. She had felt this way... After Fairy Sphere was dispelled back on Tenrou. Was it possible... She had been unconsciously using her Magic? Just as she was said to have been doing during those Seven Years they were trapped on Tenrou?

"No matter." Master Bob said suddenly. "At least all of you are safe, and that is all that counts." Frea nodded slightly,

"You said.. You brought us here, Ichiya?" She asked, glancing to said man who nodded.

"Indeed I did, I felt something was amiss and naturally came to your aid!" He replied,

"Then... Thank you, for saving everyone. I appreciate it." Frea murmured, sighing silently.

"Not a problem, men~!"

"How are you feeling, Frea?" Bob asked gently, leaning in slightly as the worry worked its way into his voice again. "You gave us quite the scare you know," Frea sweatdropped a little and smiled slightly,

"Sorry for worrying you guys, but I feel alright actually." She murmured, "I'm just happy no one else was hurt."

"None the less, if you're feeling better or not- stay still and rest some more. No use trying to overdo it so quickly." Bob told her firmly and she nodded, being reminded quite well of Master Makarov and Porlyusica alike-despite the gentle facade about him.

"You got it," she smiled a little.

"Now, could you tell us what happened?" Bob went on, Frea blinked.

"I'm not entirely aware of all the details myself," she murmured. "But from what I can make out, we were tricked into collecting the parts to the Infinity Clock- which is what is supposedly supposed to end the world." They stiffened a little. "Right when we brought the parts together, they combined and the ah.. 'Reborn' Oracion Seis showed up, and kicked our asses before pulling the ruins down. They took the Clock- and I figure they aim something along the lines of destroying the world with it."

"Reborn Oracion Seis?" Ichiya murmured, "Then... Would that mean you were..?"

"Poisoned?" She murmured, nodding a little. "Yes,"

"But I thought Cobra was past all of that since the GMG?" Bob sighed,

"I thought that too, but then he spouted something about 'paying back a debt'." Frea murmured lowly.

"What a waste... That young man is going down the wrong road doing this.." Bob murmured, earning a nod from Frea and Ichiya alike. "At any rate, I called Makarov and told him that all of you were safe and we were looking after you. You'll stay here until all of you are rested up and good to start off again." Frea nodded a little,

"Oh, and I also heard about your promotion!" Bob grinned and Frea blinked, _promotion... Oh..._

"Promotion?!" Ichiya exclaimed beside her, suddenly excited as he pointed both fingers toward her. "Has it finally happened?! Have you finally been given the credit you deserved and moved to the rank of;" he began to shine in his vigor and Frea leaned away, sweatdropping at the sudden reaction.

"S-CLASS?! Men~!"

"Please... Calm down..." Frea mumbled, feeling suddenly flustered as she winced at the sound of his voice amongst the relatively quite room. "Its no big deal..."

"Oh, but it is quite a big deal!" Ichiya went on, his voice lowering only slightly. "This marks a momentous change in your life as a Wizard! You've finally become what you should have been so very long ago, and now you warrant the respect and authority of a high-ranking Mage within your Guild and the Wizard society- you..." Frea sighed as she tuned him out in his ranting,

"Not that you never had everyone's respect before, mind you." Bob chuckled a little as he caught her attention. "You've always been given authority even when you were at the regular Mage level, nothing's changed really- but I will say it was about time Makie promoted you." Frea blinked a few times and smiled slightly, nodding a little.

"I suppose that's true..."

* * *

 

"Men!" Ichiya murmured, his face leaning over Natsu's as the pinkette's eyes slowly opened.

Natsu's eyes went wide as he let out a shout of surprise, jolting up only to butt heads with the man above him, sending them both cringing. "Damn it!" Natsu hissed, holding his now aching head.

"Natsu! You regained consciousness!" Happy exclaimed, floating over once he saw his Partner up and moving.

"Ugh... Huh? Where are we?" Natsu murmured, looking around quickly in confusion.

"Blue Pegasus!" Happy answered, plopping himself down beside pinkette.

"Blue Pegasus?!" Natsu echoed,

"Did you remember my Parfum?" Ichiya asked, sliding up next to the couch.

"You saved me?" Natsu asked, receiving a nod, before Natsu's eyes widened. Before him, the memory of that bright light hitting them resurfaced. "Where's everyone else?!" Natsu shouted,

"Worry not. They are all just fine." Ichiya smiled slightly, "No one is seriously injured, so we're letting them rest a bit. Men~!" Natsu blinked, before the image of seeing Frea collapse after getting hit by Cobra came to mind and he sweatdropped.

"That means Frea too?" He asked quickly and Ichiya blinked.

"I'm fine, Natsu." His head snapped around to see Frea sitting at a table nearby with Gajeel, Moon, Lily, Wendy, Carla and Levy with her. Her head rest on the table top, she had looked over as he came to and had heard his question easily, she took her head from her arms and gave him a small smile, her fangs flashing. "Relax." He paused a moment, noticing the exhaustion hanging about her but she seemed relatively ok...

"Alright..." Natsu murmured, sighing slightly.

"Oh! Natsu is up too?!" Master Bob appeared beside the pinkette who jumped slightly.

"Natsu!" Lucy called happily, sitting nearby at a bar with Gray and Erza.

"Jeez, how long were you gonna sleep?" Gray muttered.

"You better give your thanks, without them we would still be buried." Erza told him firmly,

"Its incrediable, Ichiya is the one who saved us from under all that wreckage." Lucy told the pinkette as he moved closer,

"Oh really? Thanks." Natsu grinned.

"We're comrades who fought together, I need no thanks." Ichiya replied earnestly.

"I'm grateful, Master Bob." Erza said to the man as he moved behind the counter, but he shook his head a little and smiled slightly.

"Oh, but we can't take all the credit for your rescue." Master Bob murmured, a hand pressing against his cheek as he leaned against the bar counter. "Because without Frea, you'd have all been crushed and buried before we even got there."

Erza blinked a few times with everyone else near, before her eyes glanced toward the Energy Dragon Slayer listening contently to Levy, Wendy and Gajeel talk amongst themselves, occasionally glancing toward the conversation that Lily and Moon had started with Carla listening as well.

"Really?" Erza murmured and Bob nodded, then Erza smiled slightly. "I suppose its usually because of Frea we make it out of situations like that..."

"Where are the other guys?" Natsu asked of Ichiya.

"Hibiki and the others are in another land for a different matter. Men~!" Ichiya answered.

"Here's Lyon?"

"Ichiya dropped him off at Lamia Scale." Lucy explained.

"And Legion?" Natsu muttered, a frown appearing across his face.

"I didn't see anyone there but you."

"I see... " Natsu growled, his head falling a little.

"What's wrong?" Lucy asked,

"Those bastards... Damnit... They were toying with us, next time- we're gonna kick they're asses! " Natsu snapped, earning a nod of approval from anyone listening.

"In the coming battle, you have my support." Ichiya told him.

"I know I can rely on you." Erza murmured with a small smile. Lucy blinked, glancing around suddenly as she noticed the absence of a particular person.

"Where's Michelle?"

Frea eyes closed, knowing full well that Michelle had disappeared from the building- but she hadn't the energy to go looking now. She noticed Moon's ears twitch a little to indicate she had heard too, but it would seem her Exceed Partner was more focused on her conversation than where Michelle may be.

"Hey, Silver." Her attention snapped to the present when a voice growled her name and she recognized it immediately as Gajeel. Her eyes switched toward him to see his conversation with Levy and Wendy had ceased, and she blinked.

"Yeah?" She asked, Gajeel just gave her a flat stare somewhere between exasperation and annoyance.

"The kid asked you a question." He huffed, gesturing toward a very embarrassed Wendy who sat closest to her beside Moon and Lily. Wendy laughed nervously, sweatdropping a little as Frea blinked,

"Oh, ah... Sorry Wendy, I was lost in thought." She apologized quickly, she hadn't honestly heard Wendy say anything.

"I just asked how you were feeling is all." Wendy murmured, "You've been rather silent and I thought I smelled..." She broke off a little and just looked at Frea, who looked back in confusion at the sudden silence.

The next instant, Wendy's hand was pressed against her forehead and she sighed a little, heading a small gasp from Wendy at how hot she was to the touch.

"You have a really high fever!" Wendy exclaimed, brining Moon and Lily's attention to them, Frea sighed again and closed her eyes, pulling away and resting her chin in her hand.

"I know..." She murmured, "But it isn't that bad... I'm just tired is all, you don't have to worry about it Wendy..."

"But why didn't you say something? I mean, I remembered what happened back at the ruins but you seemed fine..." Wendy pressed, not quite deterred at Frea's answer. "I could have already healed you." Frea paused a minute, her eyes resting on Wendy in silence.

"Its not... A big deal. I really am fine, there's no need to worry- it'll go away soon." Frea promised, receiving a disbelieving look from Wendy, but she gave in none the less, albeit a bit reluctantly.

Moon's eyes narrowed a little at her Partner, not sure why she wasn't willing to let Wendy heal her... But then she blinked. Frea had a fever, but not because of the poison she would guess- we had a fever because she had been drained of Magic so quickly.

 _Magic Deficiency Syndrome..._ Even if it was a minor form of it. And if that was the case, Wendy's Magic would do very little- she couldn't replace anyone's Magic Energy, and Frea knew that. Moon sighed slightly, sweatdropping as she watched her Partner reassure the small Dragon Slayer with a smile and even reassure the others nearby who had overheard everything.

She was a bit worried about Frea, yes... But at this point, she was getting a bit more used to the fact that Frea was usually in a mess, and she had faith that the Energy Dragon Slayer would pull through- she had proved capable of that many a time over now. But even then, she decided to keep an eye on Frea just in case she got worse of started faltering.

That was her job now, more than ever. To look after Frea and make sure she was there if the Energy Dragon as layer started to fall. Frea needed someone to look after her just as much as Frea looked after everyone else- and she wasn't the only one who felt that way.

It was something many of the other Members had started to feel too, with all Frea did for them over and over without asking for more, it was probably past time they started repaying all the favors she had done for them.


	36. Unlikely Pair

**Chapter 36**

**Unlikely Pair**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

_"I see... We were wrong...I understand... Now I understand! It meant we mustn't collect them! That's what the message in this book meant! The pieces of the clock, we weren't supposed to get them!"_

_"Is that what Angel was taking about? They were waiting for us to gather them?"_

* * *

 

We were tricked.

_Of course we were, it was no wonder everything made absolutely no sense at all. We were on a wild chase from the beginning and now we are paying for it, we already paid for it. We got out asses handed to us by Oracion Seis, like we've been getting out asses kicked by the Legion all the same... Damn it..._

"Oracion Seis hmm? Just another thing we don't need..." Macao muttered, Frea glanced toward him from where she sat at the bar, Moon beside her with Wendy and Carla on her other side. They had been taken back to the Guild by Ichiya shortly after Natsu came to, where they had gotten back to find the Guild mostly empty and Master gone.

"So that's why Master was called by the Council." Wakaba murmured, all of them having been already informed of his absence by now.

"Yes," Erza replied with a nod, her arms crossing over her chest.

"They're stronger than they were seven years ago," Gray muttered.

"So much so that we were helpless against them." Carla murmured, earning a tense nod from most everyone else.

"Tch..." Frea hissed under her breath, glancing away to stare at the wall behind the bar, frowning deeply.

"We couldn't do anything.."

"When you really get down to it, it was all my fault..." Frea's eyes narrowed, easily recognizing Michelle's voice. She huffed a little, barely loud enough for anyone but Moon to hear- but Wendy did hear it and glanced toward the Energy Dragon Slayer in confusion.

"No, it wasn't your fault Michelle." Lucy quickly said, "Remember what Natsu said before? My father should have left a more detailed message.."

"Lucy, how did your father even get involved with the Clock in the first place?" Wendy asked, looking away from Frea for the moment. Lucy sighed silently and her head bowed a bit,

"I don't know that myself..."

"We'll solve that mystery another day." Erza said firmly, "Right now, we have to find Oracion Seis and take back the Infinity Clock."

If they didn't, they were looking at a world that would be consumed by Chaos... Frea closed her eyes, she didn't like this, as she knew there was definitely something coming. The air felt thick, there was a dark anticipation about and it was putting her a bit on edge.

Funny though, considering she hadn't sensed anything malicious about this entire thing besides her misgivings about Michelle. It was only now all that evil began to be known to her, and she was shocked a bit at the fact- usually she was the first to sense anything of this sort and yet she hadn't.

_Am I getting sloppy, or what?_

"Then lets go!" Nasty jumped up. "If we start looking everywhere, we're bound to find them eventually, right?!" Frea sighed and shook her head a bit, Natsu was back to making stupid suggestions again...

"Yes, because jumping into things head first worked out _so_ well last time," Frea muttered, turning toward the rest of the Guild as she looked to Natsu. "It'd be better if we actually came up with a plan this time around." She received a nod of approval from many of the Members, Natsu scowled slightly and took a step toward her.

"Thinking ain't gonna get us anywhere!" He snapped, earning sweatdrops from several people. Frea's eyes narrowed,

"Thinking is something you need to learn to do." She muttered, not at all disturbed by the outburst. "You have a bad habit of jumping in without thinking, and its going to get you or someone else hurt eventually. And after how we got our asses kicked this last time, its the best option to sit down and think things through." Natsu scowled,

"At least I'm willing to jump in and fight! Where the hell is your drive to get back at those bastards?!" He snapped, moving closer as his fists clenched at his sides.

"Natsu..!" Gray muttered quickly, knowing full well that the pinkette was stepping over the line now.

Frea got off the stool she sat on, walking toward him a few steps before halting, her gaze hard and flinty. Her own fists clenched and her entire countenance was one of muffled anger,

"Its not a question of _drive_ , Natsu." She hissed in a low, dangerous tone. "Its a question of everyone's safety. We barely made it out of that ruin and we got our asses handed to us because we hadn't been prepared for what we were facing. We screwed up." A shadow fell over her gaze, her silver eyes seeming to glow. "I want to get back at them just as much as you, but I'd rather take time to make a plan that'll help us take them out, instead of risking another beat down." Natsu growled, becoming even angrier and Frea glared.

"Grahh!" Natsu jumped forward, his clenched fists burning with fire, Frea hissed a little and adjusted into a fighting stance as he came toward her. Everyone else jumped in complete shock at the action, all of them unable to believe this had come to blows so quickly, and especially between Frea and Natsu.

"Natsu! Please don't, Frea's still sick!" Wendy said frantically, her words went unheard though.

"Natsu! Quit this nonsense at once!" Erza ordered, but she just like Wendy, was ignored. Moon watched Natsu approach slowly, eyes narrowed and completely calm. It was rather odd that Natsu had gotten fired up this quickly, he had a short temper at the best of times, but this was almost too short. And even Frea was jumping in rather quickly, it just went to show how tense everyone was after everything that had been going on.

"We shouldn't be sitting here!" Natsu yelled furiously as he neared Frea, his fist swinging down at her in an instant. Frea simply moved to the side a little, completely avoiding his hit with one swift movement- before her hand lift and it slammed down on the top of Natsu's head with incredible force, sending him crashing into the floor face first, knocked out in one blow by Frea's clenched fist, no Magic needed.

The surrounding members either stared in utter shock, their jaws dropped, or they looked on with small frowns and silent sighs to themselves. All conflict that had erupted in the course of a few short moments had been abruptly halted in a single action from Frea. Wendy sweatdropped heavily and shrunk back from where she was close beside Frea, shaking a little.

"I-I think she's feeling better.. That's good..." The little Dragon Slayer stammered, earning a nod from Carla and everyone else who had heard her. Erza crossed her arms over her chest,

"It would seem everyone is on edge.." The red-head murmured, her eyes resting on Frea. It was odd, because for many, many years- Frea had been just like Natsu, and she still was in some ways, but her temper and willingness to jump in had seriously lessened. They had seen that when Frea had stood to be the reasonable one at the GMG, standing between Fairy Tail and SaberTooth as she kept Natsu, Gray, and Erza herself from attacking SaberTooth out of pure anger.

She has grown much more level-headed in such a short amount of time... Not surprising, considering how much Frea had been through in dealing with everything that went on in her life. She couldn't stand to not be more calm and level-headed more, she had taken too many injuries from jumping in head first like Natsu, and she must not want that to happen any longer.

Frea sighed slightly, her eyes closing a moment as she slowly looked down at Natsu, face neutral. She was deaf to the murmured words around her, all her focus was on Natsu.

It didn't surprise her how angry he had gotten, she could easily feel the risen nerves about him, as she could for the rest of them in the hall.

It had been her intention to make him that angry, because she much rather allow him to explode on her than on anyone else, or for him to go running off without thinking- as he usually did. If it was necessary for Natsu to come after her, then so be it. Better than anything else he might do.

She was very much used to his temper, and she was easily able to ward off any attacks he lay at her. She was also a bit more level-headed than he was, and that in itself kept her calm enough not to continue in an all out brawl and allow her own anger to get the better of her.

She sighed again, crouching down just as she heard Natsu let out a wince and start to slowly push himself up from the cracked floor underneath him. He rubbed the top of his head gingerly, it throbbing from the hit she landed.

"Are you good now, Natsu?" She asked, earning an annoyed huff and a glare. She smiled slightly, leaning her chin in her hand. "Ah, don't give me that face. You know I'm right." She smirked and he looked away. "We just need some time to think it through. You can have patience, can't you?"

"I hate waiting. Every minute we waste here is another minute those bastards are doing something bad." He muttered and she closed her eyes.

"I understand." She murmured, he glanced to her only to see her eyes were closed. "We just don't want to risk anyone getting more hurt than they were this last time. That's all." She opened one eye and met his gaze, "I know that's something you can respect. If nothing at all."

He simply stared a long while, both of them in utter silence until Natsu gave in and nodded slightly. "Yeah, ok.." He mumbled and Frea smiled.

"Good." She murmured, standing up and then offering him a hand, pulling him back to his feet- just as the doors to the hall opened and in the doorway stood five people.

The Thunder God Tribe, minus Laxus, and then the pair of Chase and Aisha.

"We're back!" Bixlow smirked,

"And we got this job done in no time, we're so good sometimes it scares me..." Evergreen smirked, earning a small smile from Chase and a roll of Aisha's purple eyes.

The group of Freed, Evergreen and Bixlow had been on a job for sometime- and the same went for Chase and Aisha, with the _insane_ amount of time they had been in each others company recently. Where Laxus was, Frea didn't have a clue- all she knew was he had gone on a separate job from the Thunder God Tribe altogether, and he wasn't expected back for a bit of time yet. It would seem the five had come back in the same time as one another, and all of them stopped in their tracks, blinking in confusion when they noticed the tense atmosphere of those in the hall.

"What's going on?" Freed asked immediately. The five came in and the Thunder God Tribe surrounded Erza, listening closely to the explanation she gave them- while Chase listened closely and moved toward Frea, while Aisha kept clear. He took a seat on the other side of Moon at the bar, where Frea had taken her seat up again and Natsu moved to sit at the table Erza stood at, still looking miffed but much calmer now.

"Oracion Seis?" Chase murmured, stiffening when the part of the Dark Guild was mentioned came into the story, eyes growing wide. Frea blinked, looking toward him and quite confused by the action... His eyes darted to meet Aisha's gaze in that instant, before he let out a sigh and placed a hand to his head, leaning back against the bar counter with a sigh. "Well... That explains it..."

" 'Explains' _what_ , exactly?" Frea murmured, earning his attention in an instant. He hadn't been aware she was listening to him, Frea blinked once. "And how about another thing, what in the hell have you been off doing anyway?" He sighed again and hung his head slightly, eyes closed.

She had noticed his frequent absence about the Guild for a long time now. He was always off somewhere, doing something, with someone- and most of the time it was Aisha he was with. She couldn't understand the click between the two of them- mostly because of her is hatred for the woman. But what they were doing was beyond her, and now it sounded as if Chase knew more than he was letting on.

"Guess it really doesn't matter now..." He said slowly, earning another blink from her and catching Moon's attention. "It was an assignment Master had us on- Aisha and I."

"Assignment?" Moon echoed, ears perking. Chase nodded, not looking their way, eyes still closed.

"Yeah, he sent us to gather as much information as we could on the break out of some criminals from the prison in the Magic Counsel- namely, Oracion Seis." He sighed, "We were tracking their movements, trying to figure out what their goal was, what they were planning- we stuck with them for a month or two now- until a few days ago, when they completely vanished. We were attempting to find them again, since we had guessed they were planning something big." His eyes opened to glance out at the Guild. "Seems they already started."

This wasn't considerably surprising, Frea supposed. Considering Aisha's past life as an Information Broker, and Chase's knack for tracking things since the Balance Shift- finding Oracion Seis and collecting information would be easy between the two of them. It was entirely logical for Master to send the two of them on an assignment such as that, however- the reasons as to why..

"Why was Master interested?" Frea asked, but Chase shook his head with a small shrug.

"Not exactly sure, my guess is he simply wanted to know if they were planning something big..." He trailed off and sweatdropped a little, "I suppose we failed on letting him know in advance..."

"Just a little." Moon murmured with a sympathetic smile. "I'm surprised though, I hadn't heard of any prison breaks from the council recently."

"They don't like to make public their shortfalls." Frea replied lowly, Chase and Moon nodded a little in agreement with what she said. Chase glanced sideways at Frea and blinked slowly, eyes narrowing a little. It was nagging him since he came in, he used he could easily pick up on some malicious Energy hanging around his Old Mentor, and what was more- he could feel a small amount of pain and weariness flowing from her, and the fact that her Magic Energy was significantly low. From what he was hearing of what had been going on, it would seem that everyone had been fighting and he figured Frea was included- but with who and what? To leave a trace of... Of what he could only imagine as _poison_ in her system?

His eyes widened a little, _Cobra..._ That was the only one that made sense, he and Aisha had gathered information that Cobra was running with his old allies once more, though it was odd considering he had been the Legal Guilds ally on the fight against the Dragons.

"Teach..." He murmured slowly, Frea's eyes had fallen closed as she pressed her hands together and leaned over to rest her elbows on her knees. He received a small 'Hmm?' In reply, Frea not bothering to open her eyes. ".. You ok?" He murmured quietly, "You seem to have a bit of... Poison, still lingering over you..." Moon's ears perked at the words and she sweatdropped- aware her Partner wasn't in the best of shape already, though Frea didn't move.

The Energy Dragon Slayer herself was well aware that some of Cobra's poison was still in her system, but she had neither the Magic nor the energy to actually try and get rid of it. It wasn't due to the lingering poison that she still had a bit of a fever, but the fact she was still very low on Magic and had used so much of her Magic Energy so fast and frequent, but she didn't care- it wasn't enough to bother her nor be concerned with. She had gotten over the worst of its effects when she blacked out after the ruins.

"I know." She murmured lowly, "But I'm fine. It isn't enough to be an issue, nor is it what's effecting me most at any rate, I'll get over it shortly. Don't worry." She opened an eye and cast a smile at him, "I'm more focused on trying to regain my Magic Energy more than anything." Chase blinked, eyes widening slowly as he came to the same realization that Moon had back at Blue Pegasus.

That Frea was suffering from a very minor form of Magic Deficiency Syndrome, most surprisingly.

He sighed and glanced away, "Whatever you say.."

"Alright everyone, listen up!" Erza called, having previously been in conversation with Lucy, Michelle, Romeo, Macao, Wakaba, Cana and Gray. "Cana," she gave the floor to the brunette, after everyone had moved closer and Romeo finished placing a map of Fiore upon the wall.

"Here," Cana took over, smirking slightly as she held her cards in her hands. "I'm going to use my Divination to find where Oracion Seis is going to target next- and then pick who will go where, for the best teams." She smiled, "Using my Magic, we'll have pretty good chance of winning against our opponents- my Divination is perfect for predicting odds and chances." Frea nodded slightly, Cana had always been very good with her cards, and she doubted that the brunette would have trouble finding the targets of Oracion Seis and choosing the best teams to meet their enemies.

Cana moved to stand before the board, eyes closing a moment as she held her deck of cards before her, the feel of Magic rising slowly before she threw them forward, sets of cards sticking in place to different points of the map- seven pairs of 20 people. Cana smiled a little, "There we go."

Macao moved forward, taking the first set of four cards from the board and looking them over. He sweatdropped slightly but cleared his throat, "Alright; the first team will be; Erza," the red-head nodded at her name. "Evergreen," Frea blinked, eyebrow raising. It was no secret Erza and Evergreen had a bit of a rivalry...

"Ah," Evergreen smirked wickedly, a glint passing over her glasses. "It would seem we've been given the chance to see who is the true Fairy Queen," she hissed, looking to Erza who looked back with an challenging smile and flinty gaze.

"Now is not the time for such games, but I will gladly take you up on the challenge another time." Erza said back, both woman suddenly radiating with dark aura. Many of the Guild sweatdropped, finding it just as odd as Frea did at such a pairing.

"With Max and Chase.." Macao finished, having trailed off at the small change between the two woman. Max sweatdropped and so did Chase, both of them glancing toward eachother and the two woman they would be traveling with- quite unsure what would happen on the trip to their destination.

Macao pulled the next pair off, two cards. "Next pair, Freed and Gray." Frea blinked again, Rune Magic and Ice Magic?

"I've always been curious how our Magic would work together," Freed smiled, looking to Gray who nodded.

"This'll be interesting." Gray smirked, while Juvia stood by with a dropped jaw.

"Third Pair is, Juvia and Gajeel." Macao went on, Frea sighed- well, at least she had the feeling Gajeel and Juvia were plenty capable of working together. So this match didn't surprise her as the previous ones did...

"Hmph." Gajeel huffed, however Juvia looked absolutely mortified.

"B-but, Juvia wishes to be with Gray!" She cried, earning an annoyed look from Cana.

"No switching!" The brunette said firmly. "These are the pairs chosen and no one will be switching or joining a group they were not assigned to, not a single one!"

"Fourth Pair," Macao continued after Cana had pounded her point into everyone listening. "Bixlow and Wendy." _Uh...?_

"Another odd pairing!" Bixlow smirked, coming up behind Wendy who had jumped slightly when her name was called. "This'll be fun!" Wendy nodded a little with a nervous smile,

"Fifth Pair, Carla, Moon, Lily and Happy." Macao pulled the next group down, revealing the faces of all four Exceeds. Frea crossed her arms over her chest, eyes narrowing slightly.

"Team Exceed is back together!" Happy smiled, earning a nod from Lily,

"It would seem so." Carla smiled, Moon blinked, standing among them.

"Team Exceed?" She murmured,

"You're a part of it now." Lily told her with a smile.

"Number six;" Macao spoke up again, "Elfman, Natsu, Lucy and Michelle."

Frea tilted her head slightly, was it just her... Or were some of these matches just a little... Off?

She stiffened, realizing her name hadn't been called and aware that Michelle would be off without Frea there to keep an eye out- as Master had asked her to do. She growled, wondering if she would tag along with the group just in case... She was unaware of Macao pulling the last set down. As he did so, and looked at the cards- he froze, eyes wide and sweatdropping heavily. He just stared a moment, not sure if he was seeing it right... And then realizing that this was most likely not going to go down very well.

"The last pair... Is... Oh boy..." Macao murmured, slowly turning the cards around as most everyone looked to him- immediately noticing his nervous behavior.

"Aisha... And... Frea..."

Frea stiffened, an action shared by Aisha and everyone else in the Guild. Aisha and Frea stood very still, both their faces overshadowed by their hair and not moving- as everyone else cast glances around frantically.

It was very well known that Frea and Aisha hated one another. Everyone knew that, everyone had felt the hatred sparking between the two, and everyone knew that they both had tempers, and a _lot_ of Power.

Chase hung his head, sweatdropping heavily and rubbing the back of his neck- halfway between chuckling and silence in light of the announcement. _Oh man_ , he knew much more than everyone else how bad things were between the two of those woman, and he knew very well what both of them were capable of- he figured there was a very large chance they would start attacking each other before Oracion Seis ever appeared.

Moon sweatdropped, shaking her head a little and letting out a sigh. _This was a very bad idea..._ She glanced between the unmoving forms of Frea and Aisha, how could Cana's Divination possibly end up with believing Frea and Aisha would make a good and effective pair?

Frea's fists clenched at her sides, jaw clenching as she suppressed the rising anger and annoyance growing in her. There was no way in hell, she would ever work with that woman... Not ever. She hated her to no end, they could not work together, it wasn't possible, and it wasn't going to happen. No.

_"These are the pairs chosen and no one will be switching or joining a group they were not assigned to, not a single one!"_

They couldn't possibly be forced to work together, they wouldn't allow it!

"You have got to be fucking kidding me..." Frea hissed, glancing sideways in the same instant Aisha did- and their gazes met, silver on purple. She saw her own anger and annoyance in Aisha's eyes, the other was just as unwilling to go along with working with her as she was... Aisha was just as angry with the suggestion, but even then...

They both realized they couldn't get out of this. If every other pair had to work with who they had, then they would be held to do the same.

For a few very long moments, they simply looked at one another- tensions pricking the air between. That stare sent a dark chill over the rest of the Guild, many people backed off both as they could tell the anger of both woman had begun to surge. They were ready for a full out fight, for one of them or even both to snap in an instant, for an argument.

"Fine." Frea hissed lowly, her eyes leaving Aisha. She closed them, teeth gritted and still miffed- just as Aisha was.

"I don't like it, but we aren't being given much choice on the matter." Aisha muttered darkly, arms crossing over her chest.

"We'll go with it..." Frea muttered,

"For now." Aisha finished, sending a dark glare at the Guild and Cana specifically- since it was her cards who had placed her with Frea in the first place.

The Guild stood in shocked silence, eyes wide and many jaws dropped at how easily the two of them had given in. There hadn't even been any yelling, or fighting, _nothing!_

Chase and Moon exchanged quick glances with one another, both very confused. They knew Frea and Aisha the best of everyone present, and it was very unlikely that the two would have given in like this- and to stay so level headed about it. They didn't understand why such a thing had even happened, it seemed almost impossible.

Was it even possible... That they had somehow come to an agreement? Both knowing they wouldn't be allowed out of their pairing no matter how much they fought it?

Now for both of them to agree on anything- that was truly something.

* * *

 

It was dead, tense, annoyed silence.

Not a pair had ever been so utterly silent in all the time of Fiore, and especially not such a silence that could only be sparked by such undeniable anger and hatred between the two, though both feelings were entirely muffled.

How Cana's Divination could have ever come up with the result that a pair between two very, extremely powerful woman, both of whom who could have the shortest of tempers, and both who hated one another, could be a good team, was entirely incomprehensible.

They walked at level with one another, but not without considerable space between the two. They had to stay level, neither one could pull ahead because that would mean one of them would give into letting the other lead- and that wasn't an option at this point. They said nothing, they didn't even glance toward one another. They didn't want to recognize that they were in each others company.

As for what they would be finding themselves in, they hadn't a clue. It could be a fight, they may run into nothing at all, and if they ran into someone they hadn't a clue who it would be. Best bet was one of the Legion, or maybe even the reborn Oracion Seis- either way was possible.

If it came to a fight, there wasn't a chance that the two of them would be able to work together. They wouldn't fit, they would get in each others way and then grow more angry because of it.

Frea let out a low sigh and cast her attention away from Aisha and toward the surrounding rocky terrain. They had traveled a good way since leaving Magnolia, even in the short time they had been moving. On all sides was endless hills of rock with sparse grass and other shrubbery, not a tree in sight. In fact- it rather resembled the place where Aisha and Frea had first met one another.

She couldn't catch anything out of the ordinary, and even though they hadn't hit the exact location Cana had picked out- she doubted anyone or anything was close at all. Of course... It was possible she couldn't sense anything because of how low on Magic Energy she was. She sighed silently at the thought; she never liked being so low on Magic, and it really wasn't the best time to be low... Not to mention how hot and strained she was with this stupid Magic Deficiency thing...

In hindsight, it was probably a very bad idea for anyone let alone _her_ to go running off to possibly fight when they had Magic Deficiency Syndrome- she wasn't at full capacity, and that could cause problems. Not that she was willing to let that show, she would fight to her best ability even if it was hard to do so.

It was only after they had reached the hour into their walking that anything actually showed up, and they both came to a halt- having felt a sort of tension beside the tension between them seep into the air. Frea stiffened, her eyes casting about as she tried to pinpoint the source of what she was feeling, a cold, huge power that was washing out about them in calm, serene waves of unbelievable strength. Power, she guessed, was from a Mage she had never met before but was most likely working for the Legion or Oracion Seis. She cast a small glance at Aisha to see her 'partner' was just as alert as she was.

Both their heads snapped up at the same moment, where above them a they couldn't see anything- but they could feel an amazing amount of force coming down and the pressure building, the ground even began to shake while the very air vibrated. They split apart instantly, each sliding back on their feet as the space where they had previously been standing was caved in and crushed by that wave of force alone. What sort of Magic was that?

"Well finally! What took you two so long?"

Their heads snapped around at the voice, immediately locking onto the sight of a short young boy, who couldn't have been more than 13, with a long dark trench coat on, tied-back copper hair, and piercing blue eyes. His hands were tucked into his pockets as he stood a little ways behind them, expression mostly neutral if not slightly annoyed. In his left ear was an earring in the mark of the Zentopia crest, it glinted in the half-light of the sun as it momentarily came from behind the clouds overhead as I sunk in the sky.

"I figured you Fairy Tailers would high-tail it out here, aren't you supposed to be the 'destroy all evil, protect the world' type?" Frea quirked an eyebrow and Aisha glared a little, while the young boy sighed and tilted his head a little, "Not that Zentopia should be seen as evil, oh no- but with that ridiculous Dark Guild out and about, I figured you'd be running." He sighed a little and grimaced, "Oh how I hate this, I really do not like the Church working with such heathens, but I suppose orders are orders- the Arch-Bishop knows what he's doing, I must have faith."

 _The Church working with Oracion Seis?!_ Frea's eyes went wide in astonishment, now that was news and it wasn't anything good. From what had been said, Legion had been _played_ by Oracion Sies but now they were working together? What the hell was going on?!

"That is how Oracion Seis has been moving around so easily." Aisha muttered lowly, catching Frea's attention immediately. "That may also explain how they managed to get out of prison." The boy's blue gaze shifted toward Aisha a moment, narrowing in thought as he looked her over a moment, seemingly thinking. Aisha only ever stared right back, and Frea shifted slightly.

"You seem rather informed." The boy murmured, "How interesting..." He took his hands from his pockets and lift them slightly, motioning in the direction of both Frea and Aisha. "Unfortunately, I really need to wrap this up as quickly as I can, so many things to get to...." He let out a very long sigh and his eyes closed a moment, "Sorry about this, it's going to probably hurt- a lot." His eyes opened and the Magic pressure about him tripled in size, "Let's make this quick."

An invisible wall of force rammed into the two of them before they could react to it, it slammed into them and flung them backward. Frea hissed at the impact and found herself skidding backward across the rocky landscape, wearing a trench into the ground in her quake. She came to a slow halt, pushing herself up as fast as she could manage- only to be hit again by another wall of pressure she couldn't see.

How the hell was he doing that?! What sort of Magic could be doing all this, she couldn't see anything, she couldn't anticipate- she focused all her attention on trying to sense it coming at her, but every time I happened she had a split second to sense it before being rammed. The first attack had been easy, it had been so massive they had time to react to it- but these new attacks, they were no less powerful but they weren't built up like the first one. They were quick, too quick to anticipate and try to dodge....

She could hear Aisha get hit and thrown around a bit too, as well as the sound of the ground being crushed and a series of booms. Frea growled, her eyes shutting as she focused as closely as she could- anything, Magic, pressure, any indication, she couldn't keep getting pounded like this, each hit hurt and she could already feel herself bruising. She had never seen Magic like this, it didn't seem that his Magic was taking on a form of its own- instead... It was just, pressure really, force.. Her heart dropped a bit, she could only compare this sort of attack to Gildarts' Crash Magic. The same sort of Magic that didn't necessarily take on a form its own, a Magic that was primarily based around kinetic force.

She focused her Magic around her feet and jumped up, the air shifted slightly and a sudden burst of the boy's Magic was all she had to react to. Her eyes opened to see the ground where she had been standing was suddenly crushed, she landed back down and jumped backward, her Magic flaring up around her and spreading out a bit.

"Well well.... You anticipated that last one." The boy murmured, catching her attention as his assault halted momentarily, a little ways to her right- Aisha came to a halt, clothes starting to become torn now and panting a little- she was moving around as much as she could manage but it was doing her little good. "How odd, nobody's been able to that before!" He tilted his head and plopped down on the rock he stood on, blinking a few times as he looked at her with interest. "Who are you? You seem different than the rest of the Wizards I've met before, both of you." His eyes flicked toward Aisha a minute as the Moonlight Mage pushed herself up, the attacks ceasing a moment.

"I could ask the same of you." Frea replied lowly, the boy raised an eyebrow. "It's not common you meet a Mage as young as yourself, or someone who uses Magic like yours...."

"Do you know about Force Magic?" The boy asked suddenly, Frea and Aisha alike narrowed their eyes at the question. Force Magic? Frea hadn't ever heard of Magic like that, never come across it specifically- but it was like Crash Magic all the same.

The thing was, she was very good at brawling with the members of the Guild. Hell, she won those brawls half the time but against _Gildarts and his Crash Magic?_ She hated to say it, but she'd never won against him, and every time they came to blows she'd walked away hurting.

"It's super fun, actually." The boy went on, "Very effective, I don't even have to move around to take people out. They just get blown around and beat up, it's so easy to win, and Zentopia always wins." The boy narrowed his eyes and pointed a finger at Frea, noticing the silver about her person fading as the conflict came to a stop for now. "You are weird, I've never seen Magic that color or type before- what is it?"

"Why are you so interested?" Aisha growled suddenly, "And what did you mean by we're 'different'?"

"Because I wanna know!" The boy answered immediately, "I've gone up against all sorts of other Wizards, and all of them were all the same! All low-level, they all used the same sort of weak Magics, Holder Magics mostly, and none of them were from big Guilds like Fairy Tail!" His face pulled into a smile, a young, kid-like smile. "You two are clearly pretty powerful Wizards, otherwise you would have been beaten already. And that Silver Magic floating around you, its not something I've seen before." The boy paused a minute as his blue eyes closed. "AND, both of you have amazing Magical Pressure about you! I should know, Force Magic deals with pressure a lot!" His eyes opened back up as the blue sparkled in delight. "You two are A Grade Wizards, definitely better than every other Wizard I've come to fight before, which means you're going to be fun! And I wanna remember what sort of Magic you used when it's all over!"

Frea narrowed her eyes until they were slits, not sure if she should be confused or offended. Aisha growled under her breath from where she was standing, she had caught on to what the kid has said to- 'when it's all over'. The brat was sure he was going to win this fight, and for the both of them- that was quite the insult.

"An Answer for an Answer?" The boy said, Frea blinked, stiffening a little. "I answered your question, now you answer mine! Its only fair." His smile faded into a small pout and Frea sighed silently.

"Energy Magic." She answered slowly, aware that Aisha turned a disbelieving glare on her next. She ignored the look though and the kid's eyes turned to Aisha next, expecting.

".... Moonlight Magic." Aisha hissed, not happy she was answering but she had enough sense to be able to see there wasn't a lot of other options on the matter. At least they weren't being pummeled by pure Force for right now, that had been getting old very fast. The boy's eyes went wider than ever and he grinned, looking about to explode.

"That is so COOL!" He said happily, "Two Magics I've never even heard of! That's awesome!"

"May I ask a question now?" Frea asked slowly, earning a nod from the boy. "Why are Zentopia and Oracion Seis working together? What's the plan?" The boy frowned a little and sighed,

"Honestly? I don't really know!" He pouted a little. "The Arch-bishop just started sending down orders, telling us it was the will of God that we work with those criminals to create peace with that stupid Clock. As a warrior of the Church, I don't have any room to argue, it's not my place... but the orders are muffled, really. I don't know for sure. All I know is, I don't like it." Frea glanced away, more than a little disappointed in the answer and a bit irritated by it, they were no closer to understanding the aim- and though it was worth the try, she hadn't been sure that a young boy working with Legion would be privy to much useful information anyway. Suddenly the boy grinned and Frea stiffened, "Its my turn to ask a question!"

"Alright.." Frea mumbled, faintly aware that Aisha's attention had moved away from the boy as her head tilted upward toward the sky momentarily, the same sky that had fallen dark and the moon was rising now.

"You, are you the Wizard that created those Anomalies?" The boy asked, catching Frea rather off-guard. She stiffened, eyes growing wider and sweatdropping. "Your Magic, Energy Magic, it's silver. The only other Silver Magic I've seen before was those two Magic Anomalies, the huge bursts of Magic in the sky! Was it you?" His eyes shone and Frea shifted a little.

"..... yes." Frea replied slowly, taking a step back and tensing, she could feel the Magic Power about the boy start to increase, as if he was about to attack. "That was me.."

The boy smiled, "Then this will be fun. I can go back and tell everyone I met two Wizards with two types of Magic I've never heard before. And, I can tell them I defeated the Wizard who caused the Magic Anomalies! They'll be so jealous!"

A wave of force ran into Frea, sending her skidding back over the ground until her back slammed into a large boulder sticking out of the landscape. She hissed, falling to her knees and clenching her jaw. So, Force Magic then? It must be a branch off of Crash Magic or vice versa, they were too similar not to be related in some way or other. The boy must be manipulating the air about them and using pure Force from any direction and anywhere to do as he wanted- whether it was throw them around, cause an explosion, crush them, whatever. At any rate, it was just like Gildarts' Magic- thankfully minus the outstanding amount of Magic Power that man had, though this boy wasn't low on Magic Power himself, one would be very hard-pressed to find anyone in the world who could hold a candle to Gildarts.

Aisha's own Magic rose up about her, the dark blue and white spiraling around as she jumped away, too slow though as a different wave of force hit her too- but she moved fast enough not to catch the full brunt of it. Frea stood up slowly, eyes closing as she focused on trying to pinpoint the next attack as she had earlier. It was a trick she had learned with her brawling with Gildarts. With a Magic that was quite literally invisible to see, and nearly impossible to anticipate- it was useful to be an Energy Mage and be rather good at Sensing Magic around you. The problem was, being fast enough to actually react to it.

"Strike Storm!" Frea's attention snapped away from what she was doing and her eyes opened to see the sky erupt with the Moonlight Rays as they crashed down on the area around the boy- the same attack that had thrown Frea herself when she first met Aisha- the very first attack Aisha had ever landed on her. The magnitude of the Spell that day was nowhere near the magnitude of the Spell at this moment- Aisha had thrown a lot of Magic Power into that Spell and it was going to pummel everything in the immediate area of the kid, including Frea herself.

She growled, quickly jumping backward and barely missing a few of the streams of Moonlight that touched down just near her, hissing as she struggled to twist out of the way of a few more, "Energy Dragon Wave Attack!" She snapped, sending two out toward the last rays of Moonlight before they could hit, and finally breaking away from the blast zone- sending a very dirty glare on Aisha for even doing that while she was underneath. "Are you trying to piss me off?!" Frea snapped at Aisha, her anger getting the best of her in that moment. Aisha scowled more, but didn't answer.

The boy's blue eyes moved up toward the Magic hurtling down toward him, though he didn't move. The rays ran into an invisible wall, shattering with a resounding boom on contact. Aisha growled, eyes narrowed and scowling in fury at what happened, not happy the attack had been warded so easily. But the scowl didn't last for much longer as she was rammed into with a force that exploded the air about her on contact, a similar wall rammed into Frea, as she placed a shield in front of herself in an instant to try and ward off the attack. Her shield shattered and she stumbled back, but it held up against most of what tried to hit her.

"Do you realize you almost hit your Guild-mate with that attack?" The boy asked of Aisha as she got back to her feet, looking rather pissed.

"Energy Dragon Roar!" The spinning tornado of silver tore out across the landscape toward the boy, ramming into another invisible wall and imploding- the Magic spreading out around the landscape and tearing everything up around it, Frea hissed, Aisha jumped up and away from the stray gusts of silver Magic,

"Watch it with the out of control Magic, would you?!" Aisha snapped, Frea turned a glare on her and bared her fangs a little, before the both of them ran out toward the boy- deciding getting close to land a blow was the best bet. A flash of Magic pressure ahead of them made Frea jump upward and flip, as the force ran straight into Aisha and she yelped a bit, before her Magic exploded about her and her eyes fixed on the boy furiously.

"Lunar Beam!"

A wash of Magic suddenly poured down from the sky in a river of pure power, as Aisha's hands shot up toward the moon and moved down to gesture toward the kid, Frea brought her fist back as she neared the boy, aware that she was in the blast zone- again. "Energy Dragon Iron Fist!" She snapped, close enough to hit the boy- but then he lift a hand and snapped his fingers, with a boom she was thrown away like a ragdoll, and hit the ground hard- just as Aisha's Spell made contact and cut straight through the rock the boy was on, engulfing him in dark blue and white light.

"Damnit..." Frea growled, she had been so close! That was exactly the thing that happened whenever she had brawled with Gildarts, she had always gotten so close to landing a hit, but no matter how fast she was, or how strong her planned attack was- she was always thrown away and it always hurt. She opened her eyes to see the kid disappear into Aisha's attack, blinking a few times- had the kid gotten hit?

"You two are very bad at working with each other, do you know that?" both their heads snapped around to glimpse the boy sitting on a different rock nearby, no scratches, no sign he'd been hit by Aisha's Magic at all. They hadn't time to get a good look before all hell broke loose, and they began to be pummeled by blow after invisible blow, their bodies bruising, clothes tearing. They were thrown against the ground, against rocks, rammed into by walls of pressure, thrown backward by percussive explosions. There wasn't time to react, there wasn't time to move- this wasn't like before, there was no pause in between blows, barely any time to breath let alone to block or move away.

Frea let her Magic flare up around her, trying to block off any amount of the blows as she could manage- though it didn't help. Her body ached, and every blow was more pain, she had a hard time getting a bead on Aisha- all she managed to see was a beacon of dark blue and white before another wall hit her and she crashed into the ground hard enough to cave it in, coughing on impact and vision blurring into black. Perhaps if her Magic Energy was at 100% she may have been able to block against the blows coming at her, but she couldn't manage it now, not with how low her Magic Energy supply was and how battered her body was from dealing with Cobra's Poison.

The attacks suddenly ceased, as Frea rolled over slowly, hissing in pain and slowly pushing herself up, ears catching on to the sound of footsteps, as she glanced up to see the boy had stood up from where he had been sitting and walked along the rock a bit, glancing down toward her with his arms behind his back. "You're both very bad at this team-work thing, there's no coordination, no communication! Moonlight didn't even care you were in the blast zone for those two attacks of hers, and you- you didn't even try to warn her about that Force Wall coming toward the both of you, and you didn't care about that wild ricocheted of your, ah, 'Roar' was it?" the boy shook his head a little and paused, "Though, I really guess I shouldn't be surprised. The teams you were placed in were supposed to be pretty bad. You people were meant to be paired up with someone you couldn't work with well."

Frea stiffened, eyes going wide at the words. The pairings were supposed to be bad? She had noticed that those chosen to go together back at the Guild had been very... odd, most everyone put together had seemed like a bad choice. But how in the world could the Legion or Oracion Seis have managed to force Cana into picking bad teams? Frea hadn't noticed any sort of odd Energy hanging about Cana herself, and the brunette certainly hadn't seemed off in her demeanor either.... Her eyes narrowed when she recalled Cana mentioning she had been sleepy before doing her Divination.

"Damn it.... We were set up, again." She hissed under her breath, "That is getting annoying, damn it!"

"You've come up rather sub-par, Miss Anomaly." The boy said suddenly, "I was expecting more of a fight from you! And where is all that Magic Power?" The boy paused and scowled a little, crossing his arms over his chest. "Did those disgusting Oracion Seis Wizards wear you down already? That's not fair! Maybe you just need a little harder push, I find that most Wizards usually have a bit of juice left when things crash down on them hard enough to kill them." His hand lift above him and he scowled a little, snapping his fingers as the entire area began to shake, Frea's head snapped up feeling the unbelievable amount of Power about to rain down on her, the air was vibrating, the ground underneath her was shaking, and the sky above her wavered like a heat wave was rolling through. She climbed to her feet quickly, tensing as she was about to move away, only to get thrown back down, her head slamming into the rocky terrain and allowing black spots to dance across her vision, jaw clenched.

Without any other option, she forced her Magic to flare up at the highest rate possible that she could manage, the silver lighting up the oncoming night, attempting to place a dome between herself and the oncoming wall of Force that was threatening to crush her, body tense and aching, her mind becoming more fuzzy and the strain of using so much Magic at the moment hitting her as a force of its own.

_S...shit...._

Aisha hissed as the constant blows came to a small halt, her own Magic blazing up around her and warding off as much of the attacks as humanly possible- fuled by pain and anger toward the kid and Frea herself. She'd already been irritated that they had been picked to go together on this stupid search mission, she couldn't stand the Energy Dragon Slayer and the feeling was very much mutual between them. The added on irritation of almost getting hit by the stray Magic from Frea's Roar that bounced back, and the fact that Frea left her to get rammed into by a Force Wall as they were running together was not helping. She had no need for anything new to add to her dislike for the Energy Dragon Slayer, but she was being given reasons over and over since Macao called her name along with Frea's.

Now to add on all this irritation with a little brat throwing them around was not making her any happier.

Aisha was very good at taking hits, which was very true for Frea as well- she knew that because she had seen Frea take several hits from Aisha herself, including a direct hit from a Spell that should, and could, have the ability to level a small village. Though she was never going to say it out loud, Aisha knew Frea was a very strong Mage, one of the strongest she had ever seen- and the Frea she was traveling with? Frea was hurt, she was weak, and her Magic Energy Supply was low- she didn't have the same feel of waves of immense power coming off of her like there usually was. Aisha hadn't been there when Oracion Seis had first appeared, but she could guess that Frea had taken a good hit, several good hits more like. There was something wrong, she was weak, she was slow, and she had hardly any Magic Power left.... Which was seemingly why she wasn't able to block the blows from the Force Magic like she should be able to.

Aisha's Magic flared up brighter and stronger, guarding against the Force Magic more and more, standing still and body tense, eyes moving back and forth, senses on high alert for any indication of the Force Walls coming toward her from all sides. It was easier to block off the blows if she let her Magic grow stronger, enough t clash with the other Magic and make the air shake with the boom of the opposing forces- it was easy to let her Magic grow stronger, and to push harder as the moon continued to rise up in the sky, sending its rays down on them. The moon was the source of her Magic, naturally, her Magic was stronger at night as Solana's Magic was stringer in the day under the light of the sun. And with the moon full as it was tonight, the amount of strength flowing into her slowly was at its peak.

"You're both very bad at this team-work thing, there's no coordination, no communication! Moonlight didn't even care you were in the blast zone for those two attacks of hers, and you- you didn't even try to warn her about that Force Wall coming toward the both of you, and you didn't care about that wild ricocheted of your, ah, 'Roar' was it?" Aisha's head snapped around when she heard the boy start to talk, seeing him looking at Frea as she crouched on the ground, panting. "Though, I really guess I shouldn't be surprised. The teams you were placed in were supposed to be pretty bad. You people were meant to be paired up with someone you couldn't work with well."

Aisha's eyes narrowed at the words, her jaw clenching and anger rising again. Now that wasn't hard to believe in the slightest, she hadn't much experience in being able to tell who among Fairy Tail would be good at working with who, but she had the sense to know that to have herself and the Energy Dragon Slayer paired up was not a good idea, nor could be considered a pair that could 'work well together'. How it was the Cana was manipulated into creating bad pairs on the whim of Oracion Seis and the Legion was the real question, but from what Aisha knew of the Wizards in Oracion Seis, they had the magical capability to pull something like that off easily.

"Full-Moon Ward." Aisha growled, swiping her arms out before her as a circular wall made of white and surrounded in a square of dark blue appeared on all sides of her, falling into the ground at a standstill and holding fast against the Force Magic pounding at her, but the surface cracking a little as she panted slightly, a bead of sweat dripping down her face at the effort of holding the Spell.

"You've come up rather sub-par, Miss Anomaly." The boy said suddenly, earning Aisha's attention once more. "I was expecting more of a fight from you! And where is all that Magic Power?" The boy paused and scowled a little, crossing his arms over his chest. "Did those disgusting Oracion Seis Wizards wear you down already? That's not fair! Maybe you just need a little harder push, I find that most Wizards usually have a bit of juice left when things crash down on them hard enough to kill them."

Aisha's attention snapped toward the feel of an amazing amount of Force massing above Frea, who was already having a hard time moving. The amount of power about to crash down on the Energy Dragon Slayer was much more destructive and powerful than the first attack made toward them as they first found the boy. Frea moved to try and get away, but she was thrown back into the ground with so much force Aisha winced despite herself, eyes narrowed as the Energy Dragon Slayer's Magic rose up around her body in an attempt to try and shield against the Force- it did little good as it made impact and engulfed the Energy Dragon Slayer completely, the ground about her caving in as the unbridled power of the hit crashed down on her, earning a yell of pain as the Force crashed down and exploded, sending bits of earth flying.

"Tch.." Aisha hissed, eyes narrowed and flinching as one of the shields on her right cracked, her eyes went wide when the dust that had risen suddenly cleared and Frea could be seen crouched on one knee, holding her chest in pain and head hanging. She had moved away from where she was originally, her skin cut and bleeding in several places, looking quite worse for wear. Aisha's eyes narrowed when she saw the blood dripping from Frea's mouth, and then she saw the little brat move, he snapped his fingers again.

"Still waiting!" He said rather impatiently. Frea's Magic flared up again, but suddenly imploded- entirely spent. Aisha growled, feeling the next massive Force Wall massing above the downed Dragon Slayer and streaming down, Frea shook a little as she tried to move but her body seemed to protest. Aisha's gaze snapped back to her four shields as the attacks on her seemed to cease entirely, the boy must have lost interest in her as his attention was on making trying to earn a reaction from Frea that pleased him. Aisah swiped her arms out, the shields around her melting away as she growled under her breath, mind racing as she tried to come to a decision quickly.

Frea wouldn't be able to take another hit, especially not while she couldn't use her Magic to block any of the blow. It was annoying, why would anyone be stupid enough to go on a mission like this half-cocked? To be stupid enough to go chasing down enemies hurt and low on Magic Power? Oh, that's right- the complete and utter IDIOT who had gotten Solana almost killed, turned her into a Celestial Spirit, and completely tipped the Balance of the World! Not to mention, also the same person who had almost unleased an ancient, evil Magic that had almost killed her, and everyone else with her at the time. The most idiotic, arrogant, and utterly annoying Mage Aisha had ever met- the very Mage she could not stand.

.... Even then, and she hated to think so, she couldn't stand by and watch Frea get hit by that attack. It wouldn't end well, and honestly.... Chase would be pissed, if he found out that she had watched while his Old Mentor was killed, and of all the people in Fairy Tail, it was his favor and his good standing she actually wished to keep. He was kind, and the tie spent working with him looking into the Prison Break and everything related, had helped to settle whatever conflict there had been between them because of what happened before, and she was looking to keep a good standing with him, if nothing else.

Her Magic exploded around her, nearly matching the level of Power she had the night of the Balance Shift, as she jumped forward to get closer to Frea, eyes narrowing as she skidded to a halt and lift her hand to the sky, eyes fixed on the moon as she poured her Magic into the sky around it, forming a thin layer of Magic over the area, sweatdropping at how fast doing so was starting to drain her Magic supply. She let her eyes fall closed, muttering under her breath quickly;

_"Blue moon,_

_Cold sky,_

_Melt Spells,_

_Dispell Charms,_

_Destroy Magic,_

_Drip,_

_Drip,_

_Drop."_

Her eyes snapped open, flashing purple as the moon faded from pure white to a purple that matched her eyes, dozens of Magic Circles appearing in the air above Frea and the boy, the light of the moon suddenly cascading down in a powerful burst of Magic, thy sky lighting up with the light of the Spell.

"Moon Drip!"

The ground shook as the purple Moonlight shot down from the sky, and connected with the ground around them, engulfing Frea and the boy with all space in between them, sending waves of air spiraling out around them, the air vibrating with the sudden burst of power manifested. The Magic Circles faded as the moon faded back to its pure white color, the Magic spiraling around Aisha fading completely as she came to a halt, panting a little and sweatdropping.

Moon Drip was a very advanced Spell for normal Wizards, and usually it would take years to even cast correctly or enough to be useful- to create Moon Drip in a matter of seconds, even for a Moonlight Mage and the Cosmic Soul for the moon like Aisha, it was extremely hard to do, and put a lot of strain on her body and Magic Energy. She shook her head and growled a little, there wasn't time to catch her breath, the Moon Drip would have dispelled the Force Wall threatening to hit Frea- but the little brat would still be able to keep using Magic, but maybe he would be stunned a little and leave himself open long enough to land a hit,

"Moonlight Rays: Strike Storm!" She growled, the rays streaming down on top of the place where she could see the boy standing in stunned silence, running forward as his attention turned toward blocking those- as she jumped behind him and swung a leg out, her Magic streaming about her to add power to the blow as she landed a swing on the boy, sending him crashing off the rock.

"H-how did you..?" The boy stammered, jumping to his feet and looking disconcerted. "You changed the color of the moon and destroyed my Magic! That's impossible!" Aisha scowled and wrapped her fist in her Magic,

"Not if you're me." She snapped, opening her hand as she moved her fist in the direction of the boy. "Starfall Field." The ground about the boy suddenly erupted with dozens of specks of white light, shaking the air in a series of booms as they exploded in white-hot fury. The boy let out a yell of pain and fell backward, his arm swept out toward Aisha in anger and the air before her suddenly exploded, sending her skidding backward with a hiss of pain, not expecting the quick comeback.

"Stop it! That's not fair!" The boy snapped,

"World's not fair you little brat!" Aisha snapped back, getting to her feet. "Half-Moon Strike!" She swept her arm out before her, an arc of her Magic sent streaming through the air toward the boy, hitting the hastily made Force Wall square on and causing it to implode, sending the boy sprawling onto his back.

"QUIT IT!"

Aisha's head snapped around as she whipped about, this time easily able to feel the pressure mounting behind her as the boy attempted to send another Force Wall into her, she swiped her arm before her again, "Half-Moon Strike!" She snapped, the wind picking up as her Magic clashed with the boy's, she felt an incredible force amass behind her in the next instant, she started to turn but she knew she was too late to try and block it.

"Energy Shield!" Her eyes narrowed when she noticed that Frea had moved, ragged and bleeding but eyes glinting in anger as the silver wall erupted in front of her, holding steadfast against the Force Wall that turned into a concussive explosion two seconds later, hairline cracks spreading across the surface of the Energy Dragon Slayer's Magic but doing nothing more, until she let it drop and Aisha turned around completely. Frea's silver gaze switched to meet Aisha's purple one, sharing silent words as both of them looked away from one another and back at the boy, their Magic springing up around them to form a blue, silver and white beacon clashing with the dark of the night behind them.

"Strike Storm! Moonlight Beams!" Aisha snapped, her arms swinging forward as beams of pure white shot from her hands, and rays of Moonlight shot down from the sky toward the boy, making him scramble to place Force Walls of a high enough caliber to block against the numerous attacks sent at him. While he was focused on that, he hadn't time to react as Frea suddenly appeared behind him, jabbing her index finger into the base of the boy's neck and leaving a small silver Magic Circle there, the boy whipped about to retaliate- but not before Frea's fingers curled and she pulled toward her, Magic wrapping about her hand,

"Energy Chains." She growled lowly, the symbol on the boy's arm breaking away into glittering pieces as chains composed of silver wrapped around his arms and lodged themselves into the ground, forcing the boy to his knees as he growled in anger at the action. The Energy Dragon Slayer's hand opened up and she drew it behind her, it blazing silver with her Magic as her eyes locked onto the boy, who looked back with a scowl, his eyes flashing in slight fear. "Energy Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Hindering Seal!" She growled, her hand swinging forward and slamming into the boys chest- the Magic Circle appearing there spun once, as the Energy Chains melted away and the boy fell onto his back, coughing and sputtering.

Aisha walked up, arms crossed over her chest and looking down at the boy, the memory of Frea doing that exact same thing to her suddenly flashed before her mind, making anger flare up inside her at the thought, though she suppressed it as best she could. She barely reacted when Frea suddenly took a small step back before falling into a sitting position, eyes closed and looking unsteady, panting heavily, looking exhausted. Not surprising, Aisha had thought Frea had spent all her Magic Energy already, and since she hadn't- everything she had just done must have, and surely did, spend the rest of her Magic Energy completely, leaving her pale and dizzy.

"... that's not possible.. you two... I was supposed to beat you... you shouldn't be able to beat me... you can't work together...." The boy mumbled, sitting up and holding his chest gingerly, eyes looking to Frea who had her head bowed and was holding her chest, blood still dripping from her mouth slowly. "What did you do to me?" He demanded,

"Sealed off your Magic, you little brat." Aisha growled, earning the boy's blue eyes. "It sucks, I should know, but we're done getting thrown around by you." Aisha leaned over so her face was barely an inch away from the boys, her face growing dark and eyes flashing in cold anger, voice dropping to a low dangerous growl. "Now, you better listen up and answer my questions, I'm in no mood for your shit, you got it?" She growled lowly, the boy sweatdropped and leaned away, eyes wide in sudden fear- he couldn't remember the last time he saw someone who looked so dangerous.

"I- I.. y-yeah, got it..." he stammered and Aisha leaned away again, for all the power the kid had, he was still young, and he was still easily scared- clearly.

"You work for Legion, right?" Aisha asked and the boy nodded a little, "What is your name?"

"Corbynn." He mumbled,

"Why were you sent here?" She asked lowly,

"I.. I'm not supposed to tell you." Corbynn mumbled, not meeting Aisha's gaze. "... I can't disobey... or..."

"Or what?" Aisha growled, "I'd be more worried about what I will do to you if you do not answer my questions, brat."

".. They'll imprison me, like they did Coco... I'll be punished, I could never go back to Zentopia.... Or Cardinal Lapointe will punish me as he has Coco...." Corbynn whispered, his head falling and his frame shaking a little at the thought.

"... Think of why Coco disobeyed." Frea spoke up suddenly, having looked up as Aisha started to question the boy. Her eyes were tired, but she was listening in at full attention. Corbynn's blue eyes snapped up toward her, confused a minute. "Why she went against orders... she knew something was wrong, she knew what Legion was doing wasn't right. She stood up for her beliefs, even when she knew doing so was going to cost her." Frea sighed a little and winced slightly, "You said it yourself, you don't like what is going on. Somewhere inside of you, you know that working with Oracion Seis, everything with the Infinity Clock- it's all wrong, and I don't get an evil feel from you, I honestly don't." Corbynn stared a minute, trying to let the Energy Dragon Slayer's words sink in a bit as Aisha blinked once, expression neutral. "It's not a sin, to stand up for what you truly believe in."

Something about what she said suddenly got through to him, because he glanced away and let his eyes fall closed. "...I think, I was supposed to distract you, while others distracted those in your Guild at separate places."

"Distract us? What for?" Aisha asked and he shook his head a little,

"I don't know... something big." His blue eyes swept up toward the sky and out in the distance, where a mas of dark clouds had been forming constantly for an hour or so now. Frea and Aisha noticed where he was looking and they too glanced that way, eyes narrowed and sweatdropping.

There had been Negative Energy floating about in the air everywhere they went since coming back to the Guild earlier, Aisha could sense that much as Frea could, and though she hadn't been focusing on it- she knew that Negative Energy was growing stronger and thicker steadily, now it was almost choking and it sent a chill down her spine.

Something big was right, and it seemed that something was about to come to a head.

"All I can figure, is they wanted you Fairy Tailers spread out and confused- not prepared really. That's why you were placed into teams that shouldn't work well together." Corbynn mumbled, his blue eyes glancing between the two woman slowly.

"You don't have any idea what they are doing with the 'Infinity Clock' then?" Aisha asked, and Corbynn paused,

"No... it was odd, because Cardinal Lapointe didn't order us to go after the Clock when Oracion Seis took it- that's when I figured out the Arch-Bishop had us working with them. They still have it, as far as I know." He sighed, "All I heard was something about.. ah... 'Chaos being released', of course that was just a rumor floating around." His eyes stayed switching between the two of them, because neither looked back at him from when they turned to look where the clouds had gathered. He bit his lip a moment, seeing how tense the two of them were and finding the sudden seriousness unnerving.

"Its bad, isn't it?" He asked, earning Frea's attention as she glanced toward him slowly, frowning a little. "Something bad is happening, something wrong?"

"It seems that way." She replied quietly. Corbynn's eyes fell and he clenched his fists, scrunching his eyes closed and bowing his head. It was in that instant that lighting arched across the sky among the mass of clouds, and the view of a massive ship appeared there- the feeling of Negative Energy increased tenfold and a dark, evil Aura spread out across the land- all radiating from that ship. Frea's head snapped around at the feeling and Aisha hissed under her breath, immediately smelling trouble. Corbynn's eyes flew open as he looked out toward the ship suspended in air, eyes wide and sweatdropping.

"What is that?" He whispered, dozens of what looked to be chains shot out from the bottom of the ship and toward the ground, everything shook as they made contact and Frea closed her eyes, holding a hand to her head as the Negative Energy all around increased again, and suddenly everything was swimming.

The boom of the Clock could be heard all over Fiore, and they sky was consumed by darkness and the clouds grew thicker, covering the moon and sending everything into shadow. The noise of the Clock rang painfully in Frea's ears, and she leaned over a little, feeling dizzy as the Energy around them strengthened slowly, it felt like... like Poison, sort of. Something that made her vision swim and her senses muddled, but certainly something Evil, very Evil.

"Is she... ok?" Corbynn asked, eyes wide at Frea as he saw her reaction. Aisha's eyes lingered on the Energy Dragon Slayer a minute, before she looked away with a sigh.

"No... and things aren't ok. My guess is they activated the full power of that Infinity Clock. She's very sensitive to things, and the amount of Power that thing is giving off, its.. jarring." Aisha replied lowly, able to feel the Evil Power herself but not to the extent of how Frea could clearly. She frowned slightly, glancing at the sky and the sudden stretching of the cloud cover that had blocked the moon.

The sudden chiming that wasn't the Infinity Clock caught their attention, Aisha blinked once before pulling a card out of her back pocket and drawing her finger across the shining surface to answer it, the face of Warren appeared on the front- looking panicked and on edge. Aisha didn't seem surprised by the look on his face, she had already guessed things hadn't gone well with anyone else.

"Aisha! I'm so glad you answered, we just received word from the other teams, and then the thing in the sky and with what happened at Kardia Cathedral..." Warren gasped frantically,

"Calm down." Aisha growled, earning his silence immediately. "Start from the top, are the other teams ok?"

"Well, uh... no. Not really, everyone's been hurt, and Natsu and Lucy have been captured by Oracion Seis.."

"How?!" Frea snapped, ignoring the sudden dizziness and getting to her feet immediately, snatching the card away from Aisha who scowled profusely at the action, the Energy Dragon Slayer glaring down at Warren who looked taken aback by her sudden appearance in the face of the card.

"F-Frea.. you look... awful..." He stammered and Frea's fangs ground down on eachother.

"How were Lucy and Natsu captured, Warren?!" She snapped again and he flinched,

"Michelle... she betrayed us....." He said slowly and Frea's face darkened, her eyes lighting up in profound fury as she flicked the card back Aisha's way, who caught it with a huff, as Frea turned away, fists clenching at her sides and shoulders shaking in anger.

"DAMN IT!" Frea snapped, slamming her fist into a nearby boulder and shattering the rock instantly, no Magic needed. "That little bitch! I knew she was hiding something, DAMN IT!" Corbynn's eyes went wide and he flinched at the sudden anger from the same person who had looked so beaten just seonds before.

 _How dare she?!_ The bad feeling she had gotten from Michelle the minute she met her, the nearly hidden evil feel of her, the off story... everything! She knew it wasn't a good idea to leave Michelle alone with Lucy, and she knew she shouldn't have agreed to split up instead of keep an eye of the girl- Master Makarov had asked her for that and she failed to do so..... _DAMN IT ALL!_

"I'm going to kill her..." Frea hissed under her breath, "She's never going to get away with that... if anything happens to Natsu or Lucy..... I will not forgive it..."

"What happened at Kardia Cathedral?" Aisha went on, deciding it better to get away from the kidnapping topic for now, her eyes darting to Corbynn as she saw the young boy get to his feet slowly, arms crossing over his chest as he looked at the furious Frea uncertainly.

"Midnight came here and broke into the Crypt under the church, he was looking for something in a coffin down there. As soon as he destroyed it that.. that ship thing showed up and the clouds covered the sky." Warren went on, "Bisca and Alzack got hurt, and most of the other teams are on they're way back here to regroup, we'll try and figure out our next move so we can rescue Lucy and Natsu." He paused, his eyes moving toward the edge of the card, as if he was listening for Frea to say anything else. "You two should come back," he murmured, "Please." He added in quickly and Aisha nodded,

"Yeah, that'll be the plan." She murmured, earning a nod before she signed the card off and replaced it in her pocket. Her eyes went toward Frea, "Think you can make it back to the Guild?" She asked lowly, she wasn't looking to have to carry Frea's sorry ass back.

"Yeah, I'll make it, I'd make it to Zentopia and back at this point." Frea growled lowly, her anger still boiling. Aisha glanced away and met Corbynn's gaze then, he shifted nervously.

"What are you going to do then, brat?" She asked and Corbynn flinched a little.

"... I'm going to find Samuel." He answered after a long while, "Samuel.. I can trust him, and I think he feels the same suspicions about Zentopia too." Aisha nodded a little, and Corbynn looked away, heading off before pausing and looking back. "I'm sorry.. about all of this, if its worth anything." He mumbled, rounding a large boulder and he was out of sight.

Frea let out a sigh and turned back, as they started walking back the way they had come, slowly- both of them were pretty beaten up and Frea was clearly not in good shape, though she hardly showed it she was too angry now.

".... Thank you, for the Moon Drip Spell, Aisha." Frea said lowly after they had been walking awhile the Energy Dragon Slayer's temper simmered down and she started showing her pain more, limping and wincing every once in awhile. Aisha's head snapped up at the words, eyes widening slightly and shocked to say the least. She glanced over toward Frea slowly, eyes narrowed and expression neutral. Frea wasn't looking her way and her eyes were focused on the ground, frowning slightly and looking as if it pained her to say anything at all- which it very well may have.

Frea's own dislike for Aisha would usually make thanking her for anything an inconceivable idea, but at this moment in time, and seeing what had happened... she swallowed her own pride and thanked her anyway, though she hated to do so. Because she realized that Aisha had... well, probably saved her life in all honesty, she wasn't sure she could have taken that second hit, and the Moon Drip Spell Aisha had unleashed in that instant had saved her from finding out.

Aisha blinked once, and glanced away, scowling slightly. "Yeah, yeah... whatever..." She trailed off and let her eyes close. "... Don't think I did it because I like you." She added in and Frea rolled her eyes slightly,

"Diddo." Frea hissed, her mind flashing along with Aisha's, to the moment Frea stepped in behind Aisha and blocked the blow that would have hit the Moonlight Mage in the back.

With that, they didn't say anything to one another as they went on toward Magnolia.


	37. Let's Finish This

**Chapter 37**

**Let's Finish This**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

"My feet are killing me..." Evergreen moaned from behind them as they trekked up the rocky mountainside slowly. Chase sighed silently at the words, sweatdropping along with Max as the pair of them walked side by side with Erza in the lead.

"Well, who goes hiking up a mountain in heels?" Max mumbled lowly,

"I am the Fairy Queen after all, I have to look my best." Was Evergreen's reply and Chase shook his head a little, eyes glancing to Erza when annoyance sparked off the redhead suddenly. "Its hurts..." She groaned,

"Shut up and walk." Erza called back curtly, earning a frown from Evergreen who's fists clenched.

"What's your problem?! I told you I was in pain here! You should at least care a little bit about that!" Evergreen snapped back,

"You should stop whining and focus on moving ahead." Erza replied calmly, though Chase could feel tension sparking up between the two woman easily.

"Give me a break... Acting like she's the leader... Who appointed her..?" Evergreen muttered crossly, coming to a halt and glancing sideways. Chase sighed.

"Here we go..." He mumbled.

"Damn it.. Why do they have to argue?" Max asked quietly, earning a shake of his head from Chase in response.

Erza came to an abrupt halt, turning around with a dark glare that should set anyone in their place. "Did you say something?" Erza growled,

"Not especially!" Evergreen answered easily,

"What a pain in the ass, why did they get put together?" Max mumbled,

"A few of the teams were paired with people you wouldn't pick on any normal day." Chase answered quietly, his thoughts immediately flashing to the pairing of Aisha and Frea. Those two were probably laying into each other right now... He sort of hoped that wasn't the case. He of all people knew just how powerful the both of Aisha and Frea were, they were a level above normal Wizards all on their own and he had already seen a battle between the two firsthand... He didn't want to imagine the damage they would do if they really did end up going head to head while they were on their own...

He came to a halt, attention snapping way from his own thoughts when he caught on to the Energy Signature of someone specific not far ahead, who had appeared out of nowhere, faster than anticipated.

"Hold it." He ordered, earning an immediate reaction from everyone else, they could immediately see the tenseness in his posture.

"What do you sense?" Erza murmured lowly,

"Cobra." Chase answered evenly, "He's just ahead of us." Everyone tensed at the answer, moving into battle stances.

"Be ready." Erza ordered.

* * *

 

"We all have different tastes, don't we?" Happy mumbled around the fish in his mouth, 'Team Exceed' having come to a halt in their travels. They all sat around one another, eating something- all different things as Happy pointed out.

Moon's ears twitched, she hadn't been the one to suggest a break in their travels but she wasn't going to complain about it either. Her eyes moved toward Happy from where she was sitting on a rock near the edge of the path, paws holding on to a piece of toast she had packed.

"It can't be helped. Like they say, each to their own taste, right?" Carla answered, a cup of tea in her paws.

"Yeah, but I've got a fish, you have Darjeeling Tea," Happy answered before tuning to look at Moon and Lily, who of which was sitting next to Moon. "Moon has toast and Lily has... Kiwi?!" Moon chuckled slightly, remembering Lily's obsession with the Kiwi Juice at Ryuzetsu Land.

"Its delicious when you sink your teeth into it, skin and all." Lily answered, sticking an entire kiwi into his mouth and chewing, a glint of pure happiness coming into his eyes at the taste.

"Is that how you're supposed to eat it?" Happy asked,

"The sour taste spreads through my mouth along with a subtle sweetness, and the sensation of the skin! Its delicious! I can't get enough!" Lily grinned, earning smiles from Carla and Moon alike, while Happy sweatdropped and smiled nervously.

Moon's attention snapped away from her three Guild Mates the minute she sensed the mind of someone who had managed to make her very angry, and she got to her paws, turning around a bit as the smell of something buttery floated toward them on the air.

"As for me, I prefer mushrooms sautéed in butter."

Everyone turned around to see none other than Samuel standing atop a small rise in the path, holding a plate of sautéed mushrooms in his paws.

"Sammy!" Happy murmured, Moon's ears fell back against her head as she frowned a little.

"Hello, Nii-san." Samuel murmured, his eyes landing on Lily. Moon blinked in surprise at the name and placed a confused look on Lily, since when were he and Samuel brothers? "Happy, Carla and Miss Moon too." Moon huffed silently, crossing her paws over her chest. Samuel placed his plate on the ground and jumped down to be on the same level as them, Lily and Moon having moved off the rock they had been on.

"The Infinity Clock was completed and then stolen. So what are you people after now?" Carla asked as Samuel stopped before them. Samuel pushed his glasses up his nose and opened the same book he always seemed to carry.

"According to my calculations, the situation is becoming more complicated than first anticipated." He closed the book and shrugged his shoulders, looking defeated. "So much so that my calculations can't keep up..." Moon blinked once,

"I know!" Happy said suddenly, "You wanna help us, don't you?! After all, you are a fellow Exceed!"

"You guess correctly." Samuel answered, "If they're not careful, its likely the humans will find themselves powerless to do anything." Moon's ears perked and she blinked a few times, slightly intrigued.

"And you say this now?" Moon said, "I thought Zentopia's teachings were everything to you, why go against them now?" Samuel leveled her with a silent stare and sighed.

"Doctrine is important, but now is not the time to be picky. I know things are out of control and I believe it best to try and fix things before aspiring to hold to Zentopia's teachings."

"I see." Lily murmured, nodding slightly and catching Moon's glance that she relented to what was said. Samuel smiled slightly and nodded back,

"So what do we do?" Happy asked.

"Sorry, but as Happy only ever has fish on the mind and Nii-san is a muscle-head, the two of you would never understand the plan." Samuel answered,

"How rude!" Happy yelled,

"Did you come here to start another fight?!" Lily snapped, Samuel sighed a shook his head a little at the two.

"However, with the genius intellect I share with Miss Moon, and Carla's own prowess, I believe we may be able to do something." Samuel answered, Moon huffed.

"Flattery will get you no where." Moon muttered, earning a small smile from Samuel anyway as he turned to Carla.

"Carla, did you sense anything with your power of precognition?" Samuel asked of the she-cat, who glanced away.

"I saw various unclear images, but they all made me feel uneasy." Carla answered.

"Images of the Key of the Starry Heavens?"

"Yes. I think it was a warning." Carla replied.

"All of you _weren't_ meant to collect the pieces of the Clock. And it seems the device was originally the property of Zentopia. And now we're being given an unfathomable mission." Samuel paused, sweatdropping a little. "And perhaps the worst of all, is the possibility that Zentopia's Doctrine is being misused."

* * *

 

"Damn it..." Chase hissed, sliding backward as a wave of pressure erupted around him in a sudden explosion. He felt the Energy from Cobra's Magic a moment before it happened, and jumped way in time to miss the full brunt of it, landing beside Max as he placed a shield of light blue in front of the both of them, the next wave of explosive pressure went off and ricocheted off his shield, ramming straight into a boulder not far off with enough force to make it shatter. He and Max sweatdropped at the sight, exchanging quick glances.

"What the hell is he doing?" Mac muttered, "I don't see anything..."

"I think he'a manipulating sound to make it a powerful force." Chase mumbled, "That's the only thing I can come up with..."

"How are we supposed to fight sound?" Mac muttered and Chase shook his head once, letting his shield drop. They could see Erza going toe to toe with Cobra, who looked rather bored and at ease as he fended off all of Erza's attacks with little problem at all, he wasn't even using his poison.

"Why are you doing this Cobra?" Erza growled, "I thought you'd given up this life of crime?"

"As I already said to that silver-eyed Wizard. I am repaying a debt, nothing more." Cobra replied dryly. "I would suggest you simply give up, you cannot stop this." Erza glared as she swung out with a sword, catching a wall of sound pressure and being pushed back as it rammed into her back with a small burst of explosive force.

"Fairy Machine Gun!" Evergreen growled, swiping her arms before her as dozens of glittering bullets rained down on Cobra, whose eyes traveled to see the attack, and he sighed as another wall of pressure fended off the attack easily.

"Energy Arrows!" Chase grumbled, thrusting his arms forward as six arrows made of his Magic streamed through the air toward Cobra in rapid succession, four of them shattered against a wall of pressure, another managed to break the wall and Cobra frowned as the last one neared him- before he moved way with an insane amount of speed to avoid the last hit. Chase stiffened when he lost sight of the Dragon Slayer, only to feel his Energy Signature behind him in an instant. He spun around and brought and arm up to block the blow sent his way, grunting with the effort as they deadlocked a minute, before they were thrust apart and put some distance between them. Erza took Chase's place in a moment, nearly catching the Dark Wizard before he jumped away from her and swept out to send a dark purple blast of Magic her way.

Max jumped between Erza and the Magic in an instant and took the hit full on, or rather, Max's Sand Clone took the hit and fell away into hundreds of grains of sand.

"This is growing tiresome." Cobra mumbled. "You're all boring me."

"Then what was the point of meeting us?!" Erza snapped, Cobra dodged the blow and sent a wall of pressure at the red head- that hit her in the back and sent her crashing into a nearby hill.

"To distract you." He replied evenly. "And its easy, with all of these individual attacks on such a low level- you will never have a chance of beating me." He snapped his fingers and Evergreen was sent crashing to the ground from where she was hovering in the air, she let out a yell of pain and fell silent.

"Evergreen!" Chase snapped, gritting his teeth as he moved to avoid the attack sent his way.

This was a losing battle; and they knew it. Cobra was much more powerful than they had anticipated; and even with the four of them they weren't having any luck... I mean, lets face it- Cobra went head to head with Frea and walked away, that was not something anyone could do lightly.

And just like Cobra said, they were hardly working as a _team_ at any rate. Every attack was an individual choice, there was no coordination... Chase sweatdropped, just as the thought occurred to him.

Could that have been the aim? What with all the oddly chosen teams, the people put together who would usually not be very good at working with one another? Could... Could Oracion Seis even manage that? And how?

"That Divination Mage at your Guild." Cobra spoke up suddenly, looking right at Chase who looked back in shock. "We put a Hex on her, in order to create bad teams among your Wizards." Cobra explained, having somehow been able to hear Chase's thoughts. How he nor Frea had not noticed any sort of Hex on Cana was beyond him. Usually they would have picked up on that right away... But perhaps the Negative Energy hanging about the air had hidden it from them.

The fighting came to a sudden standstill when lightning stretched across the dark mass of clouds that had begun to cover the sky, and all Negative Energy in the air increased tenfold, making everything around them shake and the waves of pure Evil Power rammed into Chase hard enough to make his head swim, before he blocked off his senses a bit to lessen the effect. Something very, very bad had just happened, he felt it in his heart.

"What is that?" Erza mumbled, looking to the sky as she felt the sudden power radiating all around. All eyes turned toward the sky as the form of some massive ship appeared underneath the clouds, where all the immense wave of Negative and Evil Energy was spiraling out from. They stood in collected shock, as the ground trembled as hundreds of chains shot from the ship and connected with the ground.

"My job is done here." Cobra murmured, before he suddenly disappeared and left them alone.

"Wait a minute!" Erza snapped as Cobra left, though he probably never heard it.

"That thing is huge.." Max mumbled, helping Evergreen to her feet slowly.

"Its giving off a lot of Negative Energy... The air is nearly choked with it." Chase muttered, "Something seriously bad just happened..."

As if in answer to that statement, the Calling Card that Cana had given to Erza went off and the redhead answered.

"Erza! Thank goodness, what happened? Do you know what's going on out that thing in the sky?" Warren's voice floated from the other end.

"We met Cobra, we weren't able to defeat him." Erza muttered, "Is there anything from the other Teams?"

"Uh-yeah, Elfman called... Its not good."

* * *

 

_"What do you mean?"_

_"I would love to answer your question, Miss Moon- however I will say no more until I am allowed a rematch with Nii-san."_

Had they really any time for this? Yes, it would seem that the target they had been sent after was Samuel, but to allow a pointless fight to ensue while everything seemed to be falling around them?

"Stupid.. Bullheaded... Tom-cats..." Moon muttered under her breath from where she was standing on the ground, head tilted upward toward the battle between Lily and Samuel overhead- Happy and Carla close by to her.

Lily had agreed to fight him, though he didn't seem to want to- and right now he was demanding for answers in the middle of the fight. As she listened in she heard only a few things she hadn't already figured out for herself.

For one, Samuel was suspicious of one of the Cardinals in the church- who claimed to be the one sending down the Arch-Bishops law, though she had supposed there was a higher up for Legion pulling the strings already. It was the only thing that made any sense, it would be very odd for a religious team of warriors to aspire to cause chaos all on their own- even if Legion was incredibly infuriating.

What surprised her was the mention that Legion had been specifically instructed not to apprehend Oracion Seis- which begged the question of _why?_ Oracion Seis was in possession of the item that was going to cause complete chaos, it would be in everyone's interest to apprehend them- and that included Legion. Yet they were ordered not to pursue Oracion Seis. To Moon it sounded as if the loyalties of whoever was ordering Legion were split to aid Oracion Seis in some way.

And then Samuel went on to add that there had been an order to release a highly dangerous criminal from Prison, and that this criminal had been inducted into Legion immediately. That was very odd indeed... But perhaps it had something to do with Coco's imprisonment, which Samuel pointed out as well.

Moon blinked when she saw the concern flash across Lily's face at the mention of Coco, and she frowned a little sympathetically.

For what Moon thought on the matter, was that this criminal had been inducted into Legion to up the number of members loyal to the Cardinal sending the orders- who must be seeing the wavering loyalty of the members including Samuel and Coco. Which she understood, it would take a lot to be unable to notice that something was amiss inside Legion, and its members were beginning to see that what they were doing was wrong... _Good._

If Legion began to fall away from the Cardinal ordering them around, they may have less opponents to face on the final battle.

Samuel yelled out in pain as Lily landed a great swing on the younger Exceed, sending him crashing into the ground where he changed out of his Battle Form, defeated.

Lily floated down and changed from his Battle Form too, sheathing his sword and standing before Samuel with a neutral expression.

"You were a much better opponent last time, when you were more focused and had a purpose." Lily told Sammy lowly, who was attempting to sit up. Sammy sweatdropped at the comment and lowered his eyes, letting out a sigh.

"It would seem I am no match for you then..." He mumbled and Lily sighed too, holding out a paw to help Samuel up, who took it with a faint smile. Moon approached the two along with Happy and Carla, though her eyes were straying from them and toward the very dark sky above them, watching the mass of dark in the direction of what she guessed was Zentopia continue to accumulate.

"Are you alright Sammy?" Happy asked, receiving a nod in return.

"I'm fine... Though I fear there is still a lot I must learn in order to beat Nii-San..." Sammy replied, his eyes downcast before they traveled over toward Moon, who was hardly paying attention any longer, her pale blue eyes narrowed at the sky. "... Miss Moon...?"

Her ear twitched in response though she didn't look his way, "Something's happening..." She mumbled, her fur slightly on end at the eery feeling she had all the sudden. Lightning flashed in the distance and her eyes widened to see the faint outline of something huge in the sky, before everything began to shake and the air began to vibrate with the sound of a ringing bell.

Hundreds upon hundreds of large chains seemed to shoot out from the large ship that had manifested in the sky so suddenly, and shook the earth for miles around as they connected with the ground, lightning illuminating the expanse of the ship, they held their paws over their ears at the defeaning sound of the clock chimes until they were all over.

"W-what is that?!" Happy stammered,

"Its huge..." Lily breathed,

"This must be the beginnings of their final plan." Samuel stated, sweatdropping a little. "That ship is right over Zentopia..." He frowned a little and sprouted wings. "I have to go there." He murmured, lifting off the ground as he started to take off, the other three Exceeds sprouted wings and followed him,

"Wait, Sammy!" Lily called, earning a pause from the other. "What are you doing?"

"You said I was better in battle when I had a purpose, Nii-San." Samuel replied evenly, "This is my purpose, I intend to do whatever it takes to keep chaos from descending on this world- even if I must break Zentopia's Doctrine to do it." Lily sweatdropped, not sure if this was the way he wanted Sammy to take his advice.

"We're coming with you then." Lily stated and Samuel shook his head with a firm glance.

"No, I have to do this alone."

As if on cue, the Calling Card tucked away inside Moon'a bag went off in that moment, as she pulled it out and glanced to Lily, who looked back and sighed.

"... Then go, Sammy. Be careful." Lily told Samuel lowly, who nodded and took off with a wave over his shoulder.

"I will, Nii-San."

Moon answered the card as the frantic face of Warren appeared on the face. Her eyes widened at how panicked he was and she sweatdropped,

"What happened?"

* * *

 

At some point on their way back to the guild, it began to rain nearly as hard as it had the day of the Balance Shift, the streets and land all over Fiore were dark, the sky covered in clouds regardless if it was raining or not, the air laced with the ever thickening mass of Dark and Evil Energy working its way through every tree, rock, house... As it seeped into the Land and began to fill it with the Negative Energy more and more.

The rain served to wash away nearly all the grim, dirt and blood from Frea and Aisha as they neared the Guild Hall- making them seem less injured in way of being soaked to the bone, though neither of them could care at the moment.

Frea closed her eyes as she walked along, or rather- limped, to be more accurate. Moving was painful, her body ached from all the beatings, she was lightheaded and faint from exhausting all of her Magic Energy, and the minor.. Magic Deficiency Syndrome... she had was not helping, in fact it felt like it was getting worse. She was in pain, she was tired and frayed, soaked to the bone to add- and none of that mattered, she hardly felt anything but anger and rage.

Natsu and Lucy had been captured, they were with the enemy, and the enemy included Michelle. Michelle had betrayed Fairy Tail... And now Natsu and Lucy were in danger for it.

She knew she should have stuck with them, kept an eye on Michelle as Master had asked her to, she should have been there to try and prevent this from happening, if she had been there, and Michelle had tried this shit in front of her- Frea would have pummeled every living soul who threatened anyone in Fairy Tail with full force.

Her fists clenched at her sides and she ground her fangs down on eachother, feeling the same fire erupt inside of her the next instant.

This was bullshit. Words could not describe the level of rage she felt at the moment, she wanted nothing more than to lay into anyone and everyone who had been a part of all of this.

She wanted to destroy Michelle. She wanted to beat Cobra to a pulp, throw Dan through a few walls, and Byro too- _all of Legion and Oracion Seis!_ She wanted to beat them all to a bloody pulp, no one did this to Fairy Tail, to Moon, to Lucy, to Natsu- no one did this to her Family and got away with it. _Ever_.

It was that anger that kept her awake and attentive, the anger that dulled the pain throughout her body, the weakness, and let her ignore the fuzziness hanging over her vision.

She wouldn't stop until they fixed this, no matter how hard it was it how much it hurt. This wasn't over until Lucy and Natsu were back, and until that giant ship in the sky and the Infinity Clock both were destroyed. The same things that she could feel giving off an incredibly powerful evil and Negative Energy that choked the air, and seemed to be seeping into the ground around them.

They were the first ones back to the Guild Hall since being called back by Warren- not surprising since they had been the closest to Magnolia when they encountered Corbynn, so they were naturally the first to arrive even if their return was at a slow pace.

Aisha went inside the doors of the Guild Hall first, Frea following silently as they stepped out of the rain and met the anxious and nervous faces on the other side. Warren, Romeo and Cana approached the two as they came in, while everyone else stood back with frowns on their faces.

"Aisha! Frea!" Warren exclaimed, whipping about toward the door as everyone else in the Hall did. He stopped the minute he saw the grim faces upon the two, eyes wide as he took on their tattered clothes, bruised skin and soaked appearance. For a minute the image of Frea as she appeared on the face of the card bloody and wounded raced across his mind- the blood dripping from her mouth and the exhausted expression... She looked no better now, though the rain seemed to have washed away the blood and dirt.

"What happened? Are you two ok?" Cana demanded, sweatdropping.

"We met a brat from Zentopia." Aisha growled, no more happy with anything than Frea was- though she was considerably less filled with rage.

"Zentopia?" Cana, Warren, Wakaba and Macao echoed. They had been expecting a member of Oracion Seis,

Aisha let out an aggravated sigh, "Zentopia and Oracion Seis are working together. Though not openly, their Superiors seem to be in league with eachother." Everyone sweatdropped in response,

"That's insane..." Warren muttered.

"What about what happened with Bisca and Alzack?" Aisha asked, remembering the news about Midnight appearing in Kardia Cathedral. "Are they alright?"

"They're resting." Wakaba muttered. "Why Midnight was there, we aren't sure- but pretty soon after he arrived that thing appeared in the sky."

"What is that thing in the sky anyway? Is that a part of the Infinity Clock... Or something else entirely?" Macao muttered, "Everything is starting to feel off since it showed up, everything's all strange, and the sky's been dark since..."

"Frea...?" Romeo murmured quietly, his eyes had not left the silent figure of the Energy Dragon Slayer as she stood just before the now closed doors, her eyes closed and arms crossed over her chest. He could easily see she was hurt, and that worried him- Frea had always been a strong Mage that he looked up to just as much as he did Natsu, and seeing her so exhausted and injured was unnerving. But he could also feel the barely muffled anger from her, see how tense she was, and her silence was not comforting.

Frea opened her eyes when she heard Romeo say her name, meeting his gaze evenly as he looked to her, eyes sparkling with confusion and worry. She _hated_ it when people looked at her that way, but she couldn't blame him for it. She knew how much he looked up to Natsu, and Romeo cared for everyone in the Guild. With all that was happening, she assumed it was hard for him, and he was probably a bit afraid of the ending- he was probably afraid for Natsu and Lucy, and now he seemed to see how tired and hurt she was, and that did nothing to ease the growing tension she could feel coming off him.

Everyone else continued with what they were talking about, as Aisha continued to explain what they had learned and discussed what she was assuming.

Frea sighed slightly and walked toward Romeo a few paces, resting a hand on top of his head with a weary look as she paused beside him. "Don't worry... We'll fix this. We'll get Lucy and Natsu back, everything will be fine." She murmured softly, looking down at him a minute, before she continued to walk past him. He turned as she kept walking, and she waved a hand back at him. "I'll be back in a minute."

Romeo watched her as she slowly made her way toward the stairs, limping slightly and silent. She made her way upstairs, faintly taking notice of Master Makarov sitting at the bar, eyes closed and listening, as Lisanna appeared from a back hallway behind the bar. She reached the second floor without a word and headed right, toward where she knew the Guild's locker rooms were, and where she was hoping to dry off.

The Guild was swimming in tenseness and worry, with fear... Everyone was on edge, everyone was afraid of what was going on, and they were all worried about Natsu and Lucy. The worry she saw on Romeo's face, the sound of anxious questions and mutterings... It all made her much more angry.

She was keeping her calm as best she could, though she was about ready to explode. Her body itched to get moving, to head straight out and find the bastards doing all of this- she wanted to jump in, she didn't want to wait.

 _Just like Natsu_ \- just before they were split into pairs, just before he and Lucy were taken. When Frea herself had gotten him to calm down and keep him from rushing ahead...

_Damn it.. Damn all of this...!_

"Frea."

Frea's attention moved away from her anger as she heard Mira say her voice softly, registering the fact that the white-haired Mage was standing just in the doorway to the hall that lead to the locker rooms. Mira leveled her with a worried and calm stare, as her blue eyes slowly took in Frea and her appearance. In Mira's hands was a set of neatly folded clothes.

Like most everyone downstairs could feel right away, was the angry flowing off the Energy Dragon Slayer. The rage, rage she barely contained. Mira easily saw it, because she herself had several times before been the one to keep all her anger hidden and suppressed, just to keep from exploding- the same thing Frea was doing now.

And she understood just why. Because Frea was, in all honesty, _very protective_ of everyone in the Guild- even the people she seemed to really dislike, like Aisha and Laxus. Frea was loyal to everyone, she cared for all of them, and it made her so very angry when people hurt those people she cared for. To have Natsu and Lucy be taken like this, to have to watch Fairy Tail be pummeled and made a fool off, to watch everyone get hurt over and over, to be betrayed... Frea hated that. She hated seeing so many of them hurt, and she wanted nothing more than to keep everyone safe, to protect them. The safety of everyone in the Guild meant much more to Frea than anything else, and that protectiveness she held was the reason she was so angry now.

There were people attacking the ones she cared for, and she was insulted by it. She was angry. Utterly angry. So angry that Frea didn't care much for herself, that she was going to continue to fight and get back at those hurting what she loved, even if she as already hurt herself, weakened and out of Magic Power. Usually, Mira would frown at that recklessness, and so would many other people in the Guild- but she knew Frea a bit too well, and she knew that nothing was going to keep Frea still, not now, not ever.

Mira sighed silently a minute. Frea was reckless, but she was always reckless for the right reasons- much as Natsu usually was, as it was something both she and the Fire Dragon Slayer really shared.

Their steadfast protectiveness of the Guild and everyone in it.

"Here, take these." Mira murmured softly, she faintly wished Frea knew how much her love for the Guild meant to everyone, because a part of her knew that Frea wasn't entirely aware of it. Just as Frea would risk her life for everyone in the Guild- everyone would do the same for her.

"Please, be careful." Mira murmured as she handed the clothes to the Energy Dragon Slayer. "Don't be foolish." She added in a slight warning tone, Frea blinked. "We'll get through this, together."

Frea held Mira's gaze a moment, quite aware that many different thoughts had been flying through her head for a moment or two, and none of them she could piece together. The warning to not be reckless was understandable, she knew she couldn't act rashly, she would have to take the advice she had given Natsu... Though every fiber of her being screamed to go now. To jump in, to fight.

_"We'll get through this, together."_

Together... We'll have to stand together to manage this. They had been split apart since the beginning, all fighting separately and never with the teamwork they needed- that was a big reason they had been so caught off guard by everything that had happened. Mira was right, they needed to do this together- that was the best way. The Guild was always stronger together. But even then... She swore there was another meaning for her words, one that Frea didn't quite catch on to...

Frea nodded slightly, "You're right, together we can do this... Thank you Mira." Mira nodded slightly, smiling faintly as she slipped past Frea and headed toward the stairs.

_Natsu... Lucy... We'll find you. Everything will be fine..._

* * *

 

"Forgive me Master... I should have been with Lucy, Natsu and Michelle." Frea said lowly, as she stood before Master Makarov, having come back from changing into the clothes Mira had given her- a form fitting black top with sleeves that reached to her elbows, long dark skinny jeans, and her combat boots to match, her damp hair pulled into a messy bun. Much better than the soaked, dirty, stained and destroyed clothes she had had on.

Master glanced up as she walked toward him, his arms crossed over his chest and eyes halfway closed. He quirked an eyebrow at the sudden apology, as Frea's eyes remained on the floor.

He had been expecting this however, because he knew Frea enough to know she would feel responsible for what happened- because he had asked her to keep an eye on Michelle, and in light of Michelle's betrayal, that ended with the capturing of Natsu and Lucy, he had assumed she would feel responsible for it. But most of all, he could tell she as angry- angry, but keeping her anger under control for now, though that seemed a bit hard.

"Do not blame yourself for that, child." He replied almost instantly, earning a blink from Frea. "Not you, nor I, nor anyone could have seen anything that has happened coming, all of this- the schemes of Legion and Oracion Seis, its all been expertly handled to the point that we have not had a chance, and we've always been two steps behind the one pulling the strings of this operation. Michelle betraying us couldn't have been foreseen, and as it stands- we still do not know why she did so." He set Frea with a level stare, one that she returned silently, sweatdropping slightly. She knew he was being honest, and what he said was true.

"Natsu and Lucy's capture had nothing to do with anything you've done. You've acted accordingly to every situation since this started and helped keep them, as well as everyone else safe so far- you've done your best, and that was all I ever asked of you." Frea blinked in slight surprise, because suddenly she got the feeling he had been told about what happened in the underground tomb when it was brought down on their heads. Master Bob must have said something...

And indeed he had. And for what Master Bob had told him of what Ichiya saw under the ground in that tomb, he wasn't sure if he should be shocked or not. Makarov had become increasingly aware that Frea's Power was increasing steadily- almost at an unreal rate. And to hear that she unconsciously held the tomb up, to save her Guild- he wasn't surprised, and he was- but most of all he was proud and grateful for it. Frea had become a shield for the the Guild, and he knew how much she would put on the line for it, for this Family. He was proud of her dedication. And strength, and he was grateful that someone as loyal as Frea had come to the Guild and remained to help look after everyone for all these years.

And indeed, Frea had done her best. She had continued to do that, and she was still doing so. She had done everything in her power to help the Guild along to this point, to try and protect everyone as best she could, she responded to every situation as she should, and that was enough.

"It is not your fault Frea, don't believe it is. You did your best, and that is enough."

* * *

 

Real Nightmare- the power radiating from the ship in the sky, which was actually the Infinity Clock in its ultimate form. Real Nightmare was seeping into the land, the air, the trees, everything... Eventually it would seep into the minds of the people of Fiore. It would make them begin to lose their minds, and then chaos would befall the world in the quake of this.

They had been told all of this by the Archeological Society- the very same Frea had met aboard the ship with Lucy, Natsu, Romeo, Happy, Moon and Michelle. They had come to the Guild looking for Lucy, and upon learning she as captured- they shared their knowledge of the situation with Fairy Tail. Of what Real Nightmare was, and what would happen if the Infinity Clock continued to cast its power out over Fiore.

Naturally, Fairy Tail decided to fix the mess and save Natsu and Lucy at the same time, where the group of Gajeel, Lily, Happy, Carla, Wendy, Warren, Mirajane, Elfman, Erza, Moon, Gray and Frea set out while everyone else remained at the Guild to continue to research and find a way to destroy the Infinity Clock.

The power of Real Nightmare upon the air was choking, it was constantly seeping into everything, lacing the air, muddling the Energy all around and making the world very dark and silent around her. The feel of it made her cold, and her head had long since started to pound with the feel of the immense waves cascading down on her, on everything. Her vision swam as her eyes picked up on the dark waves of the Energy without meaning to, as she began to see the world begin to be distorted, her senses sharper than most so the effect was a bit more severe. She was doing her best to ignore it, and block her senses off as much as she could- which as ever, amounted to very little.

The profound effect that the Energy of Real Nightmare was having on the Land itself was staggering, it was poisoning it almost... When she did her best to reach out farther with her senses, she felt the flow of Real Nightmare traveling from the ship and down the chains that attached it to the earth... It was a direct link to poison everything.

But what she had been searching for as they drew nearer and nearer the Zentopia Church, was for the Energy Signatures of Lucy and Natsu- both of which she hadn't managed to lock onto yet.

Frea hissed under her breath, eyes closed and arms crossed over her chest from where she was sitting cross legged on the wooden deck of Christina- the airship from Blue Pegasus, with Ichiya at its head.

Flying ships were not the same as those that rode the waves, and yet there was still a queasy feeling that plagued her as they made their way toward the destination, her stomach spinning every once in awhile.

It was very hard to concentrate on what she was attempting when she felt that twinge of slight motion sickness... Not to mention how exhausted she was.

In her lap sat Moon, who had her eyes closed as she sweatdropped- easily feeling the tension from Frea. She had come back to the Guild to find her Partner wounded- like she usually was, _damn it._

But beside that, Frea was angry, very angry, though she was doing her best to hide the fact. And right now, her anger was no better- she assumed flying on the ship wasn't preferable for the Energy Dragon Slayer.

Moon's ear twitched slightly as she sighed, why anyone had let Frea come along on the attack party was beyond her- because it was very clear the Energy Fragon Slayer wasn't just wounded or exhausted- she was completely out of Magic Power too. A Frea without Magic wasn't an issue most of the time, but a _wounded_ Frea with no Magic Energy?

She sighed again, because with how angry Frea was there wouldn't have been anyway to get her to stay behind with the Guild. She would have come anyway, Magic or no Magic.

"What... Is she doing...?"

Frea's attention snapped to the voice she heard, from a small storage compartment a little ways to her left. There was no one on the upper deck with her besides Moon, she had chosen that space for a reason, because it was empty. But the sudden voice caught her a little off-guard, because she suddenly realized that with all her irritation and concentration, not to mention the extreme level of Negative and Dark Energy in the air, she hadn't managed to pick out the Energy Signature close by- belonging to someone who wasn't supposed to be here.

She opened her eyes and glanced sideways, eyes narrowed and frowning slightly. Moon glanced up when she noticed Frea wasn't focusing on what she had been and blinked, before a knowing look passed her face and she twitched her ears in the same direction of where Frea's eyes were. She caught the sound of someone hitting their head on the underside of the cabinet and raised an eyebrow.

"... Hmm...?" Moon murmured, reaching out slightly to recognize the mind of who was hiding there. Frea hissed a bit and ran a hand through her hair,

"Get out here Romeo." Frea ordered curtly, her voice sharp but calm and loud enough that the boy could hear it easily. She faintly felt the pang of panic flow from the boy, he hadn't been looking to get caught. He slowly came out of the cabinet and set a nervous look on the frowning Energy Dragon Slayer, wringing his hands a little. Frea swept a hand to him and pointed a finger just before her, "Come here." She ordered and he walked forward slowly.

"You shouldn't be here, Romeo." Moon murmured, much more gently than the curt tone Frea was using on him.

"This is going to be dangerous Romeo, you were supposed to stay at the Guild." Frea muttered calmly, still attempting to keep all her anger for the situation, annoyance about being on the ship, irritation of Real Nightmare, and the aggravating effect of all of it combined was having on her, in check. That was hard though...

Romeo shifted a little, sweatdropping because he knew he wasn't supposed to be here, he had snuck on after he had been ordered to stay at the Guild. But he wanted to help save Natsu and Lucy as much as everyone else, and so he had acted on that feeling rather than listening to orders. For the moment, he was just unhappy that he had been found out, and a little nervous too- because it was _Frea_ , who was seriously scary some of the time and clearly not in a good mood, that had found him onboard.

"I know... But I want to help save Natsu and Lucy!" He answered, his tone becoming a bit defensive toward the end as a flash of determination rose up in him. Frea just blinked, not very happy with the stowaway, because this was dangerous- and while she respected how much stronger Romeo had become, she, and Erza and all the more experienced members of the Guild had been having their asses _kicked_. She didn't want him hurt, but... It was too late now. They were nearly to Zentopia, and she knew trying to make Romeo stay on the ship wasn't an option.

Frea let out a sigh, her irritation for finding Romeo melting away as she let her eyes fall closed and she rest her chin in her hand, propping her elbow on her knee.

"Fine..." She mumbled, pinching the bridge of her nose with her other hand, her head continually pounding and now starting to really feel her wounds in full entirety as she had been winding down a bit. Romeo blinked in utter shock at how fast Frea had given in, and his eyes went to Moon in question, who had glanced to Frea and saw the small wince escape her Partner's lips before she stifled it.

"Try to stick with us, Romeo." Moon murmured, looking to the boy who nodded. "You can come as long as you try and stay with us, and we can keep an eye on each other, alright?"

"Yes, I promise." Romeo answered, looking determined though he had seen the sudden tiredness and pain in Frea as she relented, now she wasn't saying anything. He was worried, and he could see Moon was too.

"... Oh stop it, the both of you." Frea suddenly muttered, earning a confused look from both Moon and Romeo. One of her silver eyes cracked open to rest on Moon, and then Romeo.

"What?" They both echoed, sweatdropping a little.

"Everyone seems to forget that I can _feel_ emotions coming off of _all of you_." Frea murmured, "I _know_ what you're feeling, and I get that you're worried- really. But please just give it a rest." She murmured, calmly and firmly, though she sounded a bit exasperated. She really did not like it when people worried over her, it was too much attention and having to feel that worry coming from everyone all the time, it got old very fast.

"I know I look like shit, I know I'm not exactly in the best of shape- but I don't care right now. Its not going to stop me from finishing this, from getting Lucy and Natsu back and destroying the Infinity Clock. Please stop worrying about me, I will be fine..." She sighed again and shook her head. "Got it?" She asked.

Romeo and Moon exchanged glances, both of them sweatdropping. Frea was right, they knew Energy Mage's could feel emotion, but most of the time it never came to mind. Moon suddenly remembered after coming back from Nvindorr, when Frea had sensed her worry while she had been asleep- and had been told to relax.

But how could they _not_ be worried? Frea was hurt, probably more hurt than she was letting on, and she was exhausted. The dark lines under her eyes and the short temper was an indication, she was weak, Moon knew she was poisoned a little still, and she knew that Frea was suffering from a minor form of MDS, and she was void of Magic Energy. Completely.

Romeo had noticed that first hand, because Frea had always had the sense of pure Power hanging about her on any day. She always had waves of Power radiating from her, one could feel it in the back of their mind if they were in her presence. It was always there, and now it wasn't.

What was more, Frea had been getting her ass kicked by these same Mages over and over again, while she had been at Full Power no less- she hadn't proved victorious against any of them...

"Frea..." Moon murmured, "... You can't blame us for being worried, not when you've been hurt like this... Not when we're about to fight these strong Mages and you're not at full power..." The dark grey Exceed sighed, "Sorry, but that's the way it is." Frea frowned a little and huffed, Romeo just sweatdropped.

"Fine." Frea growled, still not happy with the answer. "But just remember this- how many times have I gotten out of jam's while I was hurt and tired and out of Magic Energy?" Frea opened her eyes to rest them on Moon, who blinked before looking away, and Frea looked to Romeo, her silver eyes meeting his. She smirked slightly, "I really will be fine. You should just worry about yourselves."

That struck a chord with both of them, because it was true. They had both seen Frea prosper in the harder conditions, when she was wounded and exhausted, and when her Magic Energy was depleted. She somehow always managed to get out relatively alright, or at least alive...

Romeo shifted a bit and Frea grabbed his hand, pulling him in front of her and making him take a seat just before her, he blinked in confusion and slight nervousness at the action. She smirked a bit more,

"As for what I was doing." She said, referring to his earlier question, the one that had gotten him found- "I was attempting to concentrate on releasing my Second Origin." Romeo blinked in shock, he had heard that Frea had one like Erza did, though he had never seen it himself.

A Second Origin, was simply a stored amount of Magic Energy kept away inside a Mage's body, that could be called upon when their regular reserves of Magic Energy were depleted. It was a skill not every Mage could use, in fact it was rare for any Mage to be able to activate a Second Origin at all- Frea hadn't ever known she had one until she as fighting against Naraka, her Second Origin had manifested inside of her without having to consciously create it.

To Release a Second Origin was difficult though. Usually it required breaking open the seal on it with some of the Magic the Mage already had, or it could burst open in a flurry of emotion during battle- of rage or pain. It required a great deal of concentration to use and open, and Frea's concentration wasn't going well with everything affecting her.

Moon's eyes glanced up toward Frea when the Energy Dragon Slayer revealed what she had been trying to do, blinking a few times in surprise. Frea had seldom used her Second Origin, so Moon had forgotten she had it...

"Attempting?" Romeo echoed, looking intrigued.

"I know Erza made it look easy at the GMG, but it really isn't so simple." Frea replied. "I'm out of Power in my regular reserves... So I can't use Magic to open the seal placed on my Second Origin. Concentrating is the next best thing to open it through willpower... But with all the Energy from Real Nightmare around, its hard to concentrate as hard as I need to." Frea paused, before she smiled a bit and gestured toward Romeo. "Here, fold your hands together and close your eyes." He paused a minute, eyes a bit wide and looking confused, before he did as she asked. Moon blinked in surprise, glancing up at Frea with a raised eyebrow.

"Try and concentrate on your Magic Energy, feel it inside your body, how much there is, how its flowing through you." Frea instructed quietly, watching with her eyes sparkling in slight amusement as his face scrunched up with the concentration he was attempting to put forward, Moon smiled slightly at it. "Try to reach as far within yourself as you can, to the core of your Magic." She saw him tense up, while she also saw a small flicker of purple in his hands before it faded.

"I... I think I feel it." Romeo murmured after a few minutes, and Frea let her eyes close too. She focused on Romeo then, finding it much easier to focus on someone she knew so well, than trying to pry at her Second Origin. She knew what Romeo's Magic felt like of course, its true nature- it was strong and wavered wildly like Natsu's, that was a common characteristic for Fire Magic of any type. However, Romeo's Magic was much more calm and controlled than Natsu's, and it was more diverse- as she expected had to do with Rainbow Fire and all its different abilities. Romeo had a good amount of Magic Energy, and he was strong- strong in body and will, though that was something he had gained with age. But deep inside him, Romeo had potential for more Magic Energy than he ever usually used- that would probably come with hard work and the right incentive.

She felt his Magic Energy flare suddenly, as he began to concentrate on it. He was beginning to unconsciously cause his Power to increase with how hard he focused on it, which she had been expecting, and right now she could feel that Magic flowing through his being-

This was a trick she seldom used, by focusing on Romeo she could ignore everything else around her, and that gave her mind a bit of a rest. And, if she managed to ignore everything to a certain extent, she could probably managed to open her Second Origin as she planned...

But she knew Romeo was curious, and giving him something to focus on was good for him too. It was a simple little exercise, to focus on your own Magic Power enough, you could eventually get a better understanding of your Magic and its limits and strengths. Romeo probably had never tried to focus on his Magic more than just using it to fight, and maybe he would notice something in it and himself he hadn't before.

Frea had been instructed to do this very simple exercise by Chaitanya when she was younger, and the memory of sitting on her rock up on her mountain, with her Foster Mother settled on her own rock watching silently suddenly came to mind, and a flash of sadness hit her.

"What do you feel?" Frea asked lowly, folding her hands together as she wrapped her arms around Moon.

"... I can feel my Magic... Flowing through my body... How much there is..." Romeo answered, trying to pry farther and farther. Frea nodded,

"You have more Magic Energy than you usually use." She murmured. "Its there inside of you, you just have never accessed it before... You've probably never known the full limit of your Magic Energy Supply, hmm?" Romeo stiffened in shock, could that be true? He knew Frea was very knowledgable of these things, and he trusted her judgement... And besides, he could feel that extra bit of Magic Energy inside of him, a part of his Magic Energy Supply he had never actually used. Most of the time, when he hit the point where he was out of Magic Power, he had never really tried to use anymore- he always assumed he was really out, because he never thought of his Magic Energy Supply as being very large...

But it was more than he ever thought he had. And now he could feel it, if he concentrated hard enough and reached deeper inside himself, toward the back of his mind. It was there.

"No... I didn't..." He answered, opening his eyes to rest them on Frea and find her eyes closed. He blinked in shock, "How did you know?" He asked, "Can you really feel that much about me? And everything else?" Frea nodded, smiling slightly but not opening her eyes.

"I can. Its part of being an Energy Mage, Chase could feel it too." She answered. "I've become very atune to very many different Energies and Magics, emotions and whatnot... Its basically instinct at this point. Its very easy for me." She took in a breath. "What you just did is a very simple exercise, one you can continue with- focusing on your Energy and Magic like that may land you a better understanding of your own abilities and power, in time." She cracked one eye open, and he blinked in wonder. "I did it a lot when I was younger, and I still do it today sometimes." He smiled and nodded a few times, looking a bit excited about the prospect of something he could do to learn his limits and more, and something that Frea had done herself. Frea, an S-Class Mage who had shown she had an unbelievable amount of strength and power, and a Mage he looked up to just as much as Natsu.

Moon glanced between Frea and Romeo, smiling to herself as she saw how much Romeo was fixed on listening to what Frea was telling him, and how easily Frea was getting the point across. First impressions of Frea would never lead anyone to believe that the stubborn, hot-headed and always ready to brawl Dragon Slayer, could or even _would_ be good at teaching people, especially younger people, any sort of lessons on Magic or the like. Frea didn't seem the teaching type, she seemed like she would become irritated too easily and lash out- but this was proving that very wrong.

Of course people knew Frea was a good teacher in her own rights. She had in fact taught Chase his Magic from _nothing_ , and he was easily one of the stronger Mages in the Guild. But even apart from teaching him Magic, she had taught him more- what humility was, what family meant, and probably much more, and he looked up to Frea probably more than anyone, still so even after so much time had passed since she had stopped officially being his mentor.

Frea was a good teacher, she was very good at helping people to learn things, about Magic, themselves... Anything. She could be patient, and the level of interest she had struck in Romeo in the course of a few moments, and how quickly he understood what she was telling him- all went on to show how good of a mentor she could be if she wanted to be.

"I'm definitely going to keep it up then!" Romeo exclaimed, smiling. "I want to find my limits, and anything else I can about my Magic Power!" He grinned and Frea smiled back softly.

"Good." She murmured. "After all of this, don't hesitate to ask me for help training if you want, I'd be happy to show you a few more tricks that work for all Mages, not just Energy Mages." She offered and his smile grew some more, blushing a little at the offer and how grateful he was for it. An S-Class Mage was offering to help him train, that was an honor, and it was even more so from someone like Frea- who had always been strong to him.

"Yeah, definitely, I'd like that! Thank you!" He replied and Frea let her one open eye close, taking in a small breath. It made her feel a bit better to feel the excited and happy emotion coming from him...

"My pleasure." She answered. "I'm sure Natsu would be happy to help out too." She put in, she knew how much Romeo looked up to Natsu and she figured it would mean much more to train with the pinkette than it would to with her. Romeo blinked, before smiling sheepishly and nodding a little.

"You think so?" He asked and she nodded.

"I know so."

Romeo chuckled a little to himself, bursting with happiness and glee- very excited about the offer and what Frea had shown him in just a few moments. Moon smiled at it and rest against Frea, relaxing into the hold the Energy Dragon Slayer had on her. She sort of wished Frea was more like this some of the time, how much Frea seemed to let herself go and just talk to Romeo... How relaxed she was. Frea had been much too tense recently, with everything going on, from Nvindorr, to the Balance Shift, the Infinity Clock, even the Eclipse Gate before all of this...This was a welcome feeling, and she smiled a bit more.

She hoped this was resolved soon, she wanted Frea to have a break, and she wanted one too if she was being honest...

* * *

 

"Get off the ship!" Ichiya ordered, Christina falling in air as the giant form of Byro's octopus latched on to it, with the engines damaged by Racer- who had been thrown down by Mira and was currently facing her on the ground, Christina couldn't stay afloat with the octopus's extra weight.

Frea cast Moon a quick glance, one her Exceed Partner understood as she grabbed Romeo and sprouted wings. The rest of Fairy Tail prepared to jump toward the nearest space, which was a long ways down.

Frea let her eyes shut a minute, Real Nightmare was worse now that they were so close to the Infinity Clock, but she needed Magic, jumping from the ship now was going to hurt, they had a long ways to fall.

Erza stopped when she noticed Ichiya wasn't moving to jump with them, and had instead grabbed the wheel and angled down.

"What are you doin?" Gray asked immediately.

"You all, go." Ichiya answered. "I prepared for this, I will take care of this alone."

"You're crazy!" Elfman snapped, Frea growled a bit, looking toward Ichiya with narrowed eyes,

She recognized the steadfast determination in his eyes, and she knew he was going to do what he wished to- she noticed that Erza seemed to sense the same thing too.

"No, we leave this to Ichiya." Erza murmured, earning shocked glances from most everyone else. "I trust you can handle this." She said to said man, who nodded and Erza moved off. "Prepare to jump."

"Jumping now is going to hurt..." Gray mumbled under his breath, as Happy moved to grab Warren and Carla grabbed Wendy.

Frea nimbly jumped from where she and Romeo were on the upper deck, and landed on the main one with the rest of the Guild as Moon followed with Romeo in her paws. She landed beside Gray and flicked her head at him, catching his eyes as he blinked in question.

"I can give us something to land on." Frea murmured, earning a shocked expression. "But I think you'll need to give us a way down after that." She was subconsciously prying at her Second Origin all the while, feeling some of that Suppressed Power start to bubble under the cap. She figured she could make a box for everyone to land on instead of falling, but she doubted she could make any more than one and for no more than a few minutes- not with how tired she was, and how hard it was to use those Energy Boxes anyway. Gray would need to make a slide or some sort of thing so they could reach the ground, "Think you can manage?" She asked and he nodded a little,

"Yeah.. But how are you-?" He started and she shook her head, looking away from him as Christina started to gain momentum in her downward spiral.

"Just jump, now!" She ordered of everyone, leading the movement as she jumped over the edge and past the tentacles of the giant octopus, out into the open air as everyone followed behind her, most of them unsure what she planned to do, and most rather nervous.

Frea clapped her hands together and forced all her willpower to rip open the Seal suppressing her Second Origin, growling with the effort as she pried at it relentlessly. She needed Magic _now_ , she needed it so no one got hurt from falling to far, too fast- this was nearly the same as the first time she did this, in effort to help everyone around her. Maybe it was the extra incentive that made all the concentration she had put forward on the way here mean nothing, all she needed was the right push- and she suddenly felt Magic flow through her body in a welcome wash of power, her body hurt less in way of it and she felt herself grow stronger.

"Second Origin; Release!" She snapped, her Magic Power exploding about her in an unexpected wave of pure force, the wind picked up about her as silver circled about her body, and the sudden waves of immense power began to radiate out and wash over everyone else, shocking them completely. She had gone from no Magic Power at all to this sudden immensity of Power in a _split second_.

Her eyes snapped open as she swiped an arm below her and a large sheet of silver suddenly spread out below them, growing into a large box that was roughly the size of a small building, and a large Magic Circle appeared underneath it. Frea closed her fist, her Magic spiraling up around her arm as the wild surface of the box swirled for a moment before it hardened and shone like smooth glittering ice.

Behind them, Christina fell into the gorge surrounding Zentopia Church and from sight- though Frea knew Ichiya was fine, his Energy Signature still flared bright and strong even despite the interference of Real Nightmare.

She landed on her feet, having flipped over to do so. Not surprisingly, Erza landed neatly beside her, Gray landed on his feet too but a little awkwardly, and Elfman face planted, grumbling under his breath as he pushed himself up, before he stopped and stared wide eyed at what it was he landed on. Gajeel landed on Frea's other side, eyes fixed to what he landed on and hands on his hips.

"This is new, Silver." He grumbled and Frea let out a breath. Wendy floated down with Carla, Moon with Romeo, Happy with Warren and Lily close by. Romeo sighed in relief to see everyone was alright, and a bit at the fact that Frea managed to find Magic Power again, after having attempted to open her Second Origin and not having any luck for a long while.

"Wow... this is.. Massive.." Wendy murmured, sweatdropping and eyes wide. Carla nodded a bit,

"Her Magic tripled... In seconds..." Warren mumbled, eyes bulging a bit.

"This is impressive." Erza stated, "And it seems you've manage to release your Second Origin as well.." Her eyes sparkled a bit, because she knew that was not very easy- especially if you had no Magic Energy at all to try and help open it with. Frea sighed a bit and closed her eyes, catching her breath a bit.

"Yeah... Figured it was time to open it." She murmured in reply,

"When did you learn to do this?" Lily asked, floating down as he gazed at it in wonder.

"I've never seen this at all." Gray mumbled, "How are you keeping this up..?" His eyes peered through the slightly transparent box toward the Magic Circle underneath them, eyes narrowing.

"My Energy Force Spell." She answered Gray first, before glancing to Lily. "I only managed to do this for the first time... A day ago now, I suppose. When I was with Lucy, Natsu, Romeo and Michelle." She answered, earning shocked looks in response.

"She perfected this in a day?!"

"Frea's so manly!" Elfman said, a sparkle in his eyes.

"I wonder if Ichiya-San is ok.." Wendy mumbled. Frea looked to her,

"He's alright." She assured the small Dragon Slayer. Erza nodded,

"Ichiya always pulls through." The redhead murmured.

Frea closed her eyes and shook her head, already feeling the strain of keeping the box stabilized and afloat, and besides- they were here to save Lucy and Natsu, and then destroy the Infinity Clock. She looked to Gray,

"I can't keep this up for very long though, think you can get us down?" She asked and he paused, before nodding and placing one hand in his open palm.

"You got it." He nodded and headed to the edge of the box, frost began to tinge the air about him.

"Ice Make: Slide!"

* * *

 

The group of Fairy Tailers made their way swiftly through the darkened corridors of the Zentopia Church, Gajeel, Frea and Erza at the forefront- Gajeel could easily scent Natsu from up ahead, as could Frea- and it was toward the pinkette's scent they were headed toward. Frea narrowed her eyes as she ran beside Gajeel, her senses constantly searching every inch of the church, as far as he could, always trying to find Lucy- the one person she couldn't find.

Lucy's Energy Signature remained on the edge of her senses, but with all the interference around, it was nearly impossible to pinpoint where the blonde was exactly, or even in what general direction... Damn it.

She ground her fangs down on one another and shook her head. She wanted nothing more than to find Lucy, but at the moment- knowing where Natsu was took precedent, and at least they could follow his scent easily. Not to mention that his Energy Signature was easy to pick out, even among the waves of Real Nightmare about. He was a glowing beacon ahead, as he usually was, and she took a little comfort in the fact that from what she could tell- he didn't seem weak or hurt at all.

In fact, he was bursting with Energy. He seemed to be running about the place at top speed, making catching up with him harder than it should have been.

With Natsu was the Energy Signature of Coco's Counter-Part, which was a little surprising- considering Corbynn had told Aisha and Frea that Coco had been imprisoned.

"Damn it... Why won't Salamander just sit still?" Gajeel grumbled beside her, she sweatdropped a little.

"Does he ever sit still?" She replied and he huffed.

"Frea," Erza caught her attention as they continued on. Frea glanced sideways toward the redhead, "Can you sense Lucy anywhere? Or anyone else?"

"Its a bit hard... Real Nightmare is distorting everything... And I can't seem to catch on to Lucy's Energy a signature anywhere." Frea replied lowly. "Oracion Seis and Legion are a bit hard to pick out too... But I think, I think they're up above us." She closed her eyes a minute, reaching out toward the ship in the sky above the church. "In the ship... I can feel Cobra's Energy Signature there, Angel too." Her attention snapped ahead of them where she had noticed a very powerful Energy Signature approaching with another one, both of which were familiar and easy to distinguish even given everything else. Her eyes opened, "Gildarts and Laki are here too."

"Gildarts?" Gray echoed, having been listening in. "And Laki? What are they doing here?"

"Master sent them on an assignment, they must have headed here once things began to spiral." Erza replied, earning a nod of agreement from Frea. "First, we'll catch up with Natsu and then meet with Gildarts and Laki- once we regroup we'll begin to search for Lucy."

Everyone nodded in agreement with the plan, as Frea and Gajeel continually lead the group up and toward the center and the top of the church, where Natsu and Coco seemed to be heading toward where Gildarts and Laki were- Frea guessed Natsu had caught Gildarts' scent at some point and decided to follow. But Gildarts and Laki were not alone, now they were with someone else- someone whose Energy Signature rather reminded Frea of Michelle's- of how inhuman it was. Frea growled under her breath and pushed on a little faster, she wasn't worried seeing as Gildarts was there, but none the less she wanted to get there as fast as she could.

"Gildarts? What's happening?" Warren suddenly said, hearing the voice of the S-Class Wizard in his head. Moon's eyes narrowed as she heard it too, as did everyone else besides Frea- who couldn't hear it at all.

She did however feel the shock flow from everyone in the next instant, and set a questioning look on them.

"Gildarts says the Arch-Bishop is being controlled by one of the Cardinals." Erza murmured, noticing the look Frea wore. "Natsu says his scent is the same as Zero's, the old Master for Oracion Seis..."

"But... He's not human..." Frea mumbled, almost to herself.

After running for a bit longer, they erupted into a large dark room filled with hundreds of candles, their glow warm against the dim. In the center of the room was a single bed with an elderly man sitting on the edge, muttering over and over to himself. Near there, was Natsu, Coco, Laki, Gildarts and Byro. they arrived just in time to see Gildarts throw a different man- the one who was inhuman in feeling and adorned the robes of a Church official, into a line of candles with so much force the floor shattered.

Natsu turned around as they came in, blinking in shock to see all of them, before nodding a little with a faint smile. "Hey guys!" He called to them as they walked toward them, looking about cautiously.

"'Hey guys' is all you have to say?" Gray muttered, "We've been looking for you everywhere!"

"Natsu!" Happy yelled, ramming right into his Partner at full speed, who caught him and gave him a squeeze with a smile.

"Natsu-San!" Romeo exclaimed, immediately running toward the Pinkette who blinked in shock to see Romeo there, before smiling a little and resting a hand on the boy's head, letting go of Happy for a moment.

"Hey, Romeo." He grinned. Romeo smiled back happily as Natsu's eyes moved to everyone else, "What took you so long?" Gajeel huffed along with Gray, as Elfman snapped back a snarky reply and Moon just rolled her eyes. Natsu's eyes landed on Frea and he blinked, noticing she was frowning at him a bit, but she looked away before he could say anything.

"Wendy," Laki got the girl's attention from where she was beside the Arch-Bishop, who had fallen into unconsciousness. Wendy headed over immediately, Carla and Warren on her heels, "Can you help him?"

"I'll do my best..."

"Are you alright? What happened?" Erza asked, looking between Gildarts and Natsu. Frea cast a wary look toward Byro, who looked back her way with narrowed eyes- clearly remembering her as the one who could get past his Nullification Magic. Her eyes moved over toward the downed man, the one who reminded her so much of Michelle, as she approached him slowly.

"... He was just telling us that Lucy was on board the ship..."

"Coco, are you alright?" Lily asked, heading up to the girl who looked back to him slowly. "Have you seen Samuel?"

"I'm Fine... and no... I think he was with Corbynn..." Coco replied lowly, earning a confused blink from Lily.

"Who?"

"... He must have been controlling the Arch-Bishop this entire time..."

Frea slowed to a halt, her eyes narrowed at the downed man until they were nothing but silver slits. She sweatdropped, something felt wrong... There was something they were missing here... Moon floated up next to her, easily able to see the serious expression come into the Energy Dragon Slayers face.

"Frea?" Moon asked.

"This man... He's not inherently human." Frea replied lowly, Moon stiffened. "Just like... Michelle..." Moon opened her mouth to reply, but was suddenly cut off when the man on the floor chuckled painfully and cracked an eye open to look at Frea.

"You... All... You're too late." He chuckled darkly, earning most everyone else's attention. Frea narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, frowning

"What do you mean?" She hissed lowly.

"... The Infinity Clock was originally sealed away by Celestial Mages. Only with a Celestial Spirit Mage can it be released." The man chuckled, "Its begun to consume Lucy already... You can't pull her out... And the only way to stop the Infinity Clock now, would be to kill the Celestial Mage."

The room went deadly silent, everyone letting the information sink in. Could that be true?

Frea stiffened, her eyes growing wide as it clicked in her head. Why she couldn't pick up Lucy's Energy Signature, why it as on the edge of her senses...

Lucy was being _consumed._

The Infinity Clock was swallowing her being whole. Just like Salengoreath had tried to consume Frea, and that was why she couldn't find the blonde. Her Energy was mingling with that of the Infinity Clock, making it nearly impossible to distinguish to two at the distance she was at. A sense of urgency suddenly hit her full force, they needed to move, they needed to try and save Lucy before she was consumed completely, she couldn't let he Blonde to through the pain of being consumed like that- she knew what it felt like, and it was nothing to wished on anyone.

Natsu growled. "Ain't no way we're doin' that! We'll save Lucy and destroy that Clock!" He said firmly, but the man just chuckled and suddenly all sense of Energy fell away from him- leaving behind a pile of sand. Frea recoiled slightly, eyes wide and mouth open a bit.

"Its... A Doll..." She murmured under her breath. Why it wasn't human, why... Why it hadn't felt Human was because it hadn't been...

Moon's eyes went wide when she realized it as well. That the reason Michelle didn't seem human, why she betrayed them...

_Michelle was a Doll!_

"There's nothing for it." Byro spoke up suddenly. "The Infinity Clock must be destroyed... Lucy Heartfilia must die." He moved to leave and Frea's anger suddenly flared in the same instant Natsu's erupted about him. Both Fire and Energy Dragon Slayer whipped about and set furious glares on the man, their Magic bursting up around them as their fists clenched at their sides.

"Don't you even dare!" Frea growled coldly, eyes flinty.

"There ain't no way in hell I'm gonna let you hurt Lucy!" Natsu snapped. Everyone else stepped up, their own anger flaring as they all set deadly glares on Byro, who didn't look any more deterred.

"The fate of the world is much more important than the life of one girl." Byro muttered,

"We'll find a way to save Lucy and destroy the Clock!" Happy yelled.

"There is no other way, don't you understand that?!" Byro shouted, his anger rising now too.

Gildarts stepped forward, his Magic began to rise and his dark glare set upon Byro steadily, he swept an arm out toward everyone behind him.

"All of you, go. Save Lucy. I'll deal with him." The S-Class Mage ordered, earning shocked expressions from most everyone else.

"But you can't use Magic against him." Happy said,

"Wouldn't it be a better idea to let Frea fight him?" Carla murmured,

"I have a rematch to settle with this guy." Gildarts murmured, he glanced back and met Frea's eyes. "I know you want a piece of him, but I figure you'll stay out of it, given circumstances." He said to her, and she blinked once.

She did respect his want for a rematch, because if it was her- she wouldn't want anyone getting in the way of a rematch with one of her enemies under any circumstance.

She nodded a little and Gildarts looked away. Byro growled,

"What makes you think I'll allow any of you to leave?" The man hissed.

"You'll be too busy dealing with me to try and stop them. We will save Lucy." Gildarts replied lowly, "Go!" He ordered of everyone else. They nodded and turned around, as Gildarts began his assault and he blocked Byro from trying to stop them from leaving- soon that fight had moved out of the Arch- Bishop's room, the church shaking with the blows each man lay on one another.

They split up into two separate groups, where Warren, Laki, Wendy, Romeo and Carla moved back into the ArchBishop's room to heal him once Gildarts and Byro moved from that area, as the rest of them moved up toward the Ship, as they arrived Coco, Lily and Happy broke off- explaining they were going to try and find Samuel and stop him from trying to kill Lucy.

Erza contacted the Guild to detail what they had learned and come up with a strategy as they made their way through the lower parts of the ship, where those who had stayed behind, including Chase, Aisha, Levy, Lisanna, Master, and the Archeological Society were.

The reply was that Oracion Seis had needed to carve their seals upon the face of the Infinity Clock, and that perhaps defeating the members and subsequently causing them to remove their seals would render the Infinity Clock useless. It was a valid plan, but defeating the whole of Oracion Seis was certainly not going to be easy

Frea and the rest of their group sprinted down the power quarters of he Infinity Clock ship, drawing farther and farther inside. Frea hissed under her breath, because even growing much closer to where Lucy was, Frea could feel that her Energy Signature fading as she was halfway consumed by that of the Infinity Clock- Lucy's Lifeforce was becoming weaker by the minute... She wouldn't last much longer at the rate things were progressing, they needed to hurry.

"There is nothing you can do. Lucy Heartfilia is nearly consumed, she is beyond your saving... It may be to late to attempt to kill her to stop all of this."

Everyone skidded to a halt as the voice bounced around the corridor, Frea hissed as she immediately recognized the voice, and the Energy Signature it belonged to. Beside her, Erza narrowed her eyes and Requiped a sword into her hand,

Cobra appeared atop one of the large cubes lining the edges of the corridor, arms crossed behind his back and expression neutral. Nastu growled, his anger flaring at the words.

"I don't give a damn what you think! We're saving Lucy!" He snapped back. Cobra let out a sigh,

"As ever, your voice is annoying, Salamander." He muttered. "And what is it you intend to do to save the Heartfilia girl? You don't honestly think you can beat me?"

"I do, and I will!" Natsu stepped up, fire erupting about him as Erza stepped up to.

"Its time I repaid you for what you did to us on the mountainside." Erza hissed, Cobra just glanced between the two and raised an eyebrow. He didn't look amused, in fact he just looked bored at the challenge.

"Even with the both of you, you don't stand a chance." He murmured. Gray and Elfman stepped up then, with Gajeel close behind.

"Then we'll work together to kick your ass!"

Frea blinked, sweatdropping a little. Among those in Oracion Seis, in terms of Power-Cobra was the strongest. That wasn't entirely surprising, he was a Dragon Slayer, and he had held his own against a Dragon during the GMG... She had seen how powerful he was first hand as well...

Her thoughts flashed back to Lucy, as she felt the blonde getting weaker. If their assumptions were right, defeating Oracion Seis would stop the Clock- but defeating them was the issue, and they couldn't do it in time to save Lucy if they all spent their time on Cobra.

"No." Frea murmured lowly, her eyes closing a minute. No one heard her and instead she stepped up, planting herself right between everyone as they faced Cobra, her eyes met the Poison Dragon Slayers and he noticeably stiffened. "No, you guys go." She ordered firmly, not facing her Guild Mates as she held Cobra's gaze.

"But Frea-" Natsu started to argue as most everyone else started to say something too. She shook her head and stepped away from them.

"Take down the other Members of Oracion Seis, Lucy isn't going to last if we don't hurry." Frea replied again, her voice firm and leaving no room for argument- she suddenly sounded like Erza did, _in command._

"What makes you think you'll be able to defeat me alone?" Cobra asked, "You couldn't before." Frea held his gaze a moment, and he narrowed his eyes in return.

"Frea," Erza murmured, Frea sighed silently, eyes closing a moment, finally breaking the stare she shared with Cobra.

"Lucy is getting weaker, I can sense her Energy Signature fading. The Infinity Clock is consuming her, and its doing so very fast. We need to save her, and right now- that means finding the other Oracion Seis Members and taking them down. We can't do that if we're all fighting one person." She felt everyone stiffen behind her at what she said, "Go, I will take care of Cobra." They hesitated a moment more, probably because they knew she was already hurt and low on Magic Power even using her Second Origin. And with that they weren't comfortable with leaving her to handle possibly Oracion Seis's strongest on her own.

"I'm not arguing with you on this." Frea muttered, her tone final. "Just _go."_

"As you wish..." Erza murmured, relenting though she didn't seem to want to. "Be careful."

They slowly took off, casting glances back at her as Cobra stayed where she was, sweatdropping a little. Moon stayed close by, not willing to leave the Energy Dragon Slayer alone. Natsu paused, looking back.

He didn't know what happened to Frea when she went with Aisha, but he did know she wasn't at full capacity, and against Cobra- that worried him. He remembered Frea coughing blood in the Underground Graveyard wen Cobra first appeared, he remembered how tired she was after that...

"You better kick his ass, Frea." Natsu called to her, Frea smirked slightly, glancing over her shoulder toward him.

"And you better save Lucy." She countered, her smirk widening a little. He blinked and she looked away, waving a hand at him from over her shoulder. "And you better not go getting yourself hurt either- I still have a bone to pick with you about getting caught in the first place." He sweatdropped, not quite sure what she meant...

"Just be careful, Natsu."

He nodded a little and turned away. "You got it." He promised, before running off after everyone else. Frea took notice that Moon hadn't moved and glanced sideways at her Exceed Partner, earning a determined stare in return and she silently sighed. Moon wouldn't leave even if she demanded it, so she decided not to say anything- Moon would have enough sense to stay clear of the fight, but remain close by none the less.

"So, Cobra." Frea murmured, her silver stare resting on him. "Do you still not want to fight me?"

He stiffened and narrowed his eyes at her, fists clenching at his sides as his gaze swept about her person. Even now he could see she was wounded and tired, but even then he felt her Magic bubbling under the surface at an unreal rate- slowly rising steadily as she stood before him, though she looked nothing but calm.

Of all the Fairy Tail members, _she_ was the one he didn't want to go up against. That small battle they had had in the underground tomb came to mind and his blood ran cold-

" _F-fucking... B.. Bastard.." His ears caught onto the sound of Frea muttering the words under her breath, she was slowly sitting up- her bleeding back to him as she winced at the pain._

_Then his eyes widened when he caught sight of something... Something like steam coming from her body suddenly, and the sound of sizzling reached his ears. And then he was hit with the feel of her Power rising, rising rapidly and erupting enough to make the air tremble, though no silver appeared around her. Her Power was tripling, and why he didn't quite know... But how...?_

_... How could she have so much Power all of the sudden? The Poison he hit her with should be forcing her into unconsciousness... It should be killing her, she shouldn't be able to use Magic let alone let it triple!_

_His eyes went wide as he froze, because the scratches he had carved into her back... Steam was coming from the wounds steadily, as they burned hot with white- her skin stitching back together on its own until nothing was left- even the blood was burned away as her Magic overflowed._

_"H-how... That's... Impossible..." He stammered, that couldn't be possible, had she healed herself? Even then, was she seriously able to do that? She couldn't be! No one but the Sky Maiden and that girl in Lamia Scale should be able to do that!_

_Frea got to her feet slowly, still not facing him as he stood in a shocked stupor, all the while- the pressure about her presence increased with the feel of her Magic getting larger...This Power radiating from her, it was nothing like he had ever felt... He couldn't match it, not at his own full power... And she was even being weakened by his poison!_

_Frea suddenly turned around and her Magic broke the surface, exploding about her in a flurry of silver spiraling all around and sending a wave of air out- catching rubble and sending it into his face._

_Such Power... It couldn't be possible, not when poisoned... Not... Never before had he seen this, it was quite impossible and yet, there she was. Right before him..._

_"What... Is she...?" He whispered._

_"Energy Dragon Slayer:" she hissed, not moving a muscle as her Magic began to move faster about her. "Earth Shock."_

_The ground was torn up in a flurry of immense power pouring from it and around it, shaking the ground all around and sending up large slabs of street and earth alike as her Magic made a beeline toward him. The Ground began to crack under his feet even before the whole attack made it to him._

The pain of his arm being shredded by getting her by that attack hit him. The amount of pure force he had even felt from her Roar earlier on in the fight... And what was even more.

He knew she had been the one to save her Guild when Angel collapsed the tomb in on them. He had heard and felt the Magic of her- this 'Energy Dragon Slayer' as they departed, as he was the last one to leave the tomb behind, he saw the flash of silver as the dome appeared to guard her Guild, to keep them from getting crushed, a shield she put up even though she was already weakened. He stood there out of the danger zone and watched from a distance as she attempted to save her Guild.

A shield that had been what he could consider normal in terms of Power. It hadn't been anything special, he knew with his poison in her system, and how exhausted she already was, she wouldn't have been able to keep that shield up for very long.

It was what happened after that sent a chill through him.

If he thought it impossible for her Magic to only triple whilst he was fighting against her, there were no words to describe what happened next...

_She suddenly exploded with an unbelievable amount of pure, cold, Power. Waves upon waves of it that washed over everything and shook the air itself, Power that hurtled into and through him in a sheer wave of force, one that made his heart skip a beat._

_Never before had he felt such concentrated, unbridled, untamed Power. Not from anything, not from Midnight, not from Nirvana, not from the Dragons even. She had suddenly reached a level unknown to anyone, and all in a moments time... Her Magic hadn't just tripled, it must have become ten times more potent then before, and even then it was probably more._

_It was so much the ruin, the rubble falling around, it all came to a halt. A complete standstill, as her Magic seeped into everything in the ruin, and caused it to stop moving, as suddenly her Magic controlled the entire space- and her dome around her Guild-Mates grew massive, sheer and ice-like- glowing in the dim, silver clashing with the shadows in the most spectacular way. Her Magic had begun to rise from the ground, manifesting itself in small specks dancing lazily upon the air, everything silent, everything still- and her Power continually radiating around in sheer waves that never faltered._

Even now he wasn't sure if he could believe that happened or not, how could anyone have so much Magic? It had to be impossible... And then, he remembered this was the same Mage who had caused two supposed Magic Anomalies.

How could he hope to defeat a Mage like that?

"You could always remove your seal from the Infinity Clock willingly." Frea broke into his thoughts, stare steely as ever and hardly having moved a muscle. "I wouldn't have to beat you to a pulp of you did." He stiffened at the threat, sweatdropping and glaring a little.

But who was he? He was Cobra, the Poison Dragon Slayer- and he never backed out of a fight. He never surrendered... Not even if he knew he was very outmatched. He took small solace in the idea, and the fact- that Frea could not access all of that Power he had felt from her consciously. She only ever seemed capable when she was pushed to the very limit, and she must have used up so much Power already- and besides. He could scent the blood lingering over her, and the faint, sharp tang of sickness.

"I will not give in easily." He growled, "Not even to you." Frea stared a minute, before she sighed a bit and clenched her fists,

"Have it your way then." She muttered lowly, her Magic rising up about her in soft waves. "Better get ready," she growled, a shadow passing over her face and he stiffened. "I'm not gonna go easy on you!" She couldn't, Lucy's life was at stake here!

She disappeared, just as she had the last time, she was suddenly moving so fast, his eyes and ears couldn't keep up- but this time he had been ready for it, and managed to block the kick she sent his way, growling at how much force was out into the attack as she rammed into his already injured arm- the arm she had torn to shreds. He sucked in a bit and she narrowed her eyes at the action, pushing away from him and flipping over in air, her own cheeks puffing up in accordance with his own.

"Poison Dragon-"  
"Energy Dragon-"

"Roar!"

Two enormous spinning tornadoes tore out across the space. One glowing silver and the other a dark purple color, as both attacks met head on and the corridor suddenly filled up with enough wind and force to slice straight through the cubes lining the space. Moon hissed as she was pushed backward in air, shielding her face with her paw from the wind and flying rubble- eyes wide, that much force in only two breath attacks... They were much stronger than any regular Roars she had seen from any Dragon Slayers, even Frea until now- and Cobra's was just as big, that just went to show he was no weak opponent either.

Both Roars suddenly canceled each other, making the air shake as Frea landed on her feet, her Magic rising again as she looked straight at Cobra with a deadly stare, spun with her arms out.

"Energy Dragon Wave Attack!"

Four very large waves of silver struck out through the air toward Cobra at terrifying speed, he jumped up to avoid them, hissing a little as they waves hit the corridor and caused it to start shaking a little. When he landed again Frea was suddenly behind him, her fingers curled and Magic rising off her fingertips like streams of steam.

"Energy Dragon Claws!" She snapped, Cobra moved away and hastily set off a wall of sound between them, hoping to catch Frea with the explosion. He sweatdropped, realizing she had just tried to do the same thing he had done to her- score her claws arose his back as he had done in the Underground Tomb...

He swept his arms out toward her, detonating seven different walls around her in an attempt to land a hit, the corridor shook with the pure power behind the explosions and dust rose up to block his view, his ears caught on to the sound of her wincing.

"Energy Lance Storm!"

His head snapped up to see at least twenty Magic Circles appear over head, where Energy Lances poured down through their toward him in a seconds time, he growled and dodged, striking his claws through a few to destroy the ones that would hit him- only to make them explode and he hit the ground, before rolling over and getting back to his feet.

The corridor suddenly flooded with a dark purple cloud, engulfing everything as Moon hissed and flew high enough to avoid the gas, eyes glittering with worry as she looked down into the corridor and the dark haze to try and spot Frea. Her silver glow had died out as soon as the poison appeared, and everything was still for a minute. When the poison reached all the way to the roof she held her breath and swept her paws up before her,

"Copy-Cat: Aerial."

Wind Magic enveloped her person, warding off the cloud as keeping the air inside of it pure. Why she had never thought this up before she wasn't sure, but it was effective.

"Frea..." Moon mumbled, sweatdropping. She wasn't sure how much new poison Frea could take,

Cobra stood still, eyes closed as he listened intently for any sound of movement, he even went as far to look for her heartbeat... Eventually hearing its rapid beat not far off, where he could hear her Magic spinning in a slow manner.

He opened his eyes and glanced the way he knew she was, fully aware that Poison Clouds took a long time to have any effect on her, so he upped the potency of this cloud considerably. If he wanted a real effect he would have to land a direct hit, and that was difficult.

It wasn't until the glow of silver pierced the dark created by the cloud did he realize that she was attacking him again, his head snapped downward to see part of a massive Magic Circle that just have engulfed the entire corridor spread out under his feet, and he felt her Magic rise up exponentially.

"Energy Trap!"

Everything shook with the unparalleled force that detonated under his feet, the walls cracked, the floor shattered, the air wavered as he was sent flying. A yell of pain tore past his throat and he felt not only Magic pummel him, but flying debris as well. The pure force of the Spell shook the ship all around,

Cobra hit the ground with a harsh thud, wincing and fangs grinding down on each other as he pushed himself up, all the while keeping his Poison Cloud going. Not willing to give her rest from the potent poison, his only hope to level the playing field even a little. He got to his feet and growled, swiping his arms out before him a hundreds of dark purple streams of poison shot out like thousands of needles, racing through the air on all sides as he hoped a few would meet their target- he needed to directly inject her with Poison, he couldn't rely on the cloud.

Frea heard the whistle of the magic needles spiraling out and hissed, crossing her arms before her and erecting a silver shield before her. Most of the needles failed to get past her defense, but her Magic faltered halfway through and a few made it through, sticking into her arms and body with a agonizing burst of pure pain, as he felt the poison seep into her body immediately. She was already feeling the poison, that was why her Magic was starting to fail... And now her vision blurred even more and her body grew weaker by the second.

"Damn it..." she hissed, she oh so hated poison... She freaking hated it!

And she couldn't stay in this cloud much longer. She was faintly aware of Moon somewhere up above her, using Aerial to keep the poison at bay- but even that wouldn't last long... This poison cloud needed to go away, and it wasn't possible to simply destroy it... She'd have to take Cobra down and she wouldn't do it quickly enough, not with how much poison he had put into her boy with the cloud and the needles together...

Her Magic was spiraling around her in attempt to ward off a much of the poison as was possible, but that was very little...

"That was a good hit you landed, I'll admit that." Cobra muttered, his voice echoing strangely. She shook her head to try and get rid of the fuzziness, "But my Poison is working faster than before.. How long do you think you can last with it in your system? I can hear it running through your blood, I can hear your heart beating in distress..."

Frea felt her legs begin to tremble with the effort of staying standing. Her body was igniting with fire, her muscles were starting to stop working properly... She was having a hard time focusing.

What had she done... When Senna poisoned her?

Cobra was on a higher level of power than Senna was, but even so... They both used Poison Magic... So what had she done then?

She'd been using Dragon Force at the time, and even that had started to fail when she had been poisoned...

"The more you move, the faster the poison courses trough you." Cobra went on, her eyes traced the dark to try and see him.

 _... Natsu._ She had eaten some of Natsu's fire then, to give her more strength... That always gave her a boost, more Power, eating something- Iron, Fire, Energy... Anything that she could eat... She needed that right now. She needed that extra boost, maybe then she could use a Secret Art- the same one she had used that day against Senna, and maybe she could get rid of the poison...

But even then... Would she have enough Magic Power to pull that off? She was low, she was hurt... And that was a very high level Spell. It was probably the most difficult and Complex of all the Secret Arts she had... Even if she did get a boost, she wasn't sure she could pull it off... So she'd just have to beat him.

But there wasn't anything to eat here, no Magic she could consume, no Energy... Nothing...

Her legs gave out and she fell to one knee, wheezing now.

_... There is Energy in everything._

That was Chaitanya's biggest lesson to her. Everything had Energy in some form, in some way... Magic was the biggest example. Every different type of Magic had an Energy all its own, and though it wasn't Energy in its purest form, the form she used... There was Energy there none the less. This is what made it possible for her to eat other Elements, all other Elements had Energy, Magic had Energy...

_Poison Magic is still Magic. And all Magic... Contains Energy..._

She closed her eyes. Was there any other choice? She couldn't ask Moon to send any sort of Magic her way, her Exceed Partner was enwrapped with keeping the poison away from her. She needed a boost, Second Origin wasn't amounting to much. Even anger wasn't giving her any more strength, like it usually did... She couldn't get angry enough to go into overdrive like she had in her first battle with Cobra, when her wounds had healed themselves and her Magic burned away the poison on its own accord, because she had just gotten so angry in that instant...

"I... Don't have... A choice... Then..." She mumbled, sweatdropping a little. The only thing was... Could her body handle it?

Cobra blinked, hearing her words from where she had begun to collapse within the cloud. He wished he could hear what as going through her head, like he could with everyone else... He could hear their thoughts and yet he couldn't hear hers.

She must know she was starting to lose. She must know that his poison was going to kill her. He had her backed against a wall, she couldn't get out of this... And yet something inside of him suddenly went very cold.

Around him, his Poison Cloud began to _move._

The cloud began to spiral away from him and toward where he knew Frea was, every last inch of it was suddenly being sucked away, and his eyes went wide, his body went still and all he could do was stare in utter shock, his jaw dropped.

"Is... She insane...?!" He hissed breathlessly, as Frea appeared before him and the cloud began to dissappear, all of it moving toward her as she leaned back, eyes closed and mouth open, fists clenched at her sides, as she suddenly stood up.

She was _eating_ his Poison!?

Her face was one of pain and disgust as she swallowed every last shred of it, and doubled over a bit, panting heavily and body trembling, a shadow falling over her face. Her breaths came in sharp gasps, as she coughed a little and blood began to drip past her fangs and down her chin, he stepped back.

"Wha... Why would you even.. Try such a thing?!" He stammered. "Its poison! Consuming it will kill you even faster!" She stiffened and winced, swaying as she threatened to fall over. "What are you thinking?!"

"Frea?!" Moon gasped, eyes wide. How could she do something so _stupid?!_

"... Everything... Everything is... Energy..." Her voice was harsh and raspy, barely anything more than a whisper. Cobra stared, sweatdropping heavily. How she was even still standing was unbelievable...

He stiffened when her fists clenched harder and she took a small step to the side, her foot slamming down on the destroyed tile so hard it _shattered_ , and she suddenly steadied herself.

"Magic is Energy. And Poison Magic is no different."

Her head snapped up so he could see her face, the shadow cast across her eyes, the silver stare seeming to glow as she bared her fangs at him, her expression one of pure determination that was borderline anger, as blood continued to drip from her mouth... But suddenly, all sign of weakness just vanished. He stepped back a little, jaw dropped.

"Poison is just another Element used in Magic- Magic all has Energy. I'm the Energy Dragon Slayer, I can eat whatever I like- Poison is no exception."

Her Magic exploded around her in a burst of unbridled, unmatched Power. The corridor was washed in blinding silver light, wind picked up from the force of it and rubble was thrown about from where she was, he had to shield his eyes from the glare and flying debris. His entire being grew very very cold, his heart seemed to stop as he looked upon her- as he felt the waves of mass strength and Power flow from her and straight through him, Power that hadn't been there seconds before...

Power she had gained by _eating_ his _Poison..._ As any other Dragon Slayer may be able to do, they could eat an Element not their own and possibly earn strength from it... But to eat Poison and gain power?

"That... That's impossible!" He stammered, eyes wide. "Eating my poison should _kill_ you, you shouldn't get stronger because of it!" He trembled a little, the Power she radiated ramming into him and making the blood in his veins run cold.

She caused two Anomalies... She lent power to every Mage fighting the Dragons in Crocus ... She healed herself before... She unleashed so much power she stopped a ruin from moving... She ate his poison and prospered for it...

"Wh... What is.. She...?" He stammered, this being the second time he had asked the question. She was no normal Mage, she was no normal Dragon Slayer... She was something completely different. She had too much power not to be... This was unnatural, _she_ was unnatural...

Four pillars of silver erupted around him, before stretching out to encase him entirely. He felt her Magic reverberating through his core inside the box and sweatdropped, too astounded to even react, but suddenly he knew he was in trouble.

"Energy Theft!" She snapped, he felt as if someone had driven their hand trough his core and ripped a part of himself out- his eyes grew wider to feel every ounce of his Poison Magic leave him. She... She could do that?!

She snapped her fingers and the box exploded, making the corridor shake more than it already was with the uncanny amount of Power Frea was giving off at the moment. His yell of pain tore out even above the booms, and he hit the ground, struggling to get back up... No more Poison to use, she'd somehow taken it all... Now he could only use Sound Magic...

Moon's eyes grew wide in utter shock, sweatdropping heavily as she struggled to stay level and fight against the intense wind Frea had stirred up. She couldn't believe the amount of Power coming from the Energy Dragon Slayer so suddenly... It was more than she could possibly dream of with the state Frea had already been in- and to gain that power by eating Poison? That was truly astounding...

Even for Frea to gain Power from an Element like _that_ shouldn't be possible, it should be killing her- and it probably would, she could see the blood dripping from her Partner's mouth... God knows what eating that much Poison was doing to her body!

"What you're doing doesn't make any damn sense, do you realize that Cobra?" Frea hissed lowly, as his head turned to see her, wincing harshly. She glowed with the light of her silver Magic spiraling around her in waves of power, fists clenched as she set on him a deadly glare, her knew found strength never wavered, never faltered...

"You spouted something about paying a debt to these people. But debts only go so far!" Her eyes sparkled with fury and he sweatdropped a little, suddenly afraid... _Afraid_.

"You sure as hell don't need to settle a debt that makes you do this! I thought you were going straight, and this is not going to help with that!"

"A debt is a debt!" He snapped back furiously, though his voice shook and cracked. "One I have to repay, no matter what!" Her eyes flashed and her Magic spiraled about her faster, the wind picked up more and her Magic just grew stronger.

"Not a debt that hurts people! Not one that requires you to do evil, to harm others, to destroy the fucking world!" She yelled furiously, her Magic rising exponentially in way of her anger, rising more and more. "What's the point of 'doing good' after this?! There won't be a world left to 'do good' in! _DUMBASS!"_

He suddenly went very still, because her words suddenly struck him- it wasn't just this unnatural power she had, not the anger... What she said, it made sense. Somewhere inside of him... He knew this was wrong. He had felt that way from the beginning... But...

He closed his eyes, fists clenching as he got to his feet.

"These people... They're my comrades." He hissed, Frea blinked. "Good or evil... These people are my friends... I will not abandon them."

"You stupid _idiot!"_ Frea snapped, suddenly jumping forward and appearing in front of him with too much speed to be humanly possible, a glowing silver beacon just in front of him, her fist swung out and caught him in the stomach- making his cough out in pain as her Magic tore at his clothes and skin, and he was sent hurtling backward, out of the ship and landing on one of the chains that connected it to the ground. His vision danced with black spots as she struggled to regain the air that had been knocked from him,

He sat up just in time to see the silver surrounding the Energy Dragon Slayer contrast with the dark sky outside. She came straight up to him and grabbed the front of his shirt, he winced and his eyes closed, waiting for another blow.

"If these people are truly your friends, it should be up to you to try and steer them from darkness!" She spat furiously, his eyes shot open in shock as he looked into her blazing silver gaze, her fangs bared at him, as blood still continued to drop from her mouth, some of the scarlet specks hitting his cheek.

"You _know_ this is wrong! You chose to make yourself better, you chose the light path- and yet you wouldn't even try to help you friends see it too?!" She snapped, "If you truly care for these people you would help them do the right thing! You wouldn't help them do this! You wouldn't watch as they traveled farther and farther into the dark! _Would you?!"_

"Its up to you as their friend, as their family- to help them find the light!"

Cobra stared, eyes wide as he met the gaze of the seething Dragon Slayer pinning him, the one blazing with pure Power, the one who had beaten him to a pulp... And the one who could kill him, and wasn't doing so...

Her words suddenly struck him in his core, because he heard the truth in them, he saw the reason... And he suddenly felt ashamed. She was _right,_ he had the chance to help his friends find a better path, and yet he had let them choose the wrong one...

... Was this what an Energy Dragon Slayer was? What she **really** was?

Someone with unbelievable power, strength? A Dragon Slayer that could eat other Elements, even Poison? Someone who could see things for what they really were, see what he was? And know exactly what had been done wrong? What he had done wrong? And that she seemed to know... Know how much he cared for the rest of Oracion Seis? So much so that she could see through him, and even get _through_ to him, what he should have been doing all along?

"You are not a bad person, Cobra." She hissed, taking him by utter surprise. "You are not evil, you are far from being truly evil. There is light inside of you- light I know your comrades have to, if you would just help them see it for themselves." Her hold on his shirt tightened a little, "No one is truly evil until they are allowed to go down the wrong path all the way, to a place they cannot pull them self out of any longer. You stopped yourself, and you can help your comrades to do the same, before they are entirely consumed by darkness." She growled a little, her eyes bearing into his and glittering with such... Such _truth._ She somehow knew just what she was saying, she meant every word, there was such wisdom in those silver eyes of hers...

"That is what friends- what family- is for. Each of you keep the other from falling into shadow, you keep each other safe, and help one another to find the right way. That is what you need to do for your Comrades, and that is what I intend to do for my Family." Her gaze hardened again, "They mean everything to me, and I cannot allow any single one of them to fall away into darkness, not Lucy, not anyone. I would protect them with my life, and I will continue to do so as long as I live." His eyes only continued to grow wider as she set him with a piercing stare, "Remove your Seal, Cobra. I don't want to hurt you anymore than I already have, you still need to help your own friends... And try to find the light again."

_The Light?_

For a very long time, he could do nothing but continue to look at her in utter silence. Every single word she said was racing through his mind, reaching his very core, making him... Making him _believe._

And at the moment, the very light he could see, the one she was talking about... _That light was her._

Frea... The Energy Dragon Slayer... By some odd chain of events, _she_ was the light he had been reaching for. The one fighting off the darkness, the one bringing him back... The one that had made him see reason, the one that had gotten him to understand...

... He truly believed everything she said, he knew it to be true in his own heart, and the pure honesty and emotion her eyes... That was all he needed.

Frea was just as determined to protect those she cared about as he was, and that he respected... He respected _her_ , something he need thought he would do of anyone.

He nodded slightly, removing his Seal from the clock momentarily. Frea nodded once and leaned away, knowing he had done as she asked and standing up- finally letting her Magic fade from sight, though invisible waves of force could still be felt radiating from her.

Moon remained motionless from where she was floating just outside the hole Frea had created in the ship, eyes fixed to the two as she listened to what was said, sweatdropping.

That was something about Frea she never understood. How could anyone see into people's very beings like that? How could Frea possibly know what Cobra was really like? And now could she even begin to get him to understand what she was saying to him, to get him to do as she wished, to convince, to _move_ him like that?

That ability to move people in such a way was one of the things that made Frea so very special, not just her strength and power... It was just.. _Her._

"Thank you, Cobra." Frea murmured lowly, expression suddenly neutral. His eyes widened to hear her away the words, he'd never been thanked by anyone like that before... And in her voice he could hear she meant it.

"... The Infinity Clock won't be destroyed before Lucy is consumed, not with Midnight and Imitatia still with their Seals upon it." Cobra murmured, deciding he wanted to warn her. "... I don't think I could convince them to stop at this point either, not in time..."

Frea's eyes rest upon him a moment, before she closed them and took in a breath- before she broke off to cough, blood dripping from her mouth faster and she stepped back a little.

Cobra stiffened, and Moon flew up to her immediately. "Frea!" Moon murmured quickly, eyes glittering in worry. Frea shook her head when she ceased coughing and wiped the blood from her chin, casting a glance at Moon, smiling slightly.

"... Its... Fine... I'll... Be ok..." She murmured, though not convincingly. Moon's ears flattened against her head and she glanced at Cobra,

"Can you take your poison back?" She asked of him quickly, he blinked, glancing between Frea and her cat for a minute.

"... No." Frea answered for him, shaking her head. "Its not that simple... I just need... To burn it off." Her eyes glanced down to where they were standing,

"Burn it off?" Moon echoed, she wasn't thrilled with the answer. Cobra sat up, eyes narrowed.

"That is what you did before?" He asked. "When I poisoned you the first time. You burned most of my poison away with your Magic?" Frea nodded,

"How do you do that?" Moon asked,

"By expending mass amounts of Power all at once." Frea replied softly, "But you were right, Cobra... Lucy isn't going to last much longer... The Clock is consuming her too fast..." Moon suddenly flinched and so did Cobra, both of them wincing as if they heard something really loud- which they had.

"Natsu says he's nearly beaten Midnight..." Moon murmured, reiterating what she heard telepathically. "Erza and Gray have defeated Angel, and they are trying to take down... Michelle too. They want more time..."

"There is no more time." Cobra murmured lowly, Frea's eyes closed. Her attention moved away from the unbelievable amount of pain coursing through her being- the Poison she had eaten was tearing her body apart, and the Power she had gained from it was keeping her together as best as was possible.

Her focus moved down toward the chains they stood upon, she knew Real Nightmare was seeping into everything through use of these Chains... And as Real Nightmare grew more potent, the Infinity Clock grew stronger and Lucy was consumed more...

But what if Real Nightmare was slowed down?

"These chains." Frea murmured, opening her eyes and looking down. "They're poisoning the Land with Real Nightmare. And that is fueling the Clock." She sweatdropped, "... If we destroy these Chains, it should slow the Clock down." Moon and Cobra stared.

"If that's true, Lucy would have more time." Moon murmured, earning a nod from Frea. She paused a minute as Gildarts' voice popped into her head,

" _That's excellent. My money's that Frea's right."_ Gildarts said, earning agreement from everyone else tuning in.

_"We have to destroy as many of those chains as possible!"_

_"Natsu, you better hurry up! We'll give you as much time as we can!"_

_"Got it!"_

Moon nodded at Frea, who nodded once and suddenly turned her attention on Cobra- just as flashes of Magic rose up all around the Ship as the Chains began to be broken one by one.

"I have a favor to ask, Cobra." She said suddenly, he stiffened, blinking a few times.

"Yes...?"

"Help us destroy these Chains." Frea murmured, he stiffened in shock. "If you're serious about finding the light, then this is the right thing to do." She murmured and he paused, before nodding. She held a hand out for him and pulled him to his feet, a small, faint smile on her lips. Moon smiled a little too, as he glanced away uncertainly. He wasn't sure if he was comfortable with the sudden attitude she was holding toward him... but even then, some part of him appreciated it.

"I will do what I can." He promised and Frea nodded,

"That will be plenty." She murmured, stepping back and looking at Moon, "Give me a lift?" Moon blinked, but nodded once and took Frea up- flying as high as she was told to go.

This would be the perfect chance to expend as much Magic Energy as she needed in order to burn off as much of the poison in her system as she could. Her body was literally in overdrive, the amount of Power she had been granted was stifling and it was all ready to burst at the seams, and as of the moment, that sudden unprecedented amount of Magic was the only thing keeping her from falling into unconsciousness from all the poison she had eaten.

"Drop me." Frea told Moon, who blinked in shock.

"What?!" She snapped, and Frea sighed.

"Trust me Moon, it'll be fine..." She mumbled. Silver began to rise up around her and Moon hesitated a moment, Frea glanced up at her and smirked. "Aww, come on. You do trust me don't you?" She asked and Moon huffed, her fur starting to go on end when she felt Frea's Magic rise.

"... I would of you didn't act like such a fool all the time." She muttered hotheadedly, but sighed. "I'll catch you then..." She let her go, and Frea's Magic exploded as soon as she did. She lit up like a beacon against the backdrop of the cloud covered sky, as she flipped in air and narrowed her eyes, swinging her arms down as her magic seemed to expand even more.

"Dragon Slayer Secret Art: LightStream Ark!"

The massive arc of silver cut through the air at an unbelievable speed, shredding straight through hundreds of chains in a single blow, the barren rocky land under the ship being torn up for miles before the attack ended. Several of the members working on the Chains in other sections stopped to see what happened, eyes wide and sweatdropping.

Frea swept her arms out in the opposite direction, dozens of wave sit silver racing through the air individually as she cut straight through thirty more chains. There was a flash of Cobra's Magic not far off as ten more chains fell.

Moon swooped down and caught Frea easily, who was panting a little as more blood dripped from her mouth, "Frea?" She asked, setting the Energy Dragon Slayer down gently, eyes wide and worried. Frea gave her a reassuring smile,

No, she wasn't ok. She was worse then she was before, eating Poison was not the best idea in all hindsight- but she wasn't really worried about it either. She figured it wasn't going to be so hard to come back from- she had just used a Secret Art, and if she did that another time, and kept using her Magic- it would burn away most of the Poison on its own, simply because she was using so much Magic at such a high rate all at once.

"Its ok... That wasn't actually... So hard... Surprisingly..." She chuckled a little, wincing in the process and sighing. "You know.. I think a weeks worth of sleep would be great after all of this is over and done, don't you?" Moon blinked, before she shook her head and sighed, smiling slightly.

"That sounds perfect."

* * *

 

Lucy destroyed the Clock, surprisingly. The blonde had managed to take control of the entire thing before she as completely consumed and destroyed it all on her own... She had done this after Natsu, Elfman, and Romeo had taken down Midnight together, after nearly every chain had been destroyed in effort by Fairy Tail and Cobra, and long after Frea had used up every ounce of Magic she had managed to gain in her fight against the Poison Dragon Slayer.

Frea sat on the ground, eyes to the sky as the clouds disappeared and let forth the night above them- hundreds upon hundreds of glittering bits of the ship cascading down like an array of stars. In her lap was Moon, watching it as she was with Gildarts, Gajeel, Lily, Romeo, Warren, Laki and Ichiya, who had come back after taking care of the octopus, he was fine- as had been expected, as they stood around her, all of them fixed to what was above.

Nastu had gone off to try and find Lucy, or rather- to catch her before she could hit the ground, his nose trained to her scent and steps never faltering as he ran to save her. Everyone else in Fairy Tail were farther up from where Frea was.

Natsu would catch her in time, they were all sure of that... Frea closed her eyes and took in a low, painful breath.

It was over, Real Nightmare and its Energy about the air and he Land was fading fast... Oracion Seis had taken off, and Cobra leading them. She smiled slightly, hoping her words would help him do the right thing from here on out... She knew he would find the light, and he would help his comrades to do the same.

Legion had departed too, the Church was in disarray and it would take time before everything fell back into place again- at this point the Magic Council had stepped in and taken care of most of the panic inside of Zentopia.

She sighed again and stifled the wince, her blood had ceased to drip from her mouth by now, but every move was painful, every breath... And she was more exhausted than she could ever remembering being. Her stomach was flipping and even now, there was still some Poison inside of her, but she couldn't care. Everything was over, everyone was safe... And no one had gotten seriously hurt...

Everything as calm again, and so was she... And she was very ready to sleep for a week too.

Her attention landed on the distant figure of Natsu jumping into the air and catching Lucy, ending with the blonde on top of him and he smashed into the ground. They smiled at it, as Natsu grinned up at Lucy who smiled back with tears in her eyes.

Frea brought a hand up to let it drop on Romeo's head from where he was just next to her. She had her told of how Romeo stepped between Michelle and Lucy to protect the blonde, and how hard he fought too. She figured their small little lesson had helped him continue past the point he usually stopped at,

His head snapped around toward her to see she was smiling at him, and he blinked a few times. "You did good Romeo. You fought well." He blushed at the praise and Moon chuckled under her breath at the boys embarrassment, while everyone around them smiled too.

"Now, how about we all go home?"


	38. S-Class Job!

**Chapter 38**

**S-Class Job!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

"Frea?"

Natsu murmured, blinking a few times and shuffling slightly as he stood before the silent Energy Dragon Slayer, where she was sitting on a rock behind the guild, one that wasn't far from cliff that fell away into the ocean. The moon was settled in the height of the sky above them, the Guild filled with everyone as they settled down after the events that had transpired, the Infinity Clock stopped, chaos prevented... everyone safe and starting to heal. He'd be in there right now, but Frea had hooked an arm around his neck and dragged him out the back doors, not really giving an explanation, and not saying anything actually- until they were out here and she took a seat down on that rock,

He was confused, it wasn't often Frea was so silent, and he sweatdropped a little. She looked like shit, with so much blood, the wounds.... The scent of sickness and poison hanging over her made his stomach clench. He hated seeing her so beat up and exhausted, he always had, and right now was no different.

"Look Natsu..... I just wanted to say... sorry." Frea mumbled, letting out a heavy sigh as he blinked in shock.

"Huh?"

"..... About Michelle and you and Lucy getting caught," She elaborated, glancing away and leaning back, her arms propped on the rock behind her. "... I could tell she wasn't who she said she was... I had a feeling she wasn't telling the truth... Now I know what I felt was the fact she was a doll, but even then.... I should have warned you, or have even been ready for something to go wrong." She sighed again and shook her head, "Damn it..... I hate it when shit like this happens... it sucks..."

".... Why are you apologizing?" He asked, earning a blink from Frea, and a quirked eyebrow. "So what if you figured something was wrong? Everything turned out alright, everyone's ok, that Clock's been dealt with. You did so much, Lucy wouldn't have lasted as long as she did if you hadn't beat Cobra, or destroyed as much of those chains as you did." He smiled slightly, "Hell, none of us would have made it out of that crypt if it hadn't been for you. Don't go apologizing, when you have nothing to apologize for."

Frea simply looked at him a few moments, silent and expression neutral. He sounded just like Master..... she smiled a little, nodding slightly. She appreciated what he said, and honestly... it just felt better to apologize, even if Natsu and Master alike didn't think she needed to....

"Alright Natsu, I suppose I believe you..." She chuckled slightly and he blinked, but smiled anyway. ".... How do you feel anyway?"

"I should be asking _you_ that." He countered, his tone still pretty light, but suddenly a little worried and serious. "You look like crap, ya know." She rolled her eyes a little,

"Thank you for that, Captain Obvious." She muttered, shaking her head. "I'm fine... or at least, I will be after I sleep awhile, maybe a week." He smirked and she flicked her head at him, "How's the hand?" He paused, blinking a few times in confusion, as she just smiled at him, her silver eyes glinting a bit in amusement.

His hand? It was fine, why would she even be asking? It didn't make any....

His eyes went wide when the memory came rushing back, of when he punched the gate to the Underground Crypt, when his Magic had been nullified and he hurt his hand. He remembered the warmth that flooded into his hand as Frea took it and how she simply smiled as she pulled away, his hand didn't hurt anymore, there was no pain... nothing. It was healed.... He never knew Frea could do that...

Frea's smile grew wider when she saw it click in his head, and she nodded slightly. "How did you.... Since when.... Why didn't I know?!"

"There's a lot you don't know about me, Natsu." She smiled, "But since I know you'll never stop asking... I'll give you the simple version, alright?"

* * *

 

Frea lay on her back on her favorite bench near the back of the guild, arms crossed behind her back as she smiled- listening contently to the laughter and conversation floating about the air of the Guild Hall. A week and a half since the Infinity Clock incident, and Fairy Tail still proved how easily it could bounce back even now.

Everything had settled down, everyone was healed, no more wounds, and every shred of tension and negativity was gone, nonexistent...

Moon was curled up on her stomach, ears twitching at the noise of the Guild and smiling to herself- the both of them completely content with simply listening, and enjoying the peace.

Getting over eating Cobra's Poison had been easy, as surprising as it sounds. She found that just sleeping it off was the best remedy, and her Magic had come back rather fast too... She wouldn't be surprised if she had become even more resistant to Poison in light of this small adventure, with how much of it she'd eaten and had running through her blood. Every wound from Corbynn had been dealt with too, with a little help from Wendy of course.

Speaking of Corbynn, the remainder of Legion had showed up at the Guild not two days before, the little brat included-

* * *

 

_Frea's nose twitched at the scent of a group of familiar people making their way toward the Guild, her eyes narrowed as she sensed their Energy Signatures growing closer. She wasn't the only to notice the approach of the group either, because in that next moment, Gajeel, Natsu an Chase had all grown wary. She shared a glance with the three and got to her feet,_

_"Frea?" Levy mumbled, noticing the movement of the now very serious looking Energy Dragon Slayer. Moon's ears twitched, eyes narrowed as she recognized the look on her Partner's face- and she cast her own Magic out, immediately recognizing the mind of someone who had managed to piss her off several times before now._

_"Legion is here." Moon muttered, sprouting wings and following Frea toward the door, Gajeel, Chase and Natsu doing the same. levy's eyes went wide,_

_"Legion?"_

_"What would they be doing here?!"_

_"Don't tell me they're here for a fight!"_

_Lily floated toward the door too, following Gajeel closely, as the doors of the hall opened with a push from Natsu, the figures of Mary Hughes, Coco, Byro, Samuel, Corbynn, Sugarboy and Dan Straight approached the Guild doors._

_"What are you guys doin' here?" Natsu called out, fists clenched at his sides as the group of Legion paused in the small courtyard just before the Guild inside the walls surrounding it. Fairy Tail clustered around behind them, all eyes narrowed and wary._

_"Please calm yourselves.." Samuel murmured, lighting glinting off his glasses a minute, sighing slightly. "We aren't here to cause trouble... we came to amend things, apologize for what happened, if you'll hear it."_

_"Apologize?" Lucy murmured._

_"Yes," Coco mumbled, "We are very sorry for all the trouble we caused, we realize now that what we were doing was wrong... we hope you can forgive us for our mistake..." Lucy exchanged a glance with Natsu, while everyone else did the same, all of them trying to decide whether or not they should trust the unexpected apology._

_"It was always Legion's purpose to protect the innocent, to promote peace and enforce the Doctrine of our church." Byro spoke up suddenly, grim-faced as ever. "We strayed from our purpose, and now we have been cast out as a result... we wish to work to amend what was done wrong, to right our sins."_

_"It totally wasn't cool what we did..." Mary mumbled,_

_"We're sorry for it," Dan mumbled, "A true warrior lives up to his mistakes."_

_"We're gonna live straight, from now on... Thank you very much~" Sugarboy hummed,_

_"I hope that you can forgive me, Nii-san." Samuel murmured with a look at Lily, who crossed his paws over his chest._

_Frea's eyes landed on the small figure of Corbynn, who stood beside Dan, hands clasped together and shuffling nervously, eyes trained to the ground. She wasn't the only one looking at the kid, Aisha's own purple gaze was set on him- both of them muffling their annoyance with the brat._

_Natsu smiled a little, "Well, at least you said sorry!" He smirked, earning a shocked look from all of them. "Might as well let bygones be bygones! Now, who wants to brawl?!" The Guild shook their heads, smiling a little though, that was just how Natsu was._

_"Wait... you're just gonna forgive us so easily?" Mary murmured, shocked like the rest of Legion was._

_"Yeah, why not?" Natsu grinned. Frea smiled slightly, standing still as Fairy Tail moved past her and started to break up, taking up conversations and talking with Legion, very much at ease withe the people who had been their enemies not long ago._

_Moon followed the other three Fairy Tail Exceeds over toward Samuel, who nodded at them as they approached. "I am sorry for everything," he murmured again, Carla shook her head with a smile and Happy just grinned._

_"Don't worry about it!" Happy replied,_

_"Living up to your mistakes is the right thing to do." Lily murmured,_

_"No use holding grudges." Carla murmured, Samuel nodded to each, before his eyes rest on Moon who just stared at him, he blinked, shuffling a little nervously._

_"...Miss Moon...? He murmured and Moon shook her head, sighing._

_"Relax... I'm still a little miffed about the Bookshelf, though." She muttered and he glanced away, sweatdropping. "But i get it... I just wanna have a head to head match with you some time," he glanced back up to see she was smirking at him. "See who's got the other beat in smarts, deal?" He blinked once, Carla, Happy and Lily smiled a little, before Sammy smiled to._

_"That sounds like an interesting Challenge, I'd be honored to compete with you, Miss Moon..."_

_"... Hey... Miss Anomaly..."_

_Frea glanced behind her when she heard the voice, spotting Corbynn standing there, his eyes glancing between her and the ground nervously. She turned to him, arms crossed over her chest, waiting. Chase and Aisha walked up beside her, Aisha glowering at the boy and Chase glancing between the two woman in confusion._

_"Yeah kid?" She murmured and he sweatdropped._

_"...sorry... you know... for trying... to kill you and everything..." he mumbled, earning a shocked look from Chase, and still a glare from Aisha. "... sorry to you too... Moony..." He mumbled, casting Aisha a glance._

_"Damn right you better be sorry!" Frea snapped, her hand coming down on the boy's head quickly, he hissed and held his head in his hands, Chase winced slightly, sweatdropping._

_"I should kill you for your shit, you little brat.." Aisha hissed, face dark and tone dangerous, Crobynn shrunk back and Chase sweatdropped, looking nervous._

_"Aisha..." The Energy Mage warned quietly,_

_"... I'm sorry..." Corbynn mumbled and Frea shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest and sighing._

_"Yeah... I know... I'm just still a bit miffed." She murmured, earning a blink from the boy. "You have a lot of power you know?" She said and he looked away, "You remind me of myself when i was younger," Frea murmured and his eyes snapped up in shock. Frea just settled him with a steady look, "Do something good with all that Power, ok kid? You could do so much good being as strong as you are,"_

_Chase and Aisha glanced at Frea a moment, eyes narrowed. Corbynn just stared, not sure what to say in response, and quite shocked at what she said... that he reminded her of herself? ... and to do something better, with all his power...?_

_He nodded slowly, looking determined. "Yeah... you got it." Frea smirked faintly and nodded back,_

_"Good."_

_"Wait a minute Frea, are you saying this little kid's the one that beat you to a pulp?!" Natsu jumped in just then, Gajeel beside him, both of them looking astonished, "You two Aisha?!" He earned a dark glare from the MoonLight Mage but dint seem to notice, "He's just a kid!"_

_"How did this little shrimp manage to take the both of you down?" Gajeel huffed._

_"Shut Up!" Aisha and Frea snapped at once, both of their faces dark, expressions furious and eyes glinting- looking much more dangerous than they had two seconds before. Gajeel and Natsu shrank back, eyes wide. Chase shook his head a little,_

_"Idiots..."_

* * *

 

She smiled a little more at the thought, before pushing it away, allowing her own body to relax at the feel of happiness and joy floating about the air. She loved it when everyone was so at ease... It made her feel better... And yet...

There was something nagging at her, something at the back of her mind, something she had felt for a very long time now, something she had been wanted about by Jynx, even since before her surprise S-Class Exam.

There was something dark and foreboding festering, something she could feel tugging at the back of her mind, an ever growing weight of foreboding...

Something was coming, something big was going to happen, and the thought worried her. After the Eclipse Gate, the Balance Shift, Nvindorr and the infinity Clock- all looking major catastrophes, and yet there was something else coming? Something somewhere deep inside of her, she knew was going to be so much worse than what they had faced so far?

Would Fairy Tail be able to withstand anything worse than they already had...?

She sweatdropped slightly, it was enough to worry her... And it was worse that she could tell Jynx was concerned with it to, otherwise she wouldn't have been wanted the several times she had been...

_But... What is it...?_

She sighed a little, for once she wished Jynx was around... She wanted to ask questions, see what it was the ghost knew, because all instinct said that Jynx knew more than she ever let on. She kept secrets, more secrets then Frea ever had... And Master Makarov seemed wary of the ghost girl too, and he had known her when she was still alive.

_For what reason would he be so wary?_

_Who the hell is Jynx really?_

* * *

 

_No... No... Damn, everything looks too easy..._

Frea huffed a little and sighed, hands on her hips and looking over the Request Board with Moon beside her. Everyone of the jobs looked so simple... Bandits here, Vulcan there... A Wyvern... Nothing exciting, nothing that was going to present a challenge.

"These jobs are too easy..." She mumbled sadly, leaning back with yet another sigh. "Isn't there ever anything good?"

Moon smiled a little, "There's plenty of good things here," she corrected. Frea blinked and glanced her way, "But there's nothing challenging enough for someone as strong as _you_." Frea smiled a little at the fact that Moon knew her so well.

"True." She murmured.

"You know Frea, if none of these suit your fancy, you could take a look at the S-Class Jobs available."

Frea and Moon turned to see Mira standing behind them with a small smile of amusement. "Did you forget you can take those missions on now that you're S-Class?" Mira asked and Frea smiled nervously, sweatdropping.

"Honestly, yes..." She murmured. Moon shook her head a little with a small sigh, Mira nodded as if she had guessed as much.

"Thought so." Mira smiled and produced a piece of paper adorning a large red 'S' stamp on it. "Here, I think you'll like this one." Frea took it and looked it over as Moon hovered over her shoulder.

After a quick read over she blinked, and them smiled a little- looking excited, Moon just shrugged a little and smiled as well.

"This one looks perfect." Frea smirked, Mira nodded.

"I'll let Master know you're taking it when he gets back." Mira murmured, "Will it just be the two of you going?"

Frea folded the paper up and slipped it in her pocket, she looked to Mira and shook her head.

"Add one other person to tag along."

* * *

 

"Hey, kid!" Frea called, standing on the railing of a bridge overlooking the water that ran through town, balancing perfectly but not going without the call from a few guys in a boat telling her to be careful.

Chase came to a stop, blinking in confusion at first, before turning around to see who was yelling at him.

He saw Frea outlined in the light of the dying sun behind her as the day wore to an end, he had been walking toward his apartment after a day of training... He scowled a little, suddenly realizing she had called him a kid _again._

"Not a kid, Teach!" He snapped back but as usual, Frea ignored the reaction and just smirked. He sighed, beginning to walk along the road toward the bridge, noticing her bag on her shoulder and another in her hand, with Moon floating behind her, carrying her own bag.

"What's up?" He asked, coming to a halt at the end of the road where it hit the bridge, Frea walked along the railing toward him, promptly tossing the bag in her hand toward him so he could catch it, then placing her hands on her hips.

He blinked at it, before turning a confused look on Frea. "What the hell is this for, Teach?"

"You're coming with us." She said simply, be stared. "We're going on a big Job, and its been awhile since it was just the three of us." She tilted her head a little, smiling a bit more. "And, our Magic is gonna be perfect for this job." She added as an after thought.

"Now?" He murmured. "I'm not packed..." He trailed off when he thought to the bag she had thrown at him, and couldn't help but smile. "You broke into my apartment, didn't you?"

"Yep." Frea chuckled, Moon shook her head.

"She wouldn't wait for you to get back." The Exceed explained with a shrug of her shoulders. Chase chuckled a little and threw the bag over his back,

"Alright then, where are we headed?"

* * *

 

"Master," Mira called attention to her of the Old Man who she had found sitting at his desk within his office. Master glanced up from the papers he had been observing- which were no doubt of some damage claim from the Council regarding the events of the week prior with all the mess involving the Infinity Clock and whatnot.

"Hmm?"

Mira walked forward and placed the copy of the job she had given Frea upon his desk, he blinked at it. "Frea took the job, Chase and Moon went with her."

"... I didn't think anyone was going to take this one on." He murmured after a moment, looking surprised. "Let alone Frea..." He paused and glanced to Mira with a raised eyebrow. "Did she actually read it completely?"

The smile Mira gave him was all the answer he needed and he sighed with a small shake of his head.

"She'll be in for a bit of a surprise then..."

* * *

 

"We're heading out toward a town named Hilshine." Frea explained as they headed away toward the rain station. "From what the flier said, they're experiencing problems with odd incidents outside and around their borders- they were minor reports of strange people camping out in the forest around them and that those people were doing something to the land, because all their plants are either dying or getting sick."

"Doesn't sound like much of an S-Class mission then." Chase murmured, blinking at the small nod Frea gave him.

"True, but we don't know what we're going to find either. These people hanging around Hilshine could be dangerous, and it sounds like they're up to something big too. Big enough to poison the Land." She smirked. "At any rate, this one sounds like its gonna be a challenge."

Chase glanced toward Moon and she sighed a little, they both knew Frea loved a challenge but to them it seemed as of she hadn't really thought into this job.

"What was the reward?" He asked on the basis of just knowing,

"30 million Jewell." Frea replied evenly,

Chase almost tripped, he looked toward her in the utmost of shock. " _What?_ " He stammered, making sure he had heard her right. 30 million Jewel was the same amount the Guild had won in the Grand Magic Games!

"30 million Jewell." She said again with a small glance his way. "It is an S-Class job after all." She said in a rather matter-of-fact tone,

"Didn't the S-Class mission Natsu stole only pay 7 million?" Chase asked, remembering the story from when he had heard others in the Guild talk about it,

"Yes." Was the reply and Moon's jaw dropped a little.

"Wait, I thought that mission was extremely dangerous?" She asked now, "That even _Erza_ had a hard time with it!"

Frea nodded a little, "Well, it was hard... But it was more Everyone other than Erza who had found it difficult from what I understand." She told them and smirked.

"Makes you wonder how hard this Job's gonna be."

* * *

 

The train ran over the tracks steadily as it continued on long after the sun had fallen and Magnolia had fallen silent behind them. Frea placed her hand in her chin and looked out the window beside her, eyes half-way open and silent.

Moon was curled up on the seat beside her, her head resting on the cover of the book she had brought along, but had quit reading a bit ago. The book had been about runes or something from what she had glimpsed of it earlier.

Frea let her eyes close a moment, her excitement had calmed down a bit since that morning- though she was still looking forward to what they would be facing.

"Teach," her eyes opened at the voice and she looked toward Chase, her chin leaving her hand as she blinked at him. She hadn't noticed he was awake, figuring he had fallen asleep like Moon- she had sensed how tired he was when she found him near the bridge in Magnolia, even the soreness in his arms floated in the air toward her when he moved.

For a small moment, she wondered what he had been doing all day before they had headed off together. She already had an idea as to what it was, but she shook the thought off. It didn't matter now, and she didn't particularly care either.

He looked to her in the dark of the train, arms crossed over his chest and blue eyes glinting in the dim, sitting in the chair across from her.

"Yeah?" She murmured, softly so Moon didn't wake up.

"What makes you think our Magic is going to be 'perfect' for this Job?" She blinked again, simply staring for a moment. In all honesty, she was surprised at the question... Because honestly? She didn't even know, it was just a feeling.

When Mira had handed her the job, she skimmed through it and something about it just hit her. It wasn't anything in particular that had popped out at her, but there was a pull- a pull she didn't understand.

"Hmm..." She hummed and smiled at him. "Don't know actually, but... I just have a feeling about it. I mean, when is our Magic not good for going up against anything?" She chuckled and little and Chase sighed. He could name a few things their Magic wasn't good for going up against, such as the Eclipse Gate for example, but he didn't answer her question.

"A feeling?" He murmured. "You know, things always turn crazy when you have a 'feeling'."

"Really?" She asked in slight surprise, never really thinking about it before. Chase gave her a flat stare,

How confused she looked... Like she really was surprised at the words. _How could she not know?_ That all those times she had felt something was off, even just a little- that something bad had _always_ happened? She sensed things before they happened, and she didn't even say what she felt half the time, but he could see it.

He felt how tense she was, he saw how deep into thought she would get, how she reacted to things as they happened... How could she oblivious to something about herself?

His eyes widened, perhaps she didn't realize it because she wasn't really the type to worry over things she didn't think were important. She was more the act now, 'wing-it' type of person. Frea hardly made a plan in advance to anything, she came up with everything under pressure and on the spot- she didn't worry about why something happened when it did, she just _rolled_ with it.

He shook his head and smirked, "Forget it Teach." He murmured.

It didn't matter if Frea noticed this '6th sense' she had, others noticed it and that was all that counted- because everyone who really knew Frea had learned to act on these 'feelings' of hers without asking questions.

And at least- he knew to look out for just about anything that could happen on this job.

"Hey kid," Frea murmured after they had fallen into silence for a few moments, his eyes traveled back up to meet her silver ones, and he blinked in question.

"Yeah?"

"Have you seen Jynx lately?" She murmured lowly, "At all? I haven't seen nor felt her presence in the Guild Hall... since Nvindorr." She suddenly realized it had been _that long_ , since she had seen the ghost girl. She had all but disappeared and for what? She hadn't a clue and it was nagging at her constantly, there in the back of her mind...

Chase blinked, noticing the serious look on his Old Mentor's face and blinking in slight confusion at it. He had faintly seen it, but lately, Frea had been rather wary of Jynx and any mention of the ghost. She looked just about as thrilled as Master did whenever Jynx showed up anymore, and now she was suddenly interested in where the ghost was?

He would admit it was a little odd to have Jynx gone for such a long period of time, two months was the most time she had spent away from Fairy Tail thus far, he had noticed her absence, but thought nothing of it.... But now that Frea was bringing it up, why would Jynx be staying away as long as she was? Especially right after what happened in Nvindorr, one would think she would be hovering around the Guild more often, and yet she was doing the opposite.

"No, I haven't." He admitted, Frea's eyes fell away from him as she glanced out the window, sweatdropping slightly. "Why do you ask? I'll admit it's a bit odd she's been gone so long..."

"... Another feeling I have." Frea murmured quietly, "Jynx is keeping secrets... lots of secrets..... I just have a bad feeling is all...."

_A Bad feeling._

* * *

 

**A/N**

**ALLLLRIGHTTT!**

**READ THIS: Nothing bad, just I got to thinking and I HAVE to ask, so take a moment to think about it, write your answer or answers in a review if it so fancies you- here we are;**

**What is your OTP regarding one of my OCs? And another question, Who do you ship my OC's with? Frea? Chase? Moon? Any of them really! Do you ship one of them with another OC? Or with a Cannon Character? (Do you ship any of them at all?) I asked this of my readers on FanFiction.net and figured I might as well as you guys here!  
**

**I'm just curious really, I got to thinking and I'd like to hear your thoughts on the matter- so as I said, please answer in a review if you possibly can and have the time! ^^ Thank you!**


	39. Hilshine.... Isn't Shining

**Chapter 39**

**Hilshine.... Isn't Shining**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

**.:+:.  
**

"Well, we are definitely a ways out here." Moon murmured, her eyes sweeping over the grassy landscape and rolling hills stretching out around them for endless miles. There was a shimmer of water from a clear lake behind them- where they had come from after traveling several hours from dawn till disk, since arriving at a train station a long ways back two days ago.

It was the third morning since they had left Magnolia, and before them lay what looked like a great, huge, burned scar in the heart of everything else that was green.

There weren't any settlements for hundreds of miles around, yet had crossed into this outer part of Fiore that had been named "ShineLand" - apparently for the way the sun seemed to dance off the miles of grass and make it shimmer an emerald unlike any other.

And emerald, that was slowly turning brown as a shadow crept over the land from the direction of the blackened immensity of the forest in front of them.

And that- that was where Hilshine was.

Frea paused a moment, her nose wrinkled a little as the slight breeze brought with it the scent of death and decay, and even from this relatively far distance she could feel a dark Energy hanging about the place. It was strange, it felt like Magic and yet it was a Magic that felt almost... Natural? The hell?

From the look on Chase's face, he could feel that Energy too and he didn't like it.

"Well, better head off." Frea murmured, continuing in their walking from where they had paused to look upon the black before them. Chase and Moon followed slowly, "No telling what we're going to find here. I can't even tell what this Energy is..."

Chase blinked, "You feel it all the way out here?" He asked in surprise and Frea paused,

"Can't you?" She asked, glancing back at him.

"Not real well, no." He answered truthfully. "We're a long way away from that part of the land, how can you even feel it?" He knew she wasn't using 'Energy Sense', so she must be feeling the Energy with only her regular senses- and they usually didn't reach that far.

Frea closed her eyes, because now that he mentioned it... She had been able to cast her senses out very far without using 'Energy Sense' to strengthen them recently. She hadn't noticed it before now, but her range had increased, but when? And why? She hadn't been working at it, there was no reason for her senses to have strengthened...

"I suppose... My regular sense for Energy just increased..." She murmured, opening her eyes again and looking ahead. "I hadn't realized it before.. But I have been able to reach out farther and farther without using Energy Sense recently." She shrugged slightly. "Weird." She muttered.

Chase raised an eyebrow at the answer, wondering why such a thing would have happened, and especially without Frea noticing it herself.

His eyes narrowed as one reason came to mind, and the memory of wild Magic spilling from the cliff-face in Nvindorr interrupted his thoughts. The feel of such a powerful and unpredictable Magic, he had only felt it a moment before he was thrown into unconsciousness. But he remembered the immensity of it, and he faintly remembered how ancient it had felt... How odd it was, a sort of Magic he had never felt before.

No one had ever thought into what might have happened to Frea besides getting hurt and almost dying when that Magic tried to consume her completely. He doubted whatever it had done to the Energy Dragon Slayer was as simple as they all perceived it to be. With a Magic as strange and powerful as that one... Could perhaps being in contact with it affected Frea's Magic in a way? To the point where her regular senses of the world and the Energy around her had been heightened to a point as to allow Frea to sense the Energy at the great distance they were from it? He couldn't feel that Energy based upon just trying to pick it out now, the only way he could is if he used a Spell to cast his senses out farther.

He didn't say these thoughts aloud though. It seemed impossible. And yet he had the feeling...

Both Chase and Frea tensed, this time they both felt the faint presence of Human Energy Signatures coming toward them. There were enough to be at least two dozen individual people, and they were all faint, all... wispy almost and unclear. They didn't have Magic about them, so they weren't Wizards but who were they?

They couldn't see anyone in the open fields before them, though they did cast their gazes about in an attempt to. Moon's ears perked as a gentle breeze began to blow over them and she swore she heard the faint sounds of whistling voices upon the wind, she shivered at it.

They were quite like the voices she had caught onto back in Nvindorr, and just the same- she couldn't make out what was being said. She glanced to Frea to see if the Energy Dragon Slayer could hear those same voices as she could, but Frea didn't seem to be listening for anything, and neither did Chase. Both Energy Mages were sweeping their gazes over the grass as of they felt something there.

And then in an instant, the voices died, and those Energy Signatures Chase and Frea were catching on to faded entirely. Frea's eyes narrowed at the sight of the black scar in the land, thinking for a moment she had caught a small shimmer of light but it was gone immediately.

"They vanished..." Chase murmured, blinking in confusion and Frea nodded. "How could they just disappear like that...?"

"Who?" Moon murmured, not sure what the two of them had caught on to.

"I don't know." Frea murmured in answer to both Moon's question as Chase's as well. First this feel of odd Magic she could sense hanging about Hilshine, and now Energy Signatures of ordinary people that vanished? "This isn't right..." She mumbled, eyes falling closed.

Something was wrong here, something she didn't understand... And she suddenly figured there was a very good reason this job had been labeled S-Class.

"Come on." She murmured, her eyes opening to look straight ahead. Their walking had slowed and she picked up the pace. "Keep an eye out, and your senses sharp. We need to reach Hilshine and start asking questions... Something strange is at work here, we need to be careful."

* * *

This place was deserted.

Frea glanced around her at the small town with narrowed eyes, the three of them having paused beside a fountain that had long since gone dry and was made to resemble a great stone tree. Every house was dark, silent.

The walls crumbled and cracked, and everywhere, everything was covered in thin, dark ivy that didn't seem natural. There were flowerbeds outside houses that only housed rotted stalks and shoots, and the gras that had grown in certain areas was brittle and black.

Underneath the rot and the crumbling, this village had on e been beautiful. It was ornately decorated, houses had once been finely made, all in all at one point- the village had looked prosperous, even rich. But all of that was gone now, and they were left with a shadow of what it had once been.

Coming farther into the black mark upon Hilshine, the sense of an odd Magic strengthened, they could feel it wavering in the very air. It held a force all its own and the feel of if hitting against their skin gently made them tense, it didn't feel right, and yet it didn't feel completely unnatural either...

But then there was also the incessant waves of emotion coming from all around, the feel of fear, of pain, of sadness and confusion. Frea closed her eyes a moment, trying to block of her newly heightened senses so she felt everything at the most minimal rate she could- though trying to that didn't help much and she sweatdropped.

Chase blocked his senses almost completely off, and glanced toward Frea a moment. He could only imagine what all of this Energy and Emotion would do to her, especially being in the middle of it... For a moment, he had to wonder if this is what it had felt like to Frea, when she entered Jogenen- his home- for the very first time. The thought made his heart ache, so many bad memories were surrounding that place, and at the time Frea had come, there must have been so much Negative Energy around... She couldn't have been able to bear it...

"Where are all the people?" Moon murmured, glancing from side to side as she floated in front of the slowly moving Energy Mages behind her. She blinked in confusion, because she could easily feel the minds of several people all around but she couldn't spot anyone.

"They're here." Frea murmured lowly, "But they're scared... They must not know who we are."

"Or," Chase murmured, his eyes trained ahead as he blinked in utter shock at something Frea and Moon had yet to notice. "They're hiding from them." His hand swept up toward the street ahead, where only now they could hear the sounds of crashing, and Frea picked out the Energy Signatures of several people, and four- four Energy Signatures she knew from somewhere...

Her silver eyes widened in utter shock, and for a moment the feel of all the Energy around her was lost. Now why in the hell..?

"Why are they here?" She asked, Chase shrugged, looking just as confused as she did. Moon blinked, not sure who they were speaking of, before she decided to cast her own senses out and searched for anything familiar- and then her jaw dropped slightly too.

"What?" She murmured, not sure what else to say, before all three of them ran forward in the direction of the sounds of fighting.

They rounded a corner, both Chase and Frea's Magic beginning to blaze as they caught sight of what awaited them down the next street. It was filled to the brim with strange-looking men all wearing robes that depicted a symbol they had never seen before, and they were all surrounding the four figures in the middle- to of those figures who were constantly throwing Magic every which way in an attempt to break through the horde surrounding them but with no luck.

Frea was the first to jump in, and she leaped up over the heads of the first dozen robed men near her, her arms raising above her head and blazing with cold silver light.

"Energy Dragon Wave Attack!" She snapped, her arms swinging down in succession of ten huge waves of her Magic that easily blew away the men underneath her and she landed neatly.

"Energy Arrows!" Chase muttered, his arms swinging forward as a flurry of light blue streams of Magic shot out toward the crowd, downing every man hit, and knocking others out with a successive boom as the arrows exploded on contact.

Moon didn't waste any time on making sure Frea and Chase were alright, and instead swiftly flew over the heads of the men and toward the center where the two Energy Mage's were most assuredly trying to carve a path to.

The head of a certain pale red Exceed snapped up toward her as she drew near, and he looked to her in utter shock. "Ms. Moon?" Lector called, causing Frosch to look over as well. Frosch held a paw and smiled at the new arrival warmly,

"Fro thinks so too!"

Moon floated beside the two, who sprouted wings to meet her mid-air. "What are you guys doing here?" She asked,

"We came on a Job Request." Lector murmured, Moon blinked in surprise. "Why are you here...?" He peered past her to see Frea and Chase jumping into action and his eyes went wide. "... Is that Ms. Frea?"

"We came on a Job Request too," Moon murmured and Lector's eyes moved back to her in surprise.

"It can't be the same one, can it?" He asked and Moon sighed,

"I don't know..." She replied honestly.

Frea broke away from Chase as she swept her fist forward and knocked the nearest robed Mage away, sending him cat asking into his comrades with so much force that they were blown through and sent sprawling.

"Rogue!" She snapped, finding herself nearest to the Shadow Dragon Slayer than she was to anyone else. The sound of her voice literally made him jump, and he whipped around to see the person he hadn't ever been expecting here and now. He sweatdropped, perhaps the idea of her threatening Sting at the GMG came to mind, because he looked tense and she could feel that tenseness coming off him.

"M-Ms. Frea..?" He stammered and she stopped beside him, blinking a few times at how he had addressed her, but ignored it for now. "W-what are you doing here...?"

For a moment, the robed men surrounding them backed off and she glanced to him, "Relax," she murmured, smiling slightly, realizing she had snapped his name in more of a harsh tone than she would have liked. "I didn't mean to snap at you, I'm just surprised to see you and Sting here." She told him and he nodded a little,

"I wasn't expecting to see you either.." He admitted, managing to shake off some of his tenseness. "But why are you here? And who are you with...?" His eyes trailed away to see Moon beside Lector and Frosch, and then he caught sight of Chase as the Energy Mage stood before a line of robed men that had all backed off significantly, light blue Energy Magic swirled about Chase's feet as he looked to them with a cold stare.

"Ms. Moon and...?" Rogue murmured, pausing once he realized he had never quite gotten the name of Frea's other companion. He looked to Frea for an answer and she blinked, smiling slightly.

"Ah... You two have never met have you?" She chuckled and he shook his head. "That's Chase." She explained.

"And he uses Energy Magic?" Rogue murmured, "The same as your Element?" Frea nodded,

"Yes," she smirked and Rogue blinked. "And he and I are the only two in the world who use Energy Magic at all. Chase came to the Guild when he was younger and asked me to teach him Magic, he was a natural." Frea smiled and Rogue blinked in utter shock.

For some reason, the idea of Frea having taught and mentored anyone was... Shocking to him, Frea was... Well...

... She was a Mage with incredible power. A Mage who could take him out easily, if she were angry enough- and she had already proved she could get angry quickly. How could she have had the patience to teach someone Magic? Now he knew nothing of how hard learning Energy Magic may be, but he figured it wasn't easy... Frea did say that she and Chase were the only two people in the world who used Energy Magic at all...

But he didn't quite know her very well in any way.

"Watch it!" She snapped him from his thoughts, grabbing on to his shirt and pulling him toward her- just in time as the sword of an enemy swung past his back. Rogue tripped and his chest hit Frea's on accident.

His face turned bright red, very flustered and uncomfortable with the close contact with someone he didn't know... At all!

"I.. I... " he stammered, and Frea let go of his shirt. She didn't seem to notice how flustered the Shadow Dragon Slayer was, her eyes fixed on the man who had swung the sword. She stepped past Rogue- who let out a relieved sigh once they were apart again, and she fixed a deadly glare on the man- a man who looked back at her from under the shadow of the hood he was wearing, sword at his side.

"Who are you people?" Frea growled, her Magic swirling about her person in soft waves, "Why are you here? What are you after?"

The man stood his ground as Frea walked toward him, he alone had attacked while his comrades stood back, their will to fight suddenly gone as they simply observed.

 _"The same thing I was always after."_ The man replied in a monotone, hollow voice. Frea stiffened, no one sounded so emotionless... So suddenly...This didn't feel right, none of this felt right... She stopped walking,

"What..?" She murmured, and then she saw the mouth of the man break into a twisted smile, and in that one moment- she felt a surge of raw Power, something unknown to her, something foreign, something dark... She sweatdropped, eyes growing wide as she felt her blood run cold.

... She... She didn't like the feel of this Power, it felt wrong, it felt... Dangerous... It was so wrong... It...

 _"Its always the same thing... Always the same problem... Always the same..."_ That power increased exponentially from the man, it reached out over everything, it engulfed everything and her eyes went wider than ever as she saw it- a great, dark mass radiating from him. Power unlike any other. Dark power, evil Power... Power that rammed into her, that moved through her, shook her being...The sounds of the fight around her faded, the sight of the men, her companions, the SaberTooth Mages- all of their Energy Signatures, they were all gone. They were lost from her senses, there was nothing but this man, this Power.

 _"... Shouldn't you know?"_ The man asked and the shadow of his hood faded, and she saw dark, cold eyes glittering sickly grey. Eyes glittering with want, with evil intent... And then she recognized the voice, her heart seemed to stop, she felt a chill fall over her. This was the voice... The voice that had found its way inside her head, the voice that had forced her to open the Gate in Nvindorr... The voice of what or who had taken control of her! The one that had almost killed her and everyone else!

_**"...Malunafrey?"** _

Her heart seemed to stop in that moment, that name again.... That voice, that power.... This was the same thing that had forced her to open the Gate holding back Salengoreath, the Thing that had forced her into nearly killing herself, her friends.... The world.... and then the Power disappeared completely and everything came back, the world around her came back into view, noise, all of it, and still she could only stand where she had been, trying to get her increased heart-rate to stop, trying to calm down. For however still she felt in those few moments... Feeling that, seeing that and hearing that... It had such an unwanted effect on her... An effect she hadn't expected... could this be... Could this be what she felt so little of...

Could this be...?

 _... fear...?  
_  
The small army of men suddenly moved off, disappearing away from the town without a sound, without a trace of them being there other than the anger of those who had been fighting. Sting followed the men as far as he could before they were gone, disappearing as if they were smoke, all the while the White Dragon Slayer yelling insults and angry comments. The Exceeds let out sighs of relief that the threat was gone for now, and Rogue stood very still. His eyes were glued to Frea, who was standing before him, breathing in short, frantic breaths as her usually firm figure... _Trembled_ slightly, almost imperceptibly... He had seen her shake before, out of anger during the GMG... But this... _This wasn't anger..._

Frea slowly fell, falling to her knees then to sit on her heels and leaning over with her hands on the ground, head hanging and trying very hard to breath normally, eyes closed, shaking her head a few times. Rogue stiffened, before quickly forgetting his earlier awkwardness he felt about her and stopping beside her, eyes wide.

"Ms. Frea?!" He murmured, crouching beside her and staring, not sure what happened and not sure what to do. How could anyone who had been so strong, so composed just seconds before... Suddenly look so shaken now?

Moon flew over instantly, and Chase was beside them too- he looked just as stressed and tense as Frea did, though he was seemingly handling it better than the Energy Dragon Slayer was. He had felt that immense power so suddenly, felt the waves of pure immeasurable power ramming into him, but he hadn't seen what Frea had, and he definitely hadn't heard anything and yet he found himself trembling slightly, at how much pure, sheer power that had been. Chase cast a glance at Rogue, wondering how he hadn't felt anything being so close as he was...

"Frea? What's wrong?" Moon asked quickly, Frosch and Lector landed beside the she-cat and Sting walked over- looking quite confused.

Frea shook her head a little, "N-nothing..." She murmured slowly, "I... I just felt an extremely large Power... And it got to me... Pretty badly..." Frea took a deep breath and straightened out, adjusting to sit cross-legged and rubbing the back of her neck, her shakiness ceased. She rest her hands on top of her head, sweatdropping, but looking much more composed now, seeming to quickly get over (or rather hide) her sudden sense of panic.

"Large power..?" Everyone besides Chase echoed, and Frea nodded.

"I felt it too." Chase murmured, letting out a small sigh. "It was... Massive, huge..... very dark...evil..."

"Why didn't we feel it, if it was as big as you say?" Lector asked and Chase paused,

"No clue." He murmured, looking unsure. "Its possible... It was hidden from Mages like you, Teach and I are much more sensitive to changes in Energy and Magic. Maybe you'd need to be just as sensitive to feel it..." They all blinked in slight shock, sweatdropping a little because that seemed _odd._ If it was some sort of power that was large enough, and apparently evil enough, to do that to _Frea?_ How could they not have felt it under any circumstance?

"I agree with the kid," Frea murmured, waving a hand at them, eyes closed. "... It's not any sort of Magic or Power I'm familiar with..... its not something that can be detected easily... or even at all..." Sting and Rogue exchanged a glance, before Sting looked at Chase.

"....Why are you here?" Sting asked slowly, casting anxious glances down at Frea uncertainly, but he decided to change the subject a moment and address why the Fairy Tail Mages had shown up at all.

"I could ask the same of you," Chase replied, "What reason would SaberTooth have to be out here?"

Sting paused, looking Chase over a moment and sweatdropping, it was the same question he had after all. "... We're on a job. All of us, what about you... Uh..?"

"Chase," the Energy Mage replied, fully aware that none of the SaberTooth Mages would know his name. He did blink in surprise at the words though, "We're on a job too..."

"We were wondering if it might be the same job?" Lector spoke up, and Sting glanced to the Exceed a moment, thinking it over.

"That would be weird... Maybe there was a mix-up?" Sting suggested.

Frea remained where she was, not moving, hardly saying anything- she was barely even paying any attention, she was too focused on bringing her nerves down, though she had managed to get ahold of herself enough not to show it on the outside. She hated this feeling... She loathed it, and she wanted nothing more than for it to stop. But that voice... That power... She couldn't mistake it, she couldn't be wrong...

 _But why would That be here...? What is it... And what is it after ...?_ She doubted it was anything good...

Rogue stayed close to Frea, not really sure what to do and not quite understanding what had happened. One moment she had been ready to fight, and then the next... She collapsed, she was frozen... He was worried, as odd as it seemed. He hardly knew her, and yet he owed her, in a way- for the help she gave him along with every Wizard back in Crocus when they had been fighting the Dragons. He sort of figured the Energy Dragon Slayer was rough on the outside and a little scary... But she must be a nice and compassionate person once you got to know her, and he was much the same way in a few aspects.

".. Chase... Moon..." Frea murmured lowly, catching everyone's attention, but specifically who she had named- Chase's head snapped down in shock, Frea never called him anything other than _Kid_. Her arms fell from the top of her head, and Moon blinked up at her as the Energy Dragon Slayer let out a sigh. "... That Power, there was a voice... It was the same one from Nvindorr..." She murmured quietly, immediately the other Fairy Tail Wizards tensed considerably, eyes wide and sweatdropping.

"... What...?" Moon murmured, barely believing she had heard it. And even then, Frea had _never_ mentioned any voice... Not that she had brought up the Nvindorr incident very much at all.

"Tch..." Chase hissed, sweatdropping. "... That means whatever went after you before, is what's behind all of the things going on here..." He rubbed the back of his neck and closed his eyes. "That means things are getting crazy again..." His eyes opened to trail toward Frea and he took in a silent breath, with this- that meant everyone was in danger, and most of all Frea was in danger. "...Damn it..."

_Just a Feeling, huh Teach..?_

This Thing- whatever it was- it could _control_ her, it had hurt her before, it had almost _killed_ her before. Hell, they didn't know what it was, and they certainly didn't know what it was after either, but was it worth the risk of going against something like this? They didn't know what it could do exactly, for all they knew- it could control more people than just Frea and probably much more. That much pure, unbridled Power he had felt was nothing he had ever come across before, and certainly nothing he thought possible. How could anything have that much power?

"Voice...?" The SaberTooth Mages murmured, very confused and unaware of what the Fairy Tail Mages were talking about. Chase blinked and sighed,

"Its... A long story..." He murmured,

"Something went after... Ms. Frea..?" Sting murmured slowly and Chase nodded,

"Yes, and we don't know what it was either. No one saw it."

"What happened exactly?" Sting pressed, Lector nodded in a way to say he wanted to know too. Not that they had much right to know, it wasn't their business, and yet they couldn't help but be curious. As it stood at the moment, they were probably already in the middle of all that.

"I was controlled by something not long ago, and whatever it was forced me to open a sealed tomb that held something very powerful... Something that... _Could_ potentially destroy the world if released, and kill everyone from what I understand." Frea suddenly spoke up, eyes narrowed as she stared ahead at the space the man had been standing. Her sudden interruption earned the attention of everyone else, the SaberTooth Mages stared in shock

"... destroy the world...?!"

"Wha...?!"

Frea didn't pause at their gasps of shock, instead she sighed. "Yes, I know... sounds crazy... but hell, my life is crazy like that..." She muttered lowly, shaking her head and continuing, "I opened it... And then closed it back up once whatever controlled me, let go." Sting and Lector blinked with wide eyes, finding it very hard to believe someone like Frea could be controlled by anything- or that even such a Power could exist and be released. Rogue and Frosch glanced back and forth between all three Fairy Tail Mages, trying to understand what was just said- could that even be possible? They figured it probably was, Frea didn't seem the type to lie, and she had aready shown she could do the impossible... why would it be odd to think she was involved in something crazy?

"Was anyone hurt?" Sting asked almost immediately and Chase sweatdropped,

"Just Frea..." The Energy Mage replied lowly, and it was the answer that shocked them the most. For them, Frea was a person of extreme power, and although it was true they had seen her considerably injured after fighting the Dragons, they figured it would take nothing less than a Dragon to ever injure her seriously again.

With that in mind, they had to think that whatever Power she released, it must have been exponential....

Moon looked up at Frea silently, her eyes narrowed and sweatdropping as Frea remained sitting, hands in her lap and eyes closed. The Energy Dragon Slayer seemed to be moving in and out of listening to anything said, and it worried her that that the very same thing that had put Frea out of commission for two months was back and at it again.

 _We need to be careful... We can't afford to slip up... Not with Frea in danger like this again..._ Moon narrowed her eyes a bit more, but what could this thing possibly be after?

"I'm fine." Frea murmured, her eyes opening to glance at each and everyone in turn. She seemed to sense what they were thinking, and she definitely felt the tenseness and worry floating about so suddenly at what was being said. She sighed, "... If that Thing, whatever it is, is really here then, we need to be careful." She looked at Moon and Chase, "But we're still going to finish this job, even with the new surprise." Chase and Moon blinked, then nodded in unison. "It looks like there was a mix-up in the distribution of this job," Frea went on talking to the SaberTooth Mages now. "It was sent to both Guilds... If you plan to continue with the job, you can, I'm not gonna stop you. But if you do then we'll be working together." She said and they blinked, sweatdropping slightly. "Is that an issue?"

Sting rubbed the back of his neck and sighed, "Not at all, I don't mind."

"Me either!" Lector agreed,

"Nor do I." Rogue murmured and Frea glanced to him, he was still crouching beside her and his poker-face had come back by now.

"Fro thinks so too!" Was the last reply and Frea nodded,

"Well alright then." She smiled slightly.

"Ms. Frea?" Sting said and Frea's attention turned toward him, "if you don't mind my asking... But, do you really not have any idea what this 'thing' is that came after you before?" Frea blinked and Sting sighed a little, looking nervous. "I know it really isn't any of my business..."

"Its fine." Frea cut him off and he stopped talking. "No, I really don't have a clue.... I couldn't even sense its presence, or ward it off, it's unlike anything I've ever come across before. But maybe we'll be able to figure out some things as we complete this job." She shrugged and Sting nodded slightly,

"Are you sure you're alright?" Moon murmured lowly and Frea nodded, placing a hand on Moon's head in a comforting gesture.

"Yes, I'm sure." Frea's lips parted into a toothy grin, "It just caught me off guard, that's all. You know how sensitive I am to that sort of thing." Moon nodded, but silently she felt there was a bit more to the story of what happened in Nvindorr than Frea had shared with anyone. Clearly, since any mention of a voice in that forest had never come up before now- she'd have to press Frea about it, even though she was sure Frea wouldn't want to answer. If things were starting up again, they deserved to know.

Chase held a hand out to pull Frea to her feet and she took it, standing up and rolling her shoulders. "Ah, and Sting." She said suddenly, gaining the blonde's attention in an instant as the man looked to her with a quirked eyebrow.

"Uh.. Yes?"

Sting hadn't time to react to the punch Frea threw at him, her fist slammed into his jaw and sent him skidding backward with a painful grunt, Frea simply came to a halt and let her fist unclench, she hadn't bothered to use her Magic on him, he was silently thankful for it. Sting skidded to a halt and rubbed his cheek, everyone else jumped at the action, the other SaberTooth Members looked mortified for a moment.

"That was payback for what you said at the GMG." Frea murmured simply, "I'm not very angry at you now, but I needed to give you a little something none-the-less." She smirked and Sting sweatdropped, not angry she had hit him, just surprised. The three other SaberTooth members sweatdropped a bit more, clearly remembering that Frea had promised to pay the entire _whole_ of SaberTooth back for what happened at the GMG. They were suddenly a little glad that Frea seemed only concerned with getting Sting back for the mess now, they couldn't say the thought of Frea going after them was pleasing in the slightest.....

"Got it..." Sting murmured, rubbing his cheek a little, and Frea chuckled a little. "... sorry about all that."

"It's not really a big deal, don't worry about it. I should probably be apologizing for hitting a Guild Master." She said with a teasing tone, Sting blinked in surprise and sweatdropped,

".... That doesn't really matter, Miss Frea..." He mumbled and Frea rolled her eyes,

"I'm just teasing you, dumbass." She chuckled and he blushed in embarrassment, Chase, Moon, Lector and Rogue all smiled in amusement- the sudden tension fading nearly all the way. Frea was good at lightening the mood, and that was what she was after... though internally? She was much less happy go lucky... much less.

She shook her head with a grin and tilted her head back toward the town. "So, how about we see what's going on?"


	40. Fairies and Tigers and Darkness Oh My!

**Chapter 40**

**Fairies and Tigers and Darkness Oh My!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

"Oh dear..." The man who proclaimed himself the Mayor of Hilshine murmured nervously as he stood before the assembled Mages of Fairy Tail and SaberTooth in uncertainty, the mass of his townspeople peering from behind him, having come out once the strange men were gone and dealt with- for now.

"It seems odd that the same Request would be sent to both Guilds." Frea told him, "Usually, each Job is only sent to one Guild in particular, to avoid two Guilds taking the same one." Everyone was assembled behind her nodded, while Moon sat on her shoulder and blinked around them.

The Mayor rubbed his hands together and sweatdropped, a man walked up behind the mayor, much taller than him- seeing as how the mayor was a very, very short, round man. "Oh dear.. Oh dear..." He mumbled, looking toward the taller suddenly. "Reginald, is it perhaps possible, that we may have accidentally sent the same Request to both SaberTooth and Fairy Tail?" He asked of the other who produced a heavy book from under his arm as he scanned through it quickly,

"How embarrassing..." Reginald mumbled after a moment, sweatdropping at what he was reading and looking toward the Mayor sheepishly. "It would seem a Request was indeed sent to both Guilds, sir..." The mayor turned to the Mages with a look of utmost apology.

"Then it would seem we are at fault for this mix-up, I am deeply sorry for any inconvenience." The mayor addressed them humbly, "As it seems both your Guilds put the effort and time forward to travel here and complete this Job, I will double the reward in compensation for such a mix-up. It should not have happened and I apologize."

Everyone's jaws dropped beside Frea, who simply blinked in shock at the words and looked the Mayor over a moment. To double the reward would make it 60 million Jewel, that was no small sum of money and it seemed a little... Over the top to double the reward like that.

Usually the pay of a job was based on how hard and dangerous what was asked of a Wizard was expected to be. Though in this instance it seemed the reward was being doubled to compensate for the mistake of sending the same Request to two different Guilds, it was still excessive in all rights.

"What?!"

"You really don't need to double the reward," Frea told the Mayor and the man shook his head.

"Its no problem, really. It was our mistake that the Request was sent to two different Guilds, and it wouldn't be right to make both SaberTooth and Fairy Tail split the original pay." The mayor returned and Frea blinked, "Besides, it is a real honor that Fiore's top two Guilds agreed to help us. It is the least we can do." It was no problem...? How much money did this town even have?

"If you're sure...?" Frea mumbled, the others stared in shocked silence.

_60 Million Jewel!_

The Mayor nodded, and Frea sighed a little. "... Lets just talk about it once the job is done, alright?" Frea suggested. 60 Million Jewel was too much, and though she didn't seem as shocked as everyone else, she wasn't entirely comfortable with making this town pay that much money, not even with the possible damages that may be done when it was over. The mayor blinked and sighed,

"As you wish... We will talk about pay when this over then." He relented and Frea nodded with a small smile. "I would like to explain something," the Mayor added in and Frea nodded. "The information given on the Request wasn't entirely accurate. I'm afraid the information we sent out may have down played how serious the situation is here." Frea quirked an eyebrow,

"How so?"

"As you already saw I'm sure, the plant life around here is indeed dying, growing sick, and becoming wild." The mayor motioned to the sight of the town with a somber expression. "And those men you fought with, that was not the first time they have come into the town. We've lost many people trying to fight back, and even more have been injured. We are peaceful people, we have no strength to fight back against the vicious attacks coming at us."

"Do you have any idea why these people are here?" Frea asked and the mayor shook his head.

"They came without giving a reason. They just showed up a month ago, and things began to escalate since they arrived. They've said nothing, just attacked, and all the while everything around us is dying..." The mayor sweatdropped, "even the air is laced with sickness, this used to be a cheerful place full of light- and now its dark and dreary... even our own citizens are falling ill because of it.."

"If it's of any help," 'Reginald' spoke up and Frea's eyes moved to the taller man. "Hilshine is a sacred place, a place that was once filled with a large amount of Magic that people used and prospered with very early on in the world. That amount of overwhelming Magic has faded with time, but it still holds memorable value with certain people." Frea's eyes narrowed, "For reasons unknown to us- these people may be here for some reason related to the sacred ground here in Hilshine."

"Sacred ground?" Chase asked, getting over his earlier shock and stepping up beside Frea.

"Yes, a resting ground for the founding people of Hilshine- those Mages who created this place and kept it safe from anyone who may have come in attempt to abuse the Power connected to this land." The Mayor took over again, "It has little purpose other than a symbol nowadays, but it was once highly respected and looked after."

Chase, Frea and Moon all exchanged quick glances between them, because all of this sounded an awful lot like that village within Nvindorr- a place where Magic had been and a place where humans had attempted to keep that power from others.

The SaberTooth Mages noticed the quick exchange of glances between those of Fairy Tail, and they suddenly felt that each one of them, felt that what was happening here in Hilshine was eerily familiar. They knew close to nothing of what had supposedly happened in _Nvindorr_ themselves, but they did know that the Fairy Tail Mages thought it important- and that was perhaps enough.

"Alright," Frea murmured. "We promise, we will do everything we can to fix this mess." Everyone nodded in turn, "I have one more question to ask before we start looking around though,"

"Yes, anything you need." The mayor nodded,

"Where exactly is this 'sacred ground' you mentioned?"

* * *

 

_This place..._

Frea walked past the overgrown and faded stone archways that marked the edge of the graveyard, her eyes scanning over the space slowly. The grass was short and crisp, lacking a lustrous green hue but it wasn't blackened and brown as everything else was.

The sky was open to the space, still covered in a thick sheet of grey that blocked out any sunshine still- a small breeze made its way trough the countless rows of cracked and old headstones ahead, each littered about with a unique name and date- but all with the same symbol upon its face; a symbol that looked quite like some ancient rune.

There remained a faint stone path winding about the graves toward the center, Frea's pace slowed as she stepped into its confines, her eyes widening a little as a sense of Magic hit her full on- feeling like a sense of cool water fell over her and ran through her veins, she took in a deep breath- eyes closing as she walked forward a bit more.

_This Magic was... Old..._

She felt herself tugged forward, and she glanced back a bit to see if anyone else was following her- which they were, all eyes scanning the place with renewed interest and wonder. Her eyes met Chase's, and they both shared silent words between them- they both felt the ancient power coming from this place, it was faint yes... And yet it was still very powerful despite how much it must have faded. It held a calm strength to it, simply waiting in silence and complete still.

"The air... Smells sweet, almost..." Sting mumbled from behind her, Rogue nodded slightly. He had caught on to the scent immediately, though neither he nor Sting could place what it was exactly- and neither could Frea though she didn't say so aloud. The scent itself was sweet, almost like fresh rain, it was light and clear- almost like open air, with an undertone of must, something Frea would mostly associate with old books though none were present.

"This place is sacred indeed..." Frea mumbled, there was no better word for it. But it was clear, not only did it posses the feel about it, it was clearly the only space in all of Hilshine that was fairing better for what was going on, you need only look at the still alive grass and flowers about. "... But why, is a bit of a mystery." Her eyes snapped to a headstone she passed, and her feet stopped moving.

It was nothing extraordinarily special, in fact it didn't have a name what so ever. It had the same rune that every headstone had, but about its face was engraved patterns that circled the rune in the center, and flowed out toward the edges, where upon the top was the design of something extremely detailed that created a sort of circular shape, with what looked like an hourglass in the center. At the bottom was a simple inscription, one she found her eyes narrow about.

_'A filok uf de Okia en kel sepice uf Maveel ru betre, ere a hilo Salme te gre hinse en megre juve vik. Fals ru ve verants uf Maveel en tokil ky Dargo- megre retenil.'_

Her eyes widened slightly, because although she understood little of what was written- she knew the language it was set, and found her heart skip a beat at the realization.

"Now why is it always... The Dragon Language...?" She muttered, self-consciously taking a step backward. She sweatdropped, as the memory of those few words spoken in the same language had unleashed hell on the world, a magic that had almost killed her and her friends...

_"Giteh, Tegal uf de Hilarrn."_

She sweatdropped a little more at the memory of those words coming past her lips, how foreign they had been on her tongue, how she had no choice to say them... The ring of her emotionless voice that night bounced about in her head with sickening repetition.

The Dragon Language had been a dangerous use back in Nvindorr, and of this place as he suspected it was- it was much similar to the place, and it my hold a danger quite like it.

And if it did... It was reasonable to assume that perhaps it was whatever this sacred ground in Hilshine may posses, could be what these strange men were after... And what that.. _That Thing wanted..._

Her thoughts were taken back to the present when someone stepped up next to her, peering at the words inscribed on the tombstone with wide eyes, looking shocked to find the writing.

Rogue blinked a few times as he looked it over, Frea glanced his way in surprise, she hadn't heard him walk up to her- and now she was finally aware that everyone had spread out about them, though no one went too far.

"Is this... This is the Dragon Language, isn't it?" Rogue murmured and Frea nodded a little,

"Yes," she murmured.

"Do you have any idea to what it says?" Rogue asked with a glance to her and Frea sighed.

"I'm better at reading the Dragon Language than anyone else at the Guild, but..." She gestured a hand at the inscription. ".. Those are a lot of words I don't recognize, so I don't have a clue." Rogue blinked, "My knowledge of it extends to very little honestly, I only mostly recognize certain specific words at any time, and none of those I know." Rogue nodded a little with his own sigh,

"I understand." He murmured, "I have no room to complain at least, I know almost nothing. Skiadrum... He never really spoke in the Dragon Language often."

"Nor did Chaitanya." Frea replied softly, her eyes leaving Rogue to rest on the headstone. Rogue glanced to her, perking at the name. "She only ever said a few things that I caught on to... The rest I've been trying to figure out..." Her eyes narrowed and she stretched a hand forward as her fingers brushed the etched word of 'Okia', thinking back to one of the older memories of her foster mother.

"... I think this one is the word for... World." She said at length, "I may be wrong though."

"It may not be of much help," Rogue murmured, his own hand stretching forward to rest beside the word of- _"Dargo."_ He murmured, his tone changing to match the accent almost perfectly. "It means 'Shadow', that I know for sure." They both pulled away at the same moment and for a brief moment their hands grazed one another. Rogue drew his hand toward him at the unexpected contact, but Frea didn't seem to notice- she was smiling at him in a sort of amused way.

"I suppose you _would_ know that." She murmured, "You are the Shadow Dragon Slayer after all... It would make sense for that to be one of the few things you picked up in the Dragon Language." Rogue nodded slightly, and Frea's head tilted, her eyes closing. "Hmm... _Dargo Dragair Slajur_..." She mumbled under her breath, the three words made a shiver to up his spine at how perfectly her voice changed for the accent of the language- he could almost imagine it being Skiadrum who had murmured it.

"Sting." Frea called the blonde's attention and Rogue was snapped from his thoughts. Sting looked around when his name was called,

"Yes, Ms. Frea?" He murmured and Frea tilted her head at the tombstone.

"I don't suppose you would happen to be even more of an expert on the Dragon Language then I am?" Frea asked and Sting sweatdropped, walking forward a bit.

"Um... No, probably not. I only know maybe three words at all." He murmured, stopping beside them a moment and looking over the writing. He didn't seem to catch anything they couldn't, and he looked no wider on it than they were. "Why would this be in the Dragon Language anyway?"

"The words to open the tomb in Nvindorr were the Dragon Language." Moon murmured, walking up with the other two Exceeds and Chase in tow.

"Yes... They were.." Frea mumbled, her eyes leaving the inscription and traveling down. She quirked an eyebrow,

There was a birth year upon the stone: X763 and it opened to suggest the lifespan of whoever this stone was supposed to represent, though there wasn't a name;

X763- _

There was no year of death. _Why the hell not?_

"Then all we have is 'World' and 'Shadow' to make from it." Frea muttered with a sigh, deciding it better not to think to much into a single grave in a whole yard full of them.

Moon stepped forward and tapped her paw to the rune on the surface, looking to Frea. "This rune is on every single headstone here." She murmured and Frea nodded with everyone else.

"I noticed."

"Well... This is a rune of Old Telips." Moon said slowly, earning a surprised look from Frea and Chase alike, before they both sweatdropped.

"Old Telips?" The SaberTooth members murmured.

"Of course it is..." Chase muttered lowly.

"... Happen to know what it says?" Frea murmured,

"Actually, yes." Moon murmured, she walked away from the headstone and started leading them toward the center of the site, she waved a paw at them. "Come on, I want to check something first."

Frea followed immediately with Chase following, the SaberTooth men exchanged quick glances and followed after a moment. Lector caught up to Moon and glanced at her,

"Ms. Moon?" He asked and Moon blinked, ears twitching a little. "What is... Old Telips?" He asked slowly, "I've never heard of it."

"Its an ancient Language composed of runes." Moon replied, "Its very rare and hardly anyone knows it exists- even fewer can read it at all." Moon smiled slightly, "I am no expert, but I can read a bit of it. I had plenty of practice with someone who was very good with ancient languages and runes when I was younger." Lector's eyes widened,

"And you learned from them?"

"Yes, in the short time I was able to keep his company." Moon replied, her tone dropping slightly.

"That's impressive." Sting murmured, from where he was waking along whined Frea and Chase with Rogue at his side. ".. Makes you wonder what else Ms. Moon knows..?"

"Plenty." Chase murmured, drawing back from Frea a little to look back at the blonde, he smiled slightly. "You'll be pretty surprised if things get crazy and we end up fighting, with Moon joining in." He left it at that and looked away, leaving Sting in confusion.

Frea's eyes moved left and right slowly, the path was being lined with short little stone posts, and ahead of them was a circular crypt entrance that seemed to rest directly in the center of the graveyard. Her head tilted in the direction of a small chime, something that sounded like a bell- she caught sight of it hanging from a braided rope strung across the top of the crypt entrance- where many others were hung.

The sense of magic grew larger as they drew nearer, and she began to get a better picture of it. It was calm and serene, but not lacking definite strength...

They came to a halt, just before the crypt were there were a few more runes in Old Telips inscribed upon it. Moon sprouted wings to get closer to the writing and they waited a moment, Moon nodded a bit.

"That's what I expected..." She murmured. She turned to them and tapped the runes, "The rune that is inscribed on all the headstones means 'Guardian'. The ones here are 'Ward', 'Shield' and 'Purify'." Frea's eyes widened a little in understanding,

"Then this graveyard is protected?" The Energy Dragon Slayer murmured, taking a step forward. "That's why none of the plants here are dead..."

"A Protection Spell?" Chase asked and Frea nodded,

"Seems that way."

"Who placed the Spell here?" Sting murmured,

"Probably the founders of Hilshine." Frea told him, "That would be my guess at any rate- the Magic here is ancient, very ancient- and it would make sense seeing as how they used Old Telips to write it."

"That would be my guess as well." Moon nodded in agreement. Frea walked forward and stretched a hand out toward the side of the crypt slowly, eyes narrowed. A Protection Spell set upon the whole of the Graveyard seemingly, and now Hilshine was being attacked by strange men who she guessed where being lead by the every same thing that had controlled her and forced her to release the Power in Nvindorr...

"What is it protecting?" Rogue murmured,

Frea stiffened, her body whipping around at the flash of Magic coming their way. It appeared in an instant, and it was quite a force- it hit her full on at how much Power it radiated and she sweatdropped at how fast it was coming. Chase sensed it the moment she did, and he acted just as she did- in perfect unison that could only be possible between two people who had fought and trained alongside each other so often as they had.

The falling shadows as the day went by were illuminated by a great sphere of bright red, orange and black coming at them at an unreal rate, both Chase and Frea's arms swept forward in the same instant as they faced the Magic hurtling toward them- and silver and light blue flashed to battle the red, orange and black.

"Energy Mage Defense!"

Their voices rose in unison, as their Magic converged before them and met the blast of Magic full on, keeping it at bay seconds before it would have hit their group. The Energy Mages pressed a hand to each others and raised their other arms to meet the shield, eyes narrowed and bodies tense at the strain. Rogue, Sting and the three Exceeds turned around in utter shock, their eyes following the cracks starting to shatter the surface of the shield, as Frea and Chase growled with effort.

The Magic bounced back, heading in the direction of the town. The shield before them faded as Frea jumped forward into the air, her Magic blazing as she swung out toward the attack-

"Energy Dispel!" She snapped, a box of silver appearing around the Magic that had been thrown at them, her arm swiped out to the side as the sphere was overtaken by silver and spun wildly as Frea's Magic clashed with it, and then it dispersed completely in a flurry of wind and force- completely gone.

Frea landed back on her feet, her Magic fading slowly as she took a deep breath and sighed, her eyes narrowed at the darkening sky. "That was a bit close for comfort.." she muttered nearly to herself.

"Holy.. Shit..." Sting stammered,

"How did you... Know...?" Lector murmured, glancing between Frea and Chase alike.

".. You destroyed it... So easily..." Rogue murmured, his eyes on Frea. She stood still, her eyes searching the space outside the cemetery all the way down toward the town of Hilshine, where the dark cloud had grown pitch black and the wind began to pick up, where Dark Magic could be felt festering.

The darkening sky was set alight with burning red-orange and black as a dozen more spheres of Magic were shot into the sky, and arched out toward them. Frea hissed and lift her arms to the sky, her Magic erupting around her and shooting up to meet the Spheres, encircling them as several Magic Circles of an unbelievable size appeared in the sky, Frea swiped her arms down.

"Energy Lance Storm!" She growled, hundreds of silver Lances shooting downward and piercing through the core of the Magic, exploding on contact and sending thousands of harmless red, black and silver shattered pieces of Magic down upon them- completely destroyed before they could even get close.

The air suddenly grew cold, and all of them stiffened- something bad was coming and fast. But the SaberTooth Members were lost in awe, staring at the sudden display of power Frea showed in moments- and how easily she was warding off the attacks and even destroying them all on her own...

Frea swiftly turned around and walked straight toward the crypt, "The fights about to start." She said, catching the eyes of everyone as they parted to let her though, her Magic fading only a little. "Get ready, we need to get the townspeople to safety." She placed her hands on the wall of the crypt, but not before sharing a knowing look with Moon.

"Where?" Sting asked,

"Here." Frea replied softly, her Magic flared up and poured into the crypt wall- making it glow silver before her Magic began to spread out over the ground and encase the air around the cemetery in a dome shape. The runes upon the headstones began to glow and a newfound Power radiated about the place, but it wasn't entirely Frea's Magic.

"You... You activated the Protection Magic?" Rogue asked, his eyes wide as it clicked together in his head what she was doing. Frea nodded, just as the light reached an all time high and they were blinded a minute, leaving it to fade where a pure dome of white was about the area. Small bits of Magic wisps floated up from the ground around them, followed with a sense of warmth as the wind died out inside the barrier.

Frea stood still a minute, her eyes closed and silent before she stepped away from the crypt and turned to them, where they stood at full attention. "We need to evacuate the townspeople into this barrier. It should hold against anything that gets thrown at it- and keep any unwanted persons out." They nodded, "We need to hurry, there are at least a hundred or so Dark Wizards approaching."

"I sense them too." Chase murmured and Frea nodded,

"Chase, you'll be trying to keep a shield up around the townspeople as they run with me. Sting, Rogue- you'll keep any enemies off of the townspeople." She turned to the three Exceeds. "I need you three to fly ahead of the town and lead them here. All of us will make sure you're guarded." They all nodded in the utmost seriousness, Frea nodded back in turn before leading them off at a fast pace.

She sweatdropped as the rest followed her down, taking a deep breath and eyes narrowing. A sense of darkness fell over her that made her shiver, there was such a large amount of Negative Energy swirling about so suddenly, it almost felt as if the clouds had burst and let forth all of it...

But what was more, she felt that same dread again... That same sense of dread she felt when that Thing had made its debut, the Thing that had almost gotten her killed... This was getting worse, at any point she could be taken over again. Any of them could, and they had no way to know when, or how to stop it. They were walking dangerous territory, and it was worrying to think of how much power that Thing had... She didn't think it possible to go up against something like that, for anyone, and certainly not for herself to be able to go head to head with.

 _Its too powerful for me..._ She closed her eyes and pushed forward faster. But what was it doing? What was it after?

* * *

 

The townspeople began fleeing up the incline that lead to the cemetery, most of them shouting in fear while others barked orders- all of them following behind the three Exceeds holding lanterns in the dark.

On both sides, the men from before were attempting to break through and get the townspeople, however they were unsuccessful in their attempts. Sting and Rogue wouldn't let a single one touch the townspeople, as the night was lit up with Shadow and White light alike.

"Keep going!" Frea ordered, coming up at the back with Chase beside her, directing the last few stragglers along. They had little time to get the people moving before the strange men had come down on them, and even less to get ready for the launching of red-hot Magic spheres through the skies at them- being sent from somewhere unknown, but from where Frea would guess she could sense the people who could use Magic were for the time being, seeing as how the ones around them now were using nothing but weapons.

"Teach!" Chase growled, both their eyes going toward the sky as three red spheres of Magic came down upon them, the two quickly joined hands as their combined Magics of a shield appeared and the spheres hit against the surface with a booming thud, before bouncing back.

"Energy Dispel!" Frea growled, her Magic appearing in air to encase the three spheres, and send them toward the ground in glittering pieces. She stopped a moment, sweatdropping an panting a little. Chase paused beside her, breathing a little heavily himself as he glanced to his old Mentor.

He had a high amount of Magic Energy himself, but the Shield they created by combing their Magic was not an easy shield to cast, and they had cast it several times now already. And if was entirely his magic that allowed the force to push the attacks back off the shield- leaving Frea the opening to destroy them entirely. It was hard as well as draining, and he could only imagine how Frea must feel...

She wasn't just defending against them, she was destroying them too. It would take a great amount of Magic Energy to do so, and even when Frea was rather powerful- it was still taking a toll, and he could already see it. But the fact was, he wasn't near as powerful enough to destroy those things like she did- he doubted anyone here but Frea could, which was why she was an S-Class.

To Dispel those attacks would require a great amount of focus and concentration, and to destroy them was a huge amount of destructive power. Neither were easy, and his old mentor was already wearing out fast from using so much Magic so much.

Chase lay a hand on Frea's shoulder and she glanced to him, nodding slightly to say she was fine, at least for now.

"You ok?" She murmured and he sighed.

"I can still go for awhile yet." He murmured, his eyes following the form of a person that passed them. "I figure so can they," he said with a gesture toward Sting and Rogue who were quite literally blowing through their enemies with no issue. Frea smiled slightly and nodded,

"The towns empty." She murmured suddenly, her senses easily telling her that no one was left in the town behind them. Chase nodded and they started after the running crowd, senses on high alert for any more attacks.

Frea and Chase separated, their eyes narrowed as they felt the presence of those Dark Mages farther off suddenly appear very nearby in an instant, on both sides of the fleeing townspeople. They came to the side of Rogue and Sting in the very instant a wave of lava was sent out at them, Frea hissed and planted herself right next to Rogue as he backed up- the robed men they had been keeping at bay disappeared into a haze. The trees that had died about the town melted into the sea of heat and destruction, rolling toward them for a ways.

"Energy Shield!" She hissed, the silver wall appearing before her and stretching for a long ways about so no lava could get past. The lava slammed against her shield and made her flinch at the impact. She was aware of Chase placing his own shield behind her, as they formed an aisle for the townspeople to continue running.

"Magic?" Rogue muttered beside her, she hissed.

"Those Dark Mages I sensed earlier, they're finally here." She explained lowly, "And not all of the townspeople are inside the Cemetery yet..." She sighed, her hands resting against her shield as she waited for the waves of lava to subside. It cooled insanely quickly, sending streams of steam into the air and clouding all around them, making it hard to see. Frea glanced sideways in order to see the glow of the three lanterns Moon and the SaberTooth Exceeds were carrying ahead of the mass of townspeople.

She let her shield drop and took a deep breath, everything was utterly dark beside the small torches the townspeople and the glow of each Wizard's Magic. For a minute, everything was still. Frea narrowed her eyes at the dark, the wind that had been picking up suddenly died and all noise was lost.

She tensed, eyes narrowing to slits as she took a deep breath, catching the scent of decay and sulfur from the cooled lava in front of them.

**_"Malunafrey..."_ **

Frea's head snapped around as the voice hissed in her ear, turning to see the form of a man behind her, the feel of utter Power began to radiate all around. She couldn't even sense the damn Thing before it said anything, it was like he was hidden from her until it wanted to be felt... Her gaze met dark, emotionless eyes as the man swung a his arm out toward her in an instant, her Magic sprung up around her in an attempt to block the blow, while she brought a fist forward at the same instant to counter-

His hand cut straight through her Magic, his arm suddenly wrapped in a glow of pitch black. Her eyes widened at the sight, before he thrust his arm straight through her side with so much force it went through the skin and muscle as if it was nothing, and then was ripped out, sending a flurry of blood into the air as she cringed, biting down on her tongue at the sudden pain, hissing, eyes wide in shock, all sense of punching him lost in the agony that followed.

 _He didn't even have a weapon... All he'd used was his hand..._ The man grinned, eyes dark and cold as he drew his tongue over his fingers slowly, licking her blood as if it was candy...

"Teach!" Chase snapped, turning just in time to see what happened. Rogue whipped around from where he was beside the Energy Dragon Slayer, eyes wide in shock, before he growled and brought his fist forward against the face of the man, blowing him away in a flurry of force as his body faded into a haze as he was no longer there. _Nothing but smoke..._

 _ **"... You blocked me out, Malunafrey..."**_ Frea hissed, holding a hand to the wound and one eye shut tight, blood already dripping through her fingers, her body on fire at the agony of the wound. The voice rang through her head just as it did in Nvindorr, cold and sending a chill over her. **_"... By activating that barrier... I'm locked out... And now I can't get what I wanted..."_** _What_ did it want exactly?!

 _ **"... If I didn't need you... I would kill you now..."**_ She stiffened, eyes going wide. ** _"... But that will have to be for another time..."_**

"Need me...?" She murmured lowly, "... Another time...?"

 ** _"... But I don't have to kill you to send the message..."_** The voice ended in a throaty chuckle. What was that? What the hell did it want?! And what the hell did it need her for?! _What message?!_

And on that note, if it needed something, why wouldn't it just take control of her like it had? Wouldn't that be much simpler?

 _ **"... All in due time, Malunafrey..."**_ The voice chuckled, the noise of it in her head making her hiss even more, it hurt, it sent a pang of pain through her mind the more she heard it...

"Ms. Frea!" The world around her became clear again as the outside world suddenly found sound in her ears, and she felt the sense of huge, malignant power fade suddenly. All that immeasurable power, the trace of the Thing pulling the strings... Gone, in a single instant. _Nothing._

Rogue was trying to get her attention, eyes glittering with worry at the sight of blood dripping through her fingers. She hadn't been able to hear him she was so focused on the voice in her head, and now his image before her and his voice all hit her full on, everything came back and all time started to move again... Everything seemed to freeze, or move in slow motion whenever that Thing was in her head...

She hissed, eyes scrunching closed as her pain caught up with her all in the next instant, and she fell to one knee, her heart was pounding again, her side was shredded, the Magic around the man's arm must have seen to that, and now her body was shaking... _Damn it...  
_

_Wait a moment.._

"...You don't... Have to call me 'Ms.' Frea, you know." She murmured, glancing sideways at the Shadow Dragon Slayer as he crouched down next to her, he blinked a few times at the answer, not sure what would have warranted that in light of what just happened. She was keeping her mind off everything, it was easier to focus on one thing, and she suddenly realized he kept calling her Ms. Frea... It was so _formal_.

"What...?"

Frea winced, but sighed and slowly got back to her feet, making Rogue jump up and hover just in case she collapsed again. "Y-you need to sit still..!" He stammered, feeling odd for trying to give her an order- after all, Frea had been the one calling the shots so far. Frea smiled slightly and shook her head at him, but ended up hissing at the pain instead.

"Relax," she murmured quietly, the word doing nothing to calm him down though. "I noticed it earlier, you don't have to call me 'Miss'- you can just call me Frea you know. There really isn't any need to be so formal." She smiled a little more and he could only stare in confusion and shock, his mind reeling.

She smiled a bit more at his confusion and chuckled, earning a harsh wince as her eyes scrunched closed again, steadying herself with a step to the side when she tilted, doubled over a little. Rogue flinched at the sudden reflection of pain, moving a bit closer and giving her a firm look.

"Sit down! That wound is serious!" He muttered firmly, Frea chuckled at his attempt to get her to sit down, by placing his hands on her shoulders firmly, his red eyes glittering with determination- all earlier flusteredness he had around her gone in an instant.

She glanced past him a moment, taking note that Chase and Sting were currently engaged in a full on fight against a band of Dark Mages that had appeared from the surrounding trees, sending forth a flurry of Magic of all kinds, advancing slowly as they pushed the two young men back toward herself and Rogue.

"No time," she murmured, her Magic erupting about her as a wall of silver appeared behind them, and it was immediately hit with a red-hot sphere- one of the ones that had been thrown out earlier. Her shield cracked a little as the Magic made contact, and she hissed, having a hard time keeping the shield going as the Magic continued to pound against it, and blood dripped from the wound that had been inflicted... She couldn't keep it up very long,

"Grr..." She hissed, her body tensing. "Move!" She snapped, grabbing Rogue and she pulled him sideways with her, his hands finally leaving her shoulders as they avoided the red-hot Magic as it shattered her shield and carved a trench through the ground where they had been standing just a moment earlier.

Frea cringed as she moved, blood spilling from the wound in her side faster now, her fist subconsciously tightened around Rogue's cloak at the pain and he blinked in shock, jaw clenched and sweatdropping- how she could manage to move with a wound like that and drag him too...

"Teach!" Chase and Sting were beside the two in an instant, as Chase hissed at the sight of Frea's blood and Sting blinked in shock, she took note that the Wizards the two had been fighting seemed to vanish into thin air without warning... But why would they leave?

And what was that message that Thing wanted to give her...? What was he plan here?

Frea shook her head a little at herself and at Chase, "Leave it," she muttered, knowing full well he was about to tell her to sit down and let him look at the wound, similarly to what Rogue had attempted. "We don't have time, now all of you listen-" she sighed, straightening up a bit, ignoring her pain as best she could. "... That Thing, whatever it is... It's after something in the cemetery, and it can't get at it." They blinked, "The barrier is keeping it out fortunately, but that doesn't change the fact that its mad... It said something about sending a message..." She stiffened, her eyes snapping upward along with everyone else's, cutting her own words off as she sweatdropped, eyes wide and a chill falling over her.

The sky suddenly erupted in red, as hundreds of the same red-hot spheres from before appeared in mid-air, Rogue and Sting hissed, sweatdropping as they backed up, Chase and Frea narrowed their eyes.

That much Magic Power coming down at them would tear the land up and destroy the town completely. If they were caught in it, they were done for and yet it didn't seem possible to block that many- even with Frea and Chase together, that was too much power... Too much force...

Frea's eyes swept over toward the cemetery where she could see the faint glow of white that indicated the barrier she had activated. She figured it would hold if it got hit, the Magic surrounding it was ancient and powerful, it would take quite a lot to break through it, but what about _them?_

Her eyes widened a bit, was _this_ the message? Was it just showing how angry it was? Did it plan to kill them?!

 _... No, it said it needed me alive, for now anyway..._ Her eyes snapped to the three other people she was with and her stomach clenched.

_It wants me... But it probably doesn't care about Chase, Rogue and Sting... It wouldn't kill them, would it?_

"That's... Way too many..." Sting hissed, his eyes wide at the amount of Magic facing them down, and the feel of unbelievable power flowing from them to hit the small group in waves. Frea growled, fists clenching at her sides.

Frea and Chase exchanged glances, before they stepped forward in front of Sting and Rogue, their Magic spiraling up around them as they combined, springing up to form a dome around the four of them, eyes narrowed as the spheres flew down in an instant, both Energy Mages putting forth every ounce of Magic they could, anything to try and block the onslaught of destruction coming toward them.

Rogue and Sting stood in shocked silence as they watched the Magic fly down toward them, they felt as if they were watching their death in slow motion- for however well Frea and Chase had been defending against those few spheres of Magic before, a hundred was too much and too many, they couldn't possibly keep that swirling shield of silver and blue up against it... Not even Frea, with all the power she seemed to have, it wasn't possible... They hadn't any sort of way in the Defending Sort of Moves, even if they were to combine their Magic with the Energy Mage's, or try to destroy some of the spheres.. that was just too much...

. _.. Was this it...?_

* * *

Moon watched near the entrance to the cemetery as the last few townspeople made it inside the barrier- it allowing them through with no issue. Lector and Frosch floated beside her, each of the three of them holding on to a lantern in the darkness, eyes trained toward the bottom of the incline where the light of Frea, Chase and Sting's Magic alike were lighting up the dark, whereas Rogue's simply blended in to the black.

Moon closed her eyes against the bright flash of red that went on suddenly, her head snapping up toward the sky where hundreds upon hundreds of the same sphere-like Magic Projectiles that had constantly been bombarding them suddenly appeared in the dark, there was hardly any space left of black in the sky, it was covered in red...

"T-there are... So many..." Lector stammered, his eyes wide as he sweatdropped. Frosch looked up at the sight with a terrified gaze,

"F-fro thinks so too..."

Moon sweatdropped, hissing a little as she gazed up at it, before her gaze snapped down toward where the three other Mages of their temporary team were.

Those spheres in the sky were powerful beyond compare, each one could equal the concentrated force of something Master Makarov could cook up, and there were hundreds now. That much was likely to destroy everything, including- to kill the four down there.

Frea and Chase together won't be able to guard against an attack that size. She knew that and she felt her stomach drop, there was no time for them to try and make it up to be inside the barrier either...

Silver and blue flashed as Frea and Chase stepped up together, ready to face what was probably going to kill them. Beside her, Lector and Frosch stiffened beside her,

"Sting... Rogue..."

Moon found herself trembling a little, the thought of Frea and Chase getting hit by that and killed made her heart stop.

She couldn't let them get killed, she needed to do something... But she didn't know what to do! What could she do anyway? Even with Copy-Cat Magic, she hadn't learned anything that would be of much use in this situation... She had never learned Teleportation Magic, and that was the only thing that came to mind that may have been helpful in any way.

Behind her she could hear the people of the town murmuring in frightened tones as they looked to the sky, not sure whether the barrier they had been directed into would actually keep them safe.

What was she going to do? We couldn't sit here and watch them die... She started shaking more as the spheres came down all at once. They couldn't move, they couldn't dodge it, they were done for...

"No... No..." She whispered shakily, the world suddenly in slow motion as she watched the attacks draw closer and closer. "Frea... Chase... Oh no, no..." Her voice dropped to a barely audible whisper before the words died on her tongue. Lector was holding on to Frosch who had threatened to go outside the barrier, both of them shaking just as much as Moon was. They couldn't believe they were witnessing what was going to be the death of their Partners.

How had this job turned so sour so fast? Is this what an S-Class Mission was? What it meant to go head to head with that Thing that had tried to unleash the Power trapped in Nvindorr? That it would be here and now... They'd have to watch Sting, Rogue, Chase, Frea... Watch them die...?

She didn't want to watch the people she cared about be killed... she never wanted to see that again, there wasn't anything in this world she cared for more than Frea, and Chase, the Guild... she didn't want...

"Please... No... I don't want them to... do... Anything, just something... I would do anything... If I could save them... But I... Please... I don't want them to die.. They can't die..." She murmured, too low for anyone to hear, her words barely words they were so soft. Every painful image of Kyo and what was done to him came crashing down on her head all at once, every ounce of pain and grief filling her up, unbearable..

_"Hmm..."_

Moon jumped, her head snapping from side to side as she whipped around frantically, her nerves high and rising at the voice and eyes widening, she couldn't see anyone, not anyone close enough to have whispered in her ear that way. She blinked several times, wondering if she imagined it, staring at the thin air before her and utterly confused.

The next moment, everything shook with the impact of the Magic upon the town and the land around it was torn up with the contact. All visibility of the four Mages below them was lost and they stared in horror, the three Exceeds oblivious to the sight of the Magic crashing against the barrier over their heads.

The earth trembled, the trees destroyed, the ground, the town... Everything was blown to pieces. Total annihilation. Nothing was hardly left...

"N... No..." Lector and Frosch stammered, Lector holding on to his smaller Exceed friend as Frosh's eyes were slowly engulfed in tears.

Moon felt her heart come to a sudden stop, her eyes wide as a chill fell over her.

_They... Were..._

_Gone...?_

That couldn't be right, Frea and Chase... They couldn't be dead... There was no possible way, it was impossible...

"Oh my..."

"Were those Mages... Out there...?"

"The town...! Its... Its gone...!"

"This is horrible... Truly awful...!"

"Frea... Chase..." Moon breathed, unable to do anything but stare at the spot they had been- where nothing was left, not a trace of evidence... Just dozens of giant craters...

What was she going to do? She and the townspeople, and Lector and Frosch... They couldn't stay inside this barrier forever, and they couldn't possible win against an enemy like this...

And what was she... Gonna tell the Guild? Would she even be able to go back? To carry on...?

Her eyes shifted toward the two tom cats nearby when she heard them sniffle, both of them with tears now. She slowly floated over to them, placing paw on Lector's head as she pressed her nose to his head, her other paw resting on Frosch- the only gesture of comfort she could make, she closed her eyes.

She could have never believed, that this mission would get to this point... To the point where... Chase, Frea... Sting and Rogue... They were...

_... Dead..._

She cracked her eyes open to look back toward the townspeople, they were in deep trouble still, and it made her heart ache to see the terrified faces...

She blinked, her eyes narrowing as she caught the faint shine of... Of white and gold not far off.

There was a light shinning, it was the headstone they had taken notice of earlier, the one with no name and without a year of death... The design engraved into it, it was glowing gold and white, and she blinked, not quite sure why... Could that be some sort of effect of the barrier being activated...? She guessed so... The runes on all the other headstones were glowing white as well...

Her head snapped around toward the jagged outline of the destroyed town of Hilshine, where now only crumbling ruin and destruction lay. From far below, in nearly the center of the town- the sky above it turned silver and white.

Moon's eyes went wider than ever, she gasped as Lector and Frosch looked where she was, the town pressing in around to see behind them. She felt herself smiling, as tears of joy spilled from her eyes and her whole body shook with the emotion- as Lector and Frosch started shaking with all their rising emotion beside her.

Against the dark backdrop of the clouds above, in dazzling white was the emblazoned view of the SaberTooth Guild Mark- cutting through the dark just as much as the shining silver form of the Fairy Tail Guild Mark appeared in the dark beside the white. It was a beacon in the night that had fallen; Moon, Lector and Frosch began jumping around and yelling in delight, their hearts lifting at the signs.

"They're alive!"

* * *

Everything felt as if it moved past her in a flash, everything entirely- the trees, the ground, the air... But it was over in an instant, she blinked and they were standing still- nothing had moved, she wasn't sure what she felt had been real.

She blinked, her Magic combined with Chase's had shattered against their will and now they stood side by side, blinking rapidly in utter confusion at what happened.

_They... Weren't where they had been... Just... A second before..._

Everything had changed, or more accurately- everything had been destroyed. The ruins of the town of Hilshine stood around them, burning and steaming as they melted and crumbled around them, the ground was thrown about, torn up, uplifted. Looking around, the faint glow of the barrier about the cemetery still remained, and they could see the surrounding forests and meadowland had been obliterated as the Spheres of Magic in the sky came hurtling down.

But... _How_ were they alive? And how the hell did they end up here?! Everything had happened in the course of barely even a second, one moment they were staring down death- and now they were completely fine, having completely avoided what would have killed them by some unknown means.

_We should be dead... We weren't going to be able to defend against that... And now... It didn't even touch us...?_

"What... What the hell...?" Frea hissed under her breath, eyes wide as she snapped her head around, her action being carried out by the three men with her, all of them wide-eyed, all of them utterly confused.

"... What just... Happened...?"

"How did we...?"

"... We moved...?"

Everything around them was destroyed, everything was gone... And yet _they_ were still there.

She hadn't done anything, she couldn't have... Not even unconsciously, not like how she had unraveled Fairy Sphere or kept the Underground Crypt from falling... She hadn't done a single thing, and yet she couldn't sense anything either- there was just that split second, the feel of everything moving past in a blur, that was it...

 _... No_ , there was something there, something at the back of her mind, something quick and faint... An odd feeling... The same sort of feeling she got from... Jynx... _Something right, yet wrong..._

It couldn't have been Jynx, right? She would have immediately recognized the ghost girl, and she hadn't...

"... How are we alive...?" Sting murmured, catching her attention, everyone else glancing at him. They were all confounded, because that was the real question. _How?_

"... And without a scratch... We didn't even get hit..." Chase muttered,

"... And we moved too...?" Rogue mumbled, " ... How is this even possible...?"

"... It shouldn't be possible..." Frea mumbled, "... Its not... Something... Whatever... It moved us... Kept us... Safe..." Her voice dropped,

"... Something?" Sting mumbled, "... What..?" Frea shook her head, eyes closed a moment. What indeed? _It felt so much... Like Jynx's Magic mixed with mine... Something wrong and right all at once... Just for a split moment there... It was faint... It happened too fast..._

Something hit her then, some feeling, something in the back of her mind... Some feeling that hit her very soul, her heart... Like something she _should_ know, something some part of her should know... And yet she couldn't place it, she didn't understand the feeling... It just agitated her.

"... I don't know..." God she hated that she didn't know, especially when something inside her, some small foreign part of her felt that she should know. She shook her head, furiously trying to rid herself of all that.

 _They were supposed to be dead_.

They weren't... And they didn't know why or how.

The battle wasn't over, the job wasn't... She took in a small breath and turned toward the three others, she could see it was weighing on them too, but they didn't have time to think on it... Even now, at the edge of her senses, she felt hundreds upon hundreds of Energy Signatures coming, Chase seemed to sense of too and sweatdropped.

"We aren't out of the woods yet," she muttered, "Something tells me the real fights only just getting started." Her words received sweatdrops from everyone else, as they all nodded tensely.

"... I can smell them, all of them getting closer..." Sting muttered, his eye trailing toward the direction they could sense the mass of Wizards approaching them. Rogue nodded in agreement, so did Frea- she could smell them though she mostly sensed their presence growing closer.

"We can't let them get up toward the cemetery." Frea muttered, "That Thing can't get in... But it won't stop them from trying."

"Got it." They murmured.

"... I'm sorry you two got dragged into this, by the way." Frea mumbled, earning a blink of shock from the SaberTooth men. She sighed a little, "It wasn't my intention.."

"Its not an issue." Sting murmured. "This is a job, and we decided to take it."

"Even after you told us what happened, this was our choice." Rogue assured her and she smiled a little,

"Somehow I figured you were gonna say that..." She murmured to the both of them, earning small smiles in return.

"We should probably let everyone know we aren't dead though." Chase murmured, earning a nod from Frea and the other two alike.

"They're probably worried sick..." Rogue mumbled, Frea nodded before nudging Sting in the side with her elbow and flicking her head up at the sky.

"Lets give them a sign then." She smiled and he nodded, both their hands stretching up toward the dark above them as white and silver erupted in the shadow, spiraling up and taking form of their respective Guild Mark. The glow of their Magic clashed with the dark, their Magics spiraling up around their bodies slowly and softly, showering them all in the glow for a long while.

"That's gonna give away our position." Chase murmured, his eyes up toward the symbols, until they were allowed to fade and both Sting and Frea dropped their hands. "We won't have the element of surprise..."

"Doesn't matter. We'll just have to work harder to take down everyone of those bastards." Frea muttered, earning a small chuckle from Chase as he shook his head at her a little. Sting and Rogue nodded in agreement with what Frea said,

"Doesn't explain how we're gonna fix the Land, Teach." He reminded softly,

Frea paused, she knew he was right of course. _That_ was the reason they were out here in the first place, to find out why everything had started dying. What on earth could these men, or that Thing be doing to poison the Land like they were? To make everything die?

She hadn't a lot of time to try and look into it... If she focused, all she could feel was Dark Magic all around, it was seeping into everything, choking it... And a part of her figured it was because of the Power of that Thing... And she had no clue how to fix that.

To try and get rid of any sort of form of that Things Power hanging over this place? To try and destroy the hold it had on the Land? She had no clue how to go about doing that, besides defeating it... And she couldn't, she didn't know what it, or where it was... And with so much pure power... She hated to admit it, but she couldn't beat that thing... Not directly.

She'd have to come up with some other way, but for now she would focus on taking care of all the Mages coming toward them. That was the top priority now.

"I know." She admitted, "If you have any ideas, feel free to share... But for now, lets just take care of those Wizards coming. One thing at a time." Chase nodded,

"Got it." He answered and she nodded a little, shifting to face the direction the mass of enemies were coming from steadily.

Frea hissed under her breath at the stab of agony that swept through her, her hand covering the wound ripped into her side again, blood still dripping from it. She growled a little, eyes scrunching closed at the pain and immediately earning the attention of everyone else- with everything that had happened in the course of a few minutes they had nearly forgotten about the fact Frea was wounded-

"... Frea..." Rogue murmured, nearly calling her 'Miss' again but stopping himself, as per her instruction.

"... That looks bad.." Sting mumbled,

"You should take it easy, Teach ..." Chase told her lowly, taking a step toward her, she shook her head and have him a stern glare- he stopped, frowning slightly. He hated that, the fact that she always ignored wounds, how she always put everything before her own health... but that was the way she was, he was just never gonna like it.

"Eyes front," she muttered lowly, earning a blink of shock from everyone else. "Worry about the fight, not me." She ordered firmly, her voice leaving no room for argument. She took a breath and closed her eyes, "They're nearly here."

They grudgingly looked away, the three boys taking places in front of Frea in an almost protective manner- she was hurt and it was only natural that they should meet the enemy head on, while she hung back a little.

Frea shook her head and smiled a little at the action, she knew what they were thinking, a part of her was amused by it- she'd never considered herself the sort of person that needed to be guarded, and she thought it amusing that all three of the boys were doing it.

She'd expected it from Chase, she knew he was protective of her, though he'd never admit it out loud. He'd been that way since she met him, and even more so lately... But from Sting and Rogue? She hardly knew either of them, and at she was starting to feel she was getting to know them more and more. It just surprised her they seemed so worried for her safety... Maybe it was a damsel in distress sort of thing.

She sighed and focused her Magic around the hand placed over the wound in her side, the glow of silver appearing in the dark faintly, taking advantage of the small lull.

"Morana.. Drearand..." She mumbled quietly, sweatdropping at the immediate strain... And growling when she found the Spell wasn't working as well as it should.

What the hell sort of Magic had that Thing hit her with? Something so dark and evil she couldn't even get a feel for what it really was? And now she couldn't heal the wound like she normally should be able to... What the freaking hell...?!

She poured more Magic into it, forcing her cells to heal faster, her Magic to form a thread and needle, and start to mend the shredded skin and muscle, growling at the strain and effort, of how slow it was... She was having to use up more Energy and strength than she normally would just to heal it even slightly... Only enough to stop the bleeding and allow her to move a bit more easily, and even by then she was starting to pant a little.

She took a deep breath breath and shook her head, stepping up to stand level with the three boys, earning a few glances her way. Sting and Rogue exchanged curious glances, having heard the murmur of the words and recognizing the accent of the Dragon Language.. though they hadn't time to press the matter now.

"Lets see who can take down the most." She smirked, earning blinks from all of them. Chase shook his head a little but smiled anyway, while Sting smirked and Rogue sighed slightly.

"You're on, Frea." Sting smirked and she smirked back.

"I'm not sure having a contest is the best idea.." Rogue mumbled,

"They don't care." Chase told the Shadow Dragon Slayer with a small smile. "A challenge is what Teach was after in the first place, and she knows Sting will be up for one." He tilted his head at Rogue, "What about you?"

Rogue glanced away and let his eyes close a moment, he really wasn't someone to jump into challenges like that so easily, and certainly not in the middle of such a serious battle...

"... Just keep count of how many you knock over the head." Chase chuckled, earning Rogue's eyes again. The young Energy Mage was smirking at him, seeming to know what he was feeling, "Who knows, you might decide to join in after awhile."

* * *

 

"67..." Frea growled, her fist colliding with the cheek of one of the several hundred Dark Wizards swarming around them, Magic and bodies flying in every direction. She spun on her heel and brought her leg around, catching another in the stomach and sending him skidding away for a long distance. "68!" She came to a small pause and leaned back, cheeks puffing up and smirking slightly.

"Energy Dragon Roar!"

The spinning silver tornado tore out across the destroyed land, engulfing dozens of their enemies in one swift river of coursing Magic, wearing a trench into the ground and shaking everything. Frea took a breath,

"94!" She smirked to herself, having counted up every head she had just downed with her Roar in the small few moments she'd had before letting loose. Her eyes found the figure of Sting not far to her left, the man glowing white along the shadow of the night. She wined a little at the sudden stab of pain in her side but ignored it.

"98!" Sting called over to her, sending a man flying with a punch to the face. He whipped around to see the small, faint scowl that Frea had on at his announcement, which only made him smirk more. "Better hurry, or you'll never catch up!" He challenged and she gave him a toothy grin.

"Just you wait, ain't no way I'm losing to you!" She smirked and whipped around, hissing slightly at another sudden burst of pain in her side, but ignoring it again. She wasn't going to let Sting win, no way in hell- but he'd be hard to beat, she was sure.

But it didn't look like the ranks of their enemies were thinning anytime soon- plenty of time to give him a run for his money.

It was a welcome change to the tense and serious circumstances, to actually be competing like this. It took their minds off of what was going on for the most part- away from almost getting killed, from facing an enemy unlike any they had ever faced before, a sinister plan... Though all of that remained in the corners of their minds.

She leaned away from the path of a swinging sword, missing it by a few inches before she lunged and brought her 95th enemy down. They weren't particularly strong, only a few seemed capable of serious Magic, and even then- four highly skilled and experienced Wizards had no issue taking those. It was mostly an issue of numbers, and they were very outnumbered- just not so outmatched.

"Explosive Rain!" She snapped; hands swiping up toward the sky where a massive Magic Circle appeared, sending hundreds of compact Energy Bombs down on the heads of the Dark Wizards, shaking the air and the earth even more.

"122." Frea smiled to herself, worth it in her mind, even despite the massive amount of Magic Energy that Spell took, before that smile faded and her attention snapped back up to the sky to see a flash of red, another sphere of Magic that began to hurtle toward them- even down on the heads of their enemies?!

She hissed and jumped away from the impact zone, there was only one, it could easily be avoided, and it was- Sting moved away and Chase and Rogue weren't even near enough to be bothered.

 ** _"... The effort is commendable..."_** Frea's heart dropped to the bottom of her stomach as the voice hissed the words inside her head, her being washed in icy cold suddenly. **_"... You are all strong Wizards... That's true... These pawns are no match for any of you..."_**

Pawns?

Her eyes widened when it suddenly hit her, could it be possible that all these people... Every single Wizard they were facing... All the hundreds of them... Could they be being controlled by that Thing? Could that even be possible?

_... Something with so much Power... It could.. Be..._

_**"... What would happen, if I bumped the power up a few notches?"**_ The voice chuckled, earning a wince of pain from Frea at it running through her mind, her body freezing suddenly and the already dark world around her growing dimmer, blurred... She knew this feeling, she was losing herself again... It was trying to take a hold of her...!

 ** _"... Would they be able to handle you trying to kill them, Malunafrey...?"_** It asked, voice full of malice as her heart stopped altogether.

Kill them? It was going to make her... Kill them...?

... They couldn't.. They wouldn't fight back of she were from over, if she were forced to try and kill them. Chase, Sting, Rogue... Moon... Everyone... She couldn't kill them, she wouldn't ever... And still everything was being lost to dark, she was losing herself again, she couldn't resist the hold of something she couldn't even feel grabbing at her, she couldn't stop it...

She couldn't be taken over, not if killing everyone was its plan. She'd... She'd come too close to that before, so many times over...

_Never again._

She couldn't attack them, she couldn't be the reason people were hurt, killed, whatever, ever again. Never, there was nothing she hated herself for more- than getting people hurt or worse. She hated nothing more than being the reason people felt pain... She couldn't lay a hand on anyone, not after Nvindorr, not after Solana, not after Shadow... Kasumi... Not after all the times anyone has ever been hurt by her hands, indirectly or otherwise...

_Never again damn it!_

Everything seemed to have come to a standstill around her, everything was getting dark, noise fell away into nothing... Everything was cold, and she felt nothing.

 _Nothing..._ Such an odd thing, because she always felt something. Some emotion... Some power... Magic... Energy... Anything... And yet she was losing it all, it was being taken away, replaced by numbness, cold, empty, dark... She couldn't feel the force trying to take her over, it was invisible to her...

Images of blood, of her hands tearing out at Rogue, Sting, Chase... Her Magic tearing them apart... _No, no!_

She would not be forced to do that, she would never be forced to harm anyone ever again, not her Guild, not her Family, not anyone.

_Never again!_

Frea came to a sudden halt, the enemies around her circling, none of them growing closer to her, she was still, unmoving, a shadow cast over her face to hide it from view.

Her sudden lack of.. Anything, caught the attention of those three she was with, their eyes darting toward the motionless Energy Dragon Slayer and something suddenly hit them. A bad feeling, something cold... Something was _wrong._

"Teach!" Chase snapped, his mind immediately flashing to the worst scenario. The thing he was afraid of, of losing Frea, of her being taken control of, maybe even turned against them...

When Frea didn't even react to him yelling at her, his stomach dropped. _No reaction..._

Sting broke out of the mass of enemies and cleared a way toward Frea, eyes narrowed as he tried to gain her attention- his eyes meeting her lifeless gray ones, the silver dulled completely, it was a look he'd never seen on her before, and one that made his blood run cold.

"Frea?" He mumbled, his eyes snapping away from her when a man suddenly appeared next to him, lips pulled into a sickly smirk and dark eyes glittering from under his hood. The man's hand reached out and lightly tapped a finger to Sting's chest before he could react, black spiraling around his arm in a flurry of sudden power as Sting was propelled backward, his chest form up by the Magic in an instant, his blood splattering the ground at Frea's feet, his yell of pain echoing out through the air. A few drops of scarlet hit Frea, splashing against her cheeks and dripping down to stain the silver markings under her eyes, not even flinching.

"Sting!" Rogue snapped, immediately catching the scent of his Partners blood on the air, and whipping about in time to see the White Dragon get thrown.

 _ **"Lets see how well you do against one of your own, shall we...?"**_ The man, the same one who had shoved his hand through Frea's side and now threw Sting chuckled, his voice ringing out in a low tenor that caught the ears of everyone around. Chase sweatdropped, eyes narrowed as the image of an out of control Frea suddenly flashed across his mind.

"Does that mean.. Frea's been..." Rogue muttered, sweatdropping too. The shadowy man chuckled,

Red splashed through the air in the next moment, the world seeming to slow to a stop, their hearts stopping in sudden shock and horror, eyes wide and jaws dropped slightly.

Frea's hand lift in all but a moments time, her fingers curled and silver flowing from them like steam, as she dug her fingertips into the wound on her side and ripped out- sending a wave of blood into the air.

"F-Frea?!"

"What is she-?!"

The shadowy man beside her stiffened slightly, before he melted away into nothing and the world sped back up, just in time for everything to go black around them, all light and all visibility snuffed out.

 ** _"... Fine, if thats the way you want it... I'll just kill them myself, Malunafrey..."_** The voice hissed, Frea's legs gave out as she gasped for air, clutching her newly ripped open wound, waves of unbelievable pain washing through her. She grit her teeth at it, fighting to stay as alert as she could.

In a place where she couldn't feel anything... As the Power trying to take hold of her made everything seem dead, cold, numb around her... _That_ was the only option.

Pain was an emotion, the strongest ones there were in all honesty... And pain had been the only thing that could allow her to regain any sort of control over herself, allowing her to feel something, where she had been numb to everything.

The sudden shout of Chase as he was bombarded with dozens upon dozens of powerful blows from every direction tore through the shadow. Sting's own shout of pain each odd out soon after... And then Rogue's, someone who lived in shadow was suddenly being beaten by it.

It was at this moment that they all felt those waves of immeasurable power, the power of that Thing that was causing all of this, the Thing that had tried to unleash great Power on the world and destroy it, that Thing whose Power they hadn't been able to feel, and now they couldn't help but feel it. It radiated through their core, suffocating them, chilling them to the bone, making their hearts drop. It was too much Power, too much for anything in this world to have... Something stronger than 10,000 Dragons and then some...

They couldn't even try and defend or get away from it, the hits just came from all sides, constantly, never stopping, skin cut and bruised, bloody and battered all in a moments time. Any Magic they let up to try and block was just destroyed as if it was nothing, they couldn't move... This was like nothing they'd ever faced before, nothing should be this powerful... Nothing should be able to do this...

"... I won't ever hurt any person I care about... Ever again..." She hissed, aware of the increasing, unbridled, unparalleled Power rising all around in the shadow. Power she couldn't beat, Power she had no idea what it was... it was foreign, unrecognizable... her body felt cold, flinching at every grunt from those with her, every hiss of pain, every flash of the emotion and pain radiating from the dark, the scent of their blood being spilled so suddenly... They wouldn't last long like that, things couldn't go on much longer, not if they wanted to survive this.

 _ **"... you wont be able to save them, though, Malunafrey... They will die here, even if not by your hand..."**_ Her fists clenched,

Everything was coming to a head, she'd been denying that Thing too long, and now everything was going to come crashing to a halt... It wouldn't stop until everyone was dead, and she wasn't going to let that happen.

"Hell no..." She hissed through gritted teeth, "... I'm not gonna let you kill them... Not my family, my friends... Those innocent people... _No one._ " She brought her leg up and slammed her foot on the ground, painfully forcing herself up, body shaking and heaving, silver swirling up about her steadily, Magic rising.

"I don't care if they're my Guild, or another, or just some random person from a random town! Your quarrel is with _Me_ , leave everyone else out of it!" She clenched her jaw, her Magic flaring up faster now, silver clashing with the black all around. "I'm not gonna sit here and watch you murder anyone, I'm not gonna let you do anything as long as to continue threatening anyone and everyone! You want to pick fights?! Come at me then! I'm gonna tear you to shreds!"

She hated that people were getting dragged into this, that people were getting hurt because something was after her- and anyone around her weren't safe because of it. She couldn't care less who it was, her Guild, Sting, Rogue, whoever- this thing was after her, and it could _have_ her. She wasn't going to rest until this was dealt with, until that Thing got what was coming to it- no one was going to die for her, or because of her. _Never!_

Her Magic erupted, exploding around her like a bomb, tripling in seconds to clash with the Power radiating around them on a new level, the black engulfing them was thrown back, shredded, _ripped apart._

Spreading out before her was the throng of hundreds of Dark Wizards, the sky lit up in red again, the same attack that would have wiped them off the map before, Frea's own massive upsurge of Magic clashing with the red lift above them. At the head of the mass was the shadowy man from before, Sting, Rogue, and Chase collapsed into their knees behind her, bloody and panting, hardly able to stand from the unbelievable beating they had endured in a few moments time.

"As long as you continue to threaten people, I'm gonna stop you. Even if it kills me." Frea hissed lowly, eyes glinting in fury and anger. Her Magic flared up again, four times more powerful than it had ever been. "You're never going to win. I don't know what you want from me, and I don't care. Just remember- **I Will Destroy You.** " A shadow cast over her eyes as she said the last few words, her eyes seemingly glowing and her fangs bared, her voice a low, very dangerous tone.

The shadowy man suddenly smirked faintly, cold eyes glittering.

 ** _"I invite you to try, Malunafrey."_** He muttered, before he melted into shadow and every single hundred Dark Wizard surged forward, Magic flaring and the only thing between Sting, Rogue, and Chase- was Frea. They struggled to their feet, growling in effort, just as the spheres in the sky hurtled downward.

"Energy Dragon: Earth Shock." Frea growled,

The land in front of her was thrown up in a massive wave of Force seeping trough it, silver spray leaning from the cracks between thrown up slabs of Earth, tearing up and shredding anything it touched, stretching for a like or two in each direction, nearly decimating half of the entire force of Dark Wizards there- Frea's Power doing nothing but reaching an all time high, as her gaze switched to the sky, her arms raising.

"Energy Dome."

Everything came to a standstill, the eyes of everyone trained to the sudden upsurge of silver flashing across the Dark sky, the feel of waves of pure Power radiating all around, the source of it: a beacon of pure Strength, _Frea._

Sting, Rogue, and Chase all stood in utter shock and amazement, jaws dropped, sweatdropping heavily... They couldn't believe what they were seeing. They knew Frea was powerful... But she just destroyed half of an entire army in _one blow_ , she stood up against a power unlike any they'd ever seen before, and now... Even Chase, who knew Frea and her limits, was just astounded, shocked... This sudden surge of Power in his Old Mentor wasn't like any of the other times she'd suddenly gained more Power, not when she was angry or hurt... this was something different, and when he really looked at it... something about it was off, something about that sudden surge of Power was off, something he'd never expected from Frea, there was something weird... he just couldn't place it.

Sting and Rogue were frozen, Frea- yes, she had cast a Spell over every Wizard in Crocus, yes.. it had been clear she was much more powerful than most Wizards, one of the top in her Guild... but this was amazing, unprecedented, impossible. Even when Frea had threatened Sting in the Arena in Crocus, when he had been inside the brunt of her Magic Pressure, this was something even more powerful than that- this was impossible, a force that reached beyond anything they had seen before... something strong enough to go against that Thing, even... something so powerful it shouldn't be possible...

... where had all that Magic Power come from anyway..?

A massive silver dome stretched out to encase all of the ruin of Hilshine, the Cemetery, and all things inside. The spheres of red-hot smashed down on the shield between them and their target, the surface of the silver Magic cracking only a little, but holding up for the entirety of the attack, moving away from its original shape to engulf every last piece of opposing Magic, crush it, send millions of glittering shreds of Magic to rain down on them, all in the single gesture of Frea's closed fist.

 _That could not be possible.._. That much power, in one person? That much power in all but a few seconds?!

Their eyes landed on Frea, the silver glow engulfing her dying down until it vanished, the army of Wizards cut down to a little more than half of the hundreds there had previously been, the land before her destroyed more than it could have been by the spheres alone,

How could anyone be that strong? She seemed to gain five times the Magic she had in seconds, wounded and then she did what she couldn't alone before? As if it was nothing?

Where had those waves of power come from? Did Frea really have that much Magic...?

They stiffened the minute Frea cringed, her figure swaying dangerously, before she hit the ground- all power and strength just wasted, hissing in pain and fighting to actually stay awake.

"Frea!"

They ran up immediately, eyes wide and sweatdropping. She'd just about finished the job... Nearly defeated every single enemy, defending against an impossible attack... It shouldn't have been a wonder she was out of Magic Power just now... But even then, that was so much Magic Energy she'd just used, much more than any one had thought she had...

_"... Frea..?!"_

_".. Teach...!"_

She could hear them yelling her name, though it was far off, and she hadn't the Energy to actually reply... She couldn't piece together where all that Magic had come from... It was more than she had access to regularly, and even then... It was as if her body just reacted on its own.

She would have never been able to do any of that, make the Earth Shock Spell so strong or guard against the sphere's hurtling down, if her Magic hadn't suddenly just increased exponentially without warning... Was it anger? Or the 'massive amounts' of Magic Energy that Jynx told her she had...?

... Either way... using that much, all in that single instant... That was all she had, it was more than she _should_ have had, and now she was drained... She was having a hard time staying conscious...

... This wasn't over... That Thing, it wanted something, it was planning something... And it hadn't come yet. Not even with everything that had just happened, _this_ wasn't it... There was something else. Still that sense of something huge about to happen, and for whatever reason- she was in the center of it all.

Now why was she anyway?

Why was all of this circling around her? What did that Thing want with her? What was the point of invading Hilshine anyway...?

_I need answers... And I know only one person who might actually know... Damn it..._

Everything was lost to black.

* * *

 

"... That is the power... Of an Energy Dragon Slayer...?" A deep voice grumbled breathlessly, wind sweeping out across the clear lake, the moon rippling on the surface.

The ragged form of the huge opalescent dragon shifted slightly, long neck bent, scales cracked, looking weary, eyes closed as she heard the words murmured, filtering from the pure white sphere floating in front of her, beside it was a shadowy sphere.

"... Impossible..." A deep voice from the shadowy sphere muttered, an ear of the silver dragon twitched slightly, the reflection of the events revolving around Frea, the young Energy Mage, and the two SaberTooth Mages disappearing from the surface of the lake at an unspoken order.

"... Frea is not like your children... She never was." The opalescent Dragon murmured lowly, "Even when she was a small child... I always knew there was something about her, some important string of events that were tied to her, immeasurable, pure Power... Somewhere, deep inside her.. Out of reach..." The Dragon paused, her purple eyes opening as she glanced to the water.

"Out of reach, until the time comes where she needs it.." She added in slowly.

"Then things have begun, Chaitanya?" The voice from the white sphere murmured, "Should we act?"

"No." Was the immediate answer, "What is happening with Frea... This is something entirely different than what we planned, some separate piece of destiny I never expected..." She sighed, "... Frea has done precisely what I would have expected... The other Dragon Slayers, by some odd turn of events or other, they are being pulled into this mess with her... As I was afraid of..."

"... And she still protects them." The voice from the shadowy sphere murmured. "As you said she would, she's shown already that she's willing to protect those threatened by this Ancient Power... Even if they are from a separate Guild, or some stranger.."

"She swore to protect everyone threatened... And she meant it." The voice from the white sphere finished lowly. "Had Sting and Rogue been attacked, and Frea were not there..."

"... They would have been killed.."

Chaitanya nodded slightly, "I am aware of that..."

"We have your daughter to thank for the lives of our children." The white sphere murmured, "You trained her well, she's a kind soul, a brave one."

"And she is very strong, and not just in Magic Power. She's got a strong will, just like you- Chaitanya." The shadowy sphere murmured. "She's truly someone to he proud of... Respected."

"Even all the force of will and Magic Power in this world... I fear it will not be enough." Chaitanya breathed, eyes closing and head bowing. "... Twice before now, she has fallen closer to death... Twice before she's barely made it back... And now, she's preyed on by something I know nothing of... Something much more powerful than her, or even me... This time, she was nearly killed... This time... Something else saved her... Even then, I don't know what it was either... I'm afraid of the end result of this... In my heart, I know its not likely she'll make it out of this alive..." Her voice dropped,

The two of the spheres floating before her fell silent, emotions of worry and apprehension sparking the air between... They'd hardly ever seen the great Energy Dragon Chaitanya looking so worn, exhausted.. _Defeated._

Chaitanya was one of the oldest Dragons in existence, she with very few others had been here since the dawn of the earth, since before humans, Zeref... They were those Dragons that harnessed Ancient Magic, guided the younger Dragons as they came to be... Chaitanya was one of the most powerful Dragons, one of the most powerful beings on this Planet.. And now she was thin, strained, hopeless... It just went to show how much the safety of her daughter meant to her, how much effect events were having on her, and how serious things really were.

To admit anything was stronger than even herself... The idea was unfathomable, unsettling... Because what could be more powerful than one of the first, most Powerful Magical Beings that had roamed the earth?

"Have faith in the strength and will of your daughter, Chaitanya." The voice from the shadowy sphere murmured. "She's strong, and she continues to grow stronger each passing day... If there should be anyone to face any sort of Ancient Power, and overcome it- it will be Frea."

"She's shown her dedication, her compassion. She will overcome this, _I_ believe in that." The white sphere affirmed and Chaitanya slowly glanced at the two. For a long while, she simply regarded the both, searching for any doubt... She slowly dipped her head to them.

"Thank you, Weissalogia... Skiadrum... I will hold to the confidence you have, and I do hope your children remain safe as well." There was a murmur of thanks from the both before both spheres faded completely, leaving Chaitanya alone, her eyes settling on the still lake before her.

"... Brothers... I wish you were here so we could discuss things... Speak of this impending crisis, just as we used to in such situations like these..." She mumbled after a long while, to herself in a low voice, as she stretched a claw forward and dipped it into the water, a tone of nostalgia creeping into her voice as she watched the ripple spread away and over the lake, shattering the image of the moon on the surface.

"...One part could never do, what was needed of four..."


	41. Who Are You?

**Chapter 41**

**Who Are You?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

"Is she alright?! What happened?!"

"Sting-kun!"

"Rogue!"

Their heads snapped up as the voices yelled out to them, the three figures of Moon, Frosch, and Lector as they flew up to them from the direction of the Cemetery. Behind the three were the railing figures of the townspeople as a few of them braved coming out of the protection of the barrier.

Sting, Rogue, and Chase stood in a circle around Frea- their fists clenched and panting as their Magic faded away, every last enemy now defeated in a joint effort between the three of them. The threat finally seemed over, things had started to settle down... And they were nearly done anyway. They had been considerably hurt in their few moments the world had gone black around them, and adding on every other wound they had accumulated- and all the Magic Energy and strength they had been expending, they were hardly standing at this point.

Frosch slammed into Rogue hard enough to knock the Shadow Dragon Slayer off his feet, and Lector nearly did the same, earning hisses of pain from both SaberTooth Dragon Slayers. The SaberTooth Exceeds were in tears, or nearly in Lector's case- so glad to see their Partners alive, at leasrt. albeit very beaten and bruised.

Moon flew over toward Frea where Chase had taken a knee beside her, his blue eye glittering in worry that matched Moon's own expression.

"Frea..." Moon hissed, taking in the blood and the damage quickly. Not for the first time she wished she was able to Copy Wendy's Healing Magic- but that had proven far too complex for even Moon to successfully use as Copy-Cat Magic.

"... Damn it Teach..." Chase muttered under his breath, nearly to himself as he gingerly checked the wound in his old teacher's side- earning a small hiss from Frea. A part of him was furious she'd torn through the wound herself, but he was mostly concerned over everything... She was losing blood still and he felt his stomach drop a little. He hadn't any Magic to use anymore, and even if he did- he couldn't use that Healing Spell that Frea knew... He cringed at a sudden stab of pain run going through him from a large gash on his stomach, his eyes scrunching closed. He wasn't much better for wear than Frea was, and neither were Sting and Rogue.

Moon's ears perked at the hiss of pain from Chase, her eyes lighting up in concern. "Chase..."

Rogue and Sting moved up to them, a sudden sense of urgency hitting them as the condition on which Frea was in came to mind- very worried for the Energy Dragon Slayer that they hardly knew, and still the Energy Dragon Slayer who had essentially saved their lives, again.

Their minds were bombarded with the image of Frea's Magic exploding as it had, of the feel of the massive waves of she had suddenly had... Still having a very hard time believing anyone could be so powerful.

And on that note- they knew that much Power expended all at once had left the Energy Dragon Slayer weak, and as wounded as she was... It wasn't looking good at the moment.

The town was destroyed. They couldn't go to a hospital, they probably wouldn't be able to find any supplies either...

_What were they going to do?_

Even then, with the enemy gone- and that Thing seemingly left, was the job really over? There was still a darkness hanging over Hilshine... And to Chase, he could still feel that same Negative Energy poisoning the Land. The job wasn't over, the townspeople had no homes, they were out here alone, they were injured, there was still a Dark Power at work here.

"Ms. Frea..." Frosch stammered, lighting down near her and placing a paw on the Energy Dragon Slayer's arm gently.

"Sting-Kun, what are we going to do?" Lector asked,

"That's a good question..." Sting mumbled,

"Frea needs medical attention." Moon said, her pale blue eyes passing over the three men. "You three do as well."

"Where are we going to get that?" Lector asked and Moon sweatdropped.

"I have a suggestion."

Everyone jumped, hearts leaping at the sudden voice, heads snapping up. Chase relaxed a little at the Familiar Energy Signature, his eyes moving to see the form of Jynx standing near them- the Ghost's red eyes tired and filled with concern as she took in their state. Moon sighed, while the SaberTooth Members flinched- not recognizing the Ghost Girl.

"Who the hell are you?" Sting asked,

"She came out of nowhere..." Rogue murmured to himself, his nose twitching slightly. His eyes narrowed, "... Her scent is odd..."

"Jynx." Chase murmured, sounding somewhat relieved to see a familiar face. The SaberTooth Mages mouthed the name in confusion. "What's this suggestion you had?" He got straight to the point, at the moment- his top priority was helping Frea.

Jynx slowly moved her arm to gesture toward the top of the hill, where the white dome was still encircling the cemetery there, her expression suddenly neutral.

"The Sacred Ground of Hilshine. It does more than protect innocents from outside harm, it is an ancient force that can do many things..." Jynx explained lowly, "If you can manage it, all of you go inside that dome. The Magic there will help to keep Energy Dragon stable, and help all of you heal." They blinked in shock,

"Just being inside that dome would do that?" Moon asked in slight awe- she knew it was meant to protect people, but heal them?

Jynx nodded silently.

"Impossible..."

"It may seem that way." Jynx replied, easily hearing Rogue murmur the words, her red eyes meeting his own. "But you, Shadow Dragon, and you- White Dragon, you've both found yourselves in the midst of Ancient Powers you cannot even begin to imagine, no one can. The Protection Magic set upon that site dates before even the time in which Fiore was created, it is powerful, potent- and being activated by an equally potent Power such as Energy Dragon's, you'll find things may not be as impossible as they seem." She gestured toward Frea. "Already you've seen an amount of Power beyond anything you would have believed in anyone you knew- and been attacked by something so ancient and powerful you could not stand against it, nor even begin to understand what it was." She reminded them, earning sweatdrops in response.

Chase gave the ghost girl a level stare, suddenly getting the feeling that she knew more than she was saying... Not that it was the first time he had felt that way about Jynx. It had always been clear that Jynx had some sense of knowledge about most things that extended behind the knowledge shared by others- and he knew very well she was rather silent about most things too.

He realized that Frea felt that. Hell, she had plain out said to him that she thought Jynx was keeping secrets... And he believed it.

 _'In due time, Chase.'_ He stiffened when Jynx's voice suddenly found its way inside his head, the Ghost Girl's red eyes shifting toward him a moment. Jynx's expression was neutral, but he could see how serious she was- and how seemingly tired she seemed to be.

_'Energy Dragon will want answers as well... I will explain what I can later. Until then, please... Just trust me.'_

* * *

 

_Things were moving by in flashes, everything spinning, the ground under her feet never still, the world about her black... Always black._

_She growled to herself, fists clenched at her sides and anger continually burning._

_There was nothing she had ever hated more, not Aisha, Shadow... Not even Kasumi._

_That Thing, whatever the hell it was- she loathed it with every fiber of her being. Just thinking about it made her anger ignite like a wild flame, energy raced through her body- it made her want to tear a few buildings apart with her bare hands alone._

_To take control of **her** , to hurt **her** was one thing._

_To hurt, threaten, and try to kill her friends? Family? Anyone and everyone she knew, or didn't know at all?_

_There was nothing that made her angrier than that. This Thing wanted her for some reason, it was messing with her for some aim or other- then fine. Let it come after her, let it try and kill her._

_But the minute it brought others into the conflict, she wouldn't stand for it. **Not ever.**_

_Whatever it had planned, whatever it wanted from her- she would meet it head on. She would deal with it, before other people got dragged into the mess._

_She would handle it. No one else was going to be placed in the line of fire with her, not a single one._

_Even if it kills me... I will take it down. That's my promise, my vow._

_She wouldn't go back on her word this time._

_"Kill you it may."_

_Frea's head snapped around at the voice, her eyes trying to train the dark and make anything out. She couldn't see anything- hell she couldn't sense or scent anything either. She didn't recognize the voice either..._

_"Who the hell are you?" She asked of the black, voice low and eyes narrowed._

_"No one you know." Was the simple reply, "... And not even something inherently a 'who'. More a force... A fleeting power." Her heart skipped a moment when a flash of Energy suddenly enveloped her, something faint, something old... Something nagging at the back of her mind, something oddly familiar.. Like Jynx's Magic mixed with her own..._

_Her eyes widened slightly, just as the Energy faded from all feeling to her, it was too faint and too quick to really pick up on it- just like before._

_"You moved us out of the way..." She breathed, the realization clicking in her mind, the quick feeling of the world around her flying past suddenly crowding her memory._

_"You woke me up." She blinked. Woke you up? What? When she activated the barrier? She hadn't felt anything other than the Protection Magic flare up around them..._

_Her mind couldn't work past how she could be speaking with this thing... This person, or whatever sort of power it was.. Without being able to feel the Energy Signature attached to it, like it was there, and yet it wasn't... Like edge thing was moving too fast to even feel it._

_"... But why, why save us?" She asked lowly, eyes narrowed._

_"I was asked to."_

_"Asked?" She mumbled, "By who?"_

_"By someone who truly loves you." She blinked in shock, but didn't get time to ask more. ".. Things are fluid, always in motion... You stopped the current, pulled me from the depths, and threw a stone into the river, you created a ripple- and a large one at that. Whoever you are, and whatever that Ancient Power was that attacked you, and this Land... There is a large rift now, something massive- with you in the center. Surrounded by darkness." She took a small step to the side, eyes narrowing as she listened._

_"What is that supposed to mean?" She muttered, eyes closing._

_"Everything you've already begun to guess, as I'm sure." She stiffened a little. Everything she'd begun to guess?_

* * *

 

"Will you follow me?"

Chase glanced up as Jynx asked him the question, the Cemetery around them as they had arrived there not long before.

The moment they had walked inside the confines of the barrier, they felt their pain diminish, like a cool wave of water had fallen over them, and strength began to return to their limbs. Already Frea's bleeding had stopped, so had Chase's, Sting and Rogue's. they had settled down in the center of the Cemetery, not far from the wall in which Frea had activated the Barrier from- the townspeople around them and inside the barrier, milling about and murmuring among themselves fretfully. How could they not?

Their town was destroyed, _gone_. It was nothing but a crater now, they had no homes, no livelihood. They didn't know what to do- and he didn't know what to say to them either.

They're job had been to protect this place, and though they have protected the people, their town was gone, and their Land was still poisoned, dark. He hadn't any idea what to do.

Moon's eyes moved up to land on Jynx's as the Ghost said the words, from where both he and the grey Exceed were settled down where Frea was, with Sting, Rogue, Lector and Frosch close by. Some of the townspeople had brought supplies with them, and had seen to wrapping the worst of the Mages wounds already- doing what they could.

"Where to?" He asked slowly,

"The issue of the Land being poisoned is still at hand." Jynx reminded him. "Things will not become better as long as things are sick like this, the evil force needs to be cast out, cleansed." He nodded in agreement at what she said, though he sweatdropped slightly.

"I know that Jynx... But I haven't the slightest clue how to fix that." He admitted, "Fixing things on the spot like that have always been more Teach's thing... And I probably don't even have enough Power to pull it off even if I did know how."

"Have faith in yourself." Jynx smiled slightly, "You are very powerful all on your own." She told him gently, earning a not so believing stare from him. "I have an idea to cleanse this place, and I need you to help me." She explained, before her eyes moved away from Chase toward where the SaberTooth Mages were.

"We will also require your help, White Dragon." Jynx raised her voice so she could grab Sting's attention. Sting's head snapped around toward them, looking shocked, sweatdropping a little.

"Me?" Sting murmured, blinking a few times. Jynx nodded,

"Your status as a White Dragon Slayer gives you a pure soul, we will need the help of your Magic to cleanse the Land here." She explained and Sting faltered a minute- he wasn't sure he liked the Ghost Girl, he'd only met her a few minutes ago and Rogue had been right- her scent was odd. As if she wasn't really human in a way, more wispy- and the way she had just appeared from thin air... It put him on edge. From the Fairy Tail Guild Mark on her shoulder blade he knew she was a part of the Fairy Tail Guild, he had never seem her before though.

_And what was that about a pure soul?_

"What is it you'd have me do exactly...?" He asked at length, eyes narrowing a little.

"While your Magic is inherently pure, you do not have the capability to tap into the Land in the way that is needed to drive back the darkness seeping into it." Jynx explained easily. "Force alone cannot destroy this shadow, at least- not any force we currently have on hand." For a split second, Jynx's eyes flashed toward the still unconscious Frea- but it was hardly anything at all Chase wasn't sure he had seen it. "Chase can bring your Magic into the depth of the land- and lend a backing force to your Magic, White Dragon, as you attempt to drive away the Negative Energy latched onto it."

"But how am I supposed to...?"

"How am I gonna get his Magic 'closer' to the Land?"

Both Chase and Sting voiced their questions simultaneously, eyes narrowed as they heard the explanation. Jynx sighed silently, but her lips pulled into a small, weary smile all the same.

"You'd be surprised how naturally some things come, once you attempt them." She murmured. It was something she had seen in Wizards a hundred times over- how naturally action came when they attempted something, how easily they were able to overcome doubt... It was something she had seen a dozen times and more in Frea alone.

"I will help you of course." Jynx reassured the two, her thoughts moving back to the present. "But I don't doubt you will both figure it out rather quickly all on your own, it will be instinct." Sting and Rogue exchanged glances, while Moon and Chase did the same. They seemed to be contemplating it, and while Chase knew the Negative Energy hanging over the Land needed to be dealt with- Sting was wary of the idea, because to him such things as 'Negative Energy' and the power of the 'Land' were all very foreign and unknown to him.

"This town has been destroyed." Jynx said suddenly, earning their eyes again and a collective 'no really?' Look from each and every one. "The Land is poisoned, no living things are able to survive here- you've seen that already in the plants and trees. Nothing lives. And if left too long, the people of Hilshine will no longer be able to make a home here." They sweatdropped, because that was the question- how were these people going to live from now on? They hadn't any homes left, no buildings, no shelter... It was a gone.

"They can rebuild." Jynx answered them all simply, "But only once the Negative Energy here has been dealt with." She paused slightly, eyes narrowing a bit. "... And I think we may even be surprised at how quickly things pick up, once this shadow is driven out." They blinked in confusion, Chase's eyes narrowed a bit more- suddenly reminded of what she had said earlier.

_"The Protection Magic set upon that site dates before even the time in which Fiore was created, it is powerful, potent- and being activated by an equally potent Power such as Energy Dragon's, you'll find things may not be as impossible as they seem..."_

Did Jynx believe that somehow, once the Negative Energy latched onto Hilshine was banished... That this Ancient Power attached to this Sacred Place, would somehow react to it being thrown out? That it would do something, make things better, even spread..?

After everything that had happened on this mission, of everything he'd seen, how shocked he was with that Thing, of his much Power his Old Mentor gained in an instant.. Power she never seemed to have before, of the Protection Magic about this place guarding the people, and even helping them to heal... He wouldn't be entirely surprised if this Ancient Power floating about him could react to the Negative Energy being banished.

As he felt it now, it was calm, warm, smooth in a way... Faint but not without a serious amount of Lower backing it. It was Ancient, it was Powerful... In a way it was more alive than any Energy he had felt before. He felt that it could, and probably would react to banishing the Negative Energy... And maybe even spread, even at the moment- it felt like this Magic was keeping itself inside its dome shape, but it as almost as if it wanted to move- it was so powerful it should have spilled from its confines before now, and it hadn't.

Rogue sighed slightly and nudged Sting, "Go. See what you can do, you might as well try." The Shadow Dragon Slayer told his fellow Dragon Slayer calmly, his poker face back on- but Chase couldn't help but feel the wariness sparking off of him and Sting alike. It was clear that the SaberTooth Mages didn't seem to like Jynx very much... He supposed that was to be expected. To Dragon Slayers alone, Jynx must be very odd indeed, even if they couldn't sense her Energy Signature like he could.

Sting nodded slightly, sweatdropping with a sigh as he slowly, stiffly got to his feet. "I'm willing to try if you are." He said with a look at Chase, who paused slightly, his eyes moving toward Frea a minute- not quite looking to leave her be.

Rogue noticed the look, and moved over toward them, giving the Energy Mage a steady look. "Go, we'll keep an eye on Ms... An eye on Frea." He promised, nodding once with Lector and Frosch as they moved closer, the two raising their paws in promise, now standing next to Moon who smiled slightly at them.

Chase sighed a little and stiffly got to his feet, stifling a small wince as he nodded once, and glanced toward Jynx. "We'll try at any rate." He told her, the Ghost Girl nodded in turn and gestured for them to follow.

"We'll be back." Chase waved a hand over his shoulder,

"We'll get rid of this 'darkness' too." Sting smirked, warning a small smile from Chase as the return of the blonde's cocky attitude- which had been missing since the small challenge Frea had put him up to.

The remaining Mages smiled a little and called small good lucks, before they looked away.

Moon sighed silently as she patted Frea's shoulder gently, eyes halfway closed from where she sat near the head of her Partner. There was a mat underneath her with a small folded sheet to act as a pillow for her head, and no sigh from the Energy Dragon Slayer that she was going to stir anytime soon.

Her shirt was stained dark red where her side had been ripped apart- twice, from what Chase had said. The rest of her body was littered with other smaller wounds, nothing serious- but her breathing was still heavy, and probably due to the amount of strain she placed on herself, and how exhausted she had made herself expending such colossal amounts of Power as she had... Power Moon had hardly seen from Frea; more than she had ever seen, actually.

It made her heart ache to see Frea like this, and so soon after the last time... She hated it so much, and yet it kept happening.

But nothing could compare to how empty she had felt when it seemed that Frea and Chase, and Sting and Rogue... When they had seemed dead.

All the times Frea got hurt, how many times she exhausted herself to the point of collapsing... Nothing hurt more than that moment, nothing... She had never felt so broken, _not since Kyo..._

Moon shook her head a little to clear it of the thought.

"Ms. Moon?" Lector asked, earning her attention. She blinked, looking up and over toward him.

"Just Moon is fine." She told him quietly, and he nodded a little.

"Are you alright?" He asked and she nodded a little,

"Yes... I'm just getting tired of seeing her like this." She admitted quietly, her eyes closing.

"... This happens a lot...?" Rogue asked slowly, blinking in shock. Moon sweatdropped at the question,

"More than you could imagine... And especially pretty often, just recently. With everything involving that... That _Thing_ , whatever the hell it is, and the Infinity Clock only just over a week ago..." _Of which Frea stupidly ate all of Cobra's Poison,_ she added hotly to herself... "... Things have just been crazy since the incident at Nvindorr we mentioned before." The SaberTooth Mages nodded slightly, sweatdropping a bit. _Before that in all reality, with Aisha and whatnot... damn it..._

"... It makes one wonder, why all of this surrounds Frea at all." Rogue mumbled, half to himself, shifting to settle down a bit more comfortably beside them, his arms crossing over his chest and eyes closing. Moon nodded slightly, it was question she'd asked of herself many times.

"... Is Ms. Frea going to be ok...?" Frosch asked, his eyes wide in worry as he brushed a paw against Frea's hair gently.

"... From what I've seen of her, I don't doubt she'll be fine." Rogue murmured, earning a small blink from Moon, as Frosch nodded slightly and sat down, a small frown still pulling at his face.

Moon had noticed it before... But a lot of people held Frea in high regard, even people who didn't necessarily know the Energy Dragon Slayer very well. It was to be expected she supposed, Frea was one of the stronger Mages around... And she must have made herself known before know with the other Guilds and Mages- she had done so during the GMG and the Dragon Fight most noticeably.

"... She is very strong... Exceptionally so..." Rogue mumbled half to himself, his eyes flicking over Frea a minute before he let them close, arms crossing over his chest as he seemed to fall into thought. Moon could immediately see he seemed a bit tense; if the small frown on his face and the fact that he sweatdropped was any indication.

It wasn't hard to guess what he was thinking about either, it was clearly the exceptional and very much _unreal_ display of Power Frea had shown.

To Moon it was shocking, how much Power the Energy Dragon Slayer had had in such a short amount of time... But to someone like Rogue who hardly knew Frea at all, what he witnessed must have been considerably staggering.

He knew she was no normal Wizard... No Normal Dragon Slayer at that, but he would never admit that aloud.

"... This Jynx girl." Rogue murmured, catching Moon off guard with the subject- she had expected something about Frea. His eyes opened slowly as he settled his gaze on the grey Exceed calmly. "I've never seen her among your Guild before... Nor heard anyone mention her either." He murmured, pausing slightly as of it was choosing his words carefully. "... She... Her scent is odd, wispy and _old_ almost. So is her demeanor, as well as the way she seemed to just appear out of nowhere." Moon nodded slightly, fairly sure of where he was going with what he said. "And she seems to know quite a bit about the situation, and this place individually... If I may ask, but- who is she really?"

"I could see you and Sting were caught off guard." Moon murmured. "Jynx tends to have that effect on people actually... She makes a habit of popping up without warning." They all blinked at her and she sighed. "As for who she is... I'm not entirely sure myself. She's a bit of a mystery." That's when they looked to her in confusion and she paused.

"Please keep in mind... I've only been a part of Fairy Tail a short time. I found Frea on the second day of the GMG, and joined Fairy Tail on the third. I've done my best to learn everything about the Guild as quickly as I can, and I've done considerably well so far of I do say so myself." They stared, "But hardly anyone at the Guild knows who Jynx really is... She was a Member when Master Makarov wasn't even Master... She's a Ghost. And one who knows a lot about a lot of things, and no one knows how- she just does."

"Ghost...?" Frosch mumbled. Moon nodded,

"She died but came back as a Ghost... Only because her Magic allowed it. She's a 'Spirit Mage', though I've never heard of that." They sweatdropped, looking shocked and even a little uneasy.

First an Unknown Ancient Power, an army of Mages, a Darkness hanging over Hilshine, Frea's insane power, and now Ghosts? What's next?

_Fairy Tail and its Mages were very odd indeed..._

"Hardly anyone knows who she is?" Rogue murmured, composing himself a little.

"She's not particularly big on sharing... She's elusive and secretive- but the Guild doesn't seem to mind. She's helped us on several occasions, and she is still a Member after all." Moon explained, though she silently added the idea that she was very aware both Frea and even Chase seemed wary of the Ghost Girl, Frea especially. The SaberTooth Mages nodded a bit and she sighed, "I'm sorry I can't tell you more, its just that no one really knows a lot about her."

"Its alright." Rogue murmured.

"But, since the GMG, Moon?" Lector breathed, "You joined then? It seems like you've been a member of Fairy Tail for years.." Moon shook her head, smiling slightly.

"No, its only been a few months." Moon murmured.

"You and Frea became fast friends." Rogue murmured, "You clearly care for each other very much, its somewhat surprising your relationship built up that way in such a short amount of time."

That was true, they had jumped into their whole Partnership rather fast.. But there had been something there, even if they hadn't realized it at the time. There was some sort of spark between them, it pulled them together and made them friends faster than anyone she'd ever known. They cared for each other with the dedication and loyalty of two people who had known each other for years at least... When in reality it had only been a few months since she met Frea for the first time.

It wasn't just with herself though, Frea had a talent for getting people to open up to her fast... For getting people to listen, to understand things, to let their guards down- even the most unlikely people.

The way Cobra's entire demeanor suddenly changed, when Frea had been fighting him. It wasn't the fact he realized he couldn't win, it wasn't that he was afraid of her- it was... _Realization_. He understood everything, what Frea had said to him had hit home in a way nothing ever had, so much so he had stopped fighting. He had done what Frea asked of him, he had even helped her afterward... He had vowed to become better and help his friends do the same.

Had it been Natsu of Gajeel or Chase, even Erza- they would have done nothing but try to take him down. They would have thrown their fists at Cobra until his mind fell away into black, and then left him.

But Frea _changed_ him. Just a little, but enough. She got through to him, something Moon doubted anyone else would have been able to do.

 _That's who Frea is really... She just gets it. She understands people, how they feel, how they think... And she just knows how to get through to them, to get them to understand, to change the people who don't seem capable of changing, of opening up, anything..._ There was a sense of being able to trust the Energy Dragon Slayer completely without even hardly knowing her.

That's what had happened with her and Moon that day they met. It didn't make any sense that Moon would tell Frea- a nearly complete stranger- about her life with Kyo and the Dark Guild, but she had. She just told her, and she did it because deep down she felt she could trust her...

"Frea has that effect on people." Moon replied softly, smiling as she glanced between the three boys. "She's always growing on people very fast... She makes friends easily, even if she and they, don't really realize it." Her eyes glinted slightly as she stopped on Rogue, Lector and Frosch.

"Its just who she is... Someone others can really trust."

"Are you familiar with Energy Dragon's Purification Spell?" Jynx murmured after having lead them away toward the very top of the hill and the Cemetery. Chase blinked, catching a confused look on Sting's face at the question.

"Teach has mentioned it before, but I've never seen it personally." He answered slowly, thinking back to the stories he had heard of Senna, and the time Frea was teaching him about Spells- she had relayed the ones she had at her disposal, and the 'Purifying Sphere' Spell had come up.

Apparently, it was one of those very powerful Secret Arts that Dragon Slayers hardly used... Which explains why he had never seen it personally.

"... What I have in mind will be similar to that Spell." Jynx brought his thoughts back to her and he blinked in slight shock.

"That's comforting..." He mumbled, half to himself. "Considering I have no idea what that Spell even is like... Or any clue how to get to that sort of level..."

"Would you care to fill me in...?" Sting asked, bumping Chase slightly with his elbow, sweatdropping with a confused frown.

"Its a Secret Art that Teach knows, one I think she's only ever used once before." He explained, earning a blink and wide eyes at the 'Secret Art' part. "... As far as I know, it locks on to one dark Energy and 'purifies', 'clears' or destroys it based on what Teach wants... Its a large Spell and its hard to cast," he paused, sweatdropping himself. "Without ever having been around to see Teach use it, I have no clue how to even go about creating a Spell like that..."

"And that is precisely why White Dragon is here." Jynx told them both, coming to a sudden halt and turning toward them.

"Its Sting..." Sting mumbled, though it was clear Jynx was going to ignore that.

"What do you mean?" Chase asked, they had reached the top most part of the hill and the Cemetery now, the hill sloped downward behind them, back toward the center where they had left their Guild Mates and the other townspeople. Before them was nothing but open air, a view of the destruction and the entire space below them- a single, ancient, tree bare of any leaves and sickly grey in color was behind Jynx as she turned to them.

"The Darkness hanging over this Land is not something that can simply be destroyed- it is too strong for the two of you, or anyone you know- to simply just crush it." Jynx explained in a neutral tone, her red gaze fixed on them both. They frowned slightly, knowing that was probably true... The amount of Power that Thing had had, they couldn't begin to fathom how strong the hold it had on Hilshine could be.

"Since its _destruction_ is not an option- it simply needs to be _banished_. This Land cleansed of its poison, it Negative Energy driven out- so that light and health may come here again." They just blinked, "Chase, I know you do not know how it is Energy Dragon's Spell works- but you do not need to know. The Purifying Element that presents itself in her Magic, is to be replaced by the pure and 'Holy' Element in White Dragon's own Magic and soul." Jynx gestured toward Sting who blinked in shock, not looking so convinced.

 _Yes..._ Sting's Energy Signature was inherently pure and well... White- Chase could understand where Jynx was getting at with that much at any rate.

"And you need me for...?" He murmured, head tilted slightly. Jynx smiled slightly, a change from her mostly exhausted and serious appearance since showing herself.

"However powerful White Dragon is- he cannot connect to the Land like you can, nor stretch his Magic as far as, or at the level of precision needed to actually have any chance at driving the shadow out of Hilshine." Jynx replied in a rather matter-of-fact tone. "To succeed in this endeavor, the two of you must combine your Magic at work as one. With Chase connecting both of you two the Land and stretching it as far as needed- and White Dragon combating the Darkness enough to drive it out."

"You make it sound so easy..." Sting murmured. Chase sweatdropped,

"It won't be though..." Chase mumbled, "Connecting to the Land on my own is second Nature... But to connect Sting to it, and amplify it too?" He shook his head a little, rubbing the back of his neck with a sigh. "... That'll be a new one for me... If I can manage it..."

"... Will our Magics even combine?" Sting asked, his mind going to his Unison Raid with Rogue... Something he and the Shadow Dragon Slayer had perfected over years of working together. He hardly knew Chase, so would it even be possible to combine his Magic with the Energy Mages on such a level that they could pull of such a complex idea?

"Maybe." Chase murmured, earning a small blink of surprise. "My Magic is relatively flexible, conforming to yours probably won't be a huge issue- its not as if our Magics are opposite each other. And besides;" Chase sighed. "If there is any Magic out there best suited to combing with others, its Energy Magic." Sting nodded a little, frowning as he tried to piece it together. All of this was rather foreign to him- where Chase was used to such ideas as the Land and using his Magic for something other than fighting, those were not something Sting was used to.

"... The question is," Chase looked back to Jynx who blinked once. "Will this Thing keeping hold on the Land try and fight back?" Sting's head snapped up toward him at that.

It was a valid question, as he knew it was whatever that Thing was- it was poising the Land, maybe on purpose, or maybe it was just so powerful it was affecting anything around it- which based on how powerful it really was, that wouldn't surprise him at all.

But if they were to try and combat this 'Darkness' as Jynx put it, that Negative Energy could and probably would fight back, and then they may find themselves in a world of hurt for it. And of they were busy trying to rid it of Hilshine, any attack made on them- they would be too busy and focused to try and block it. All concentration would have to be focused on 'Purifying' Hilshine.

"We might not be able to block any blows aimed at us." Sting murmured with a nod of agreement from Chase. Chase doubted that even being inside this Barrier would keep them safe if they tapped into the Land as they planned.

"This is true, you are right." Jynx murmured. "But that is also why I am here." She answered easily, "While the both of you combine your Power and work to banish this darkness from this place- I will defend you against any attacks sent toward you, you have my word."

"How?" Sting and Chase asked at once,

Jynx closed her eyes and swept her hand out toward them, Chase stiffened slightly at the feel of Jynx's Magic rising in a way he had never felt before, and Sting tensed too.

Jynx's Magic had always been faint and weak comparatively, something Chase had always accredited to the fact that she was a ghost- and had many time before remarked how limited her Power was in the form she had now. Which is a large reason as to why it was so odd to think she would promise to protect them, if her Magic wasn't strong or large to begin with.

But now- now her Magic seemed to have tripled without precedence. It had grown stronger, and he had never known until just now- and for a Ghost, the amount of Power he was feeling coming from Jynx now could very much rival the amount that Lucy had, which was a large step up from how much she used to present.

"I am known as a Master Spirit Mage," she reminded softly. "I have more than a few tricks up my sleeve.. And one of them, is this." She snapped her fingers and both Sting and Chase went rigid- it feeling as if something had suddenly clamped down around their very beings, like something were suddenly hovering around them, though they couldn't see it... And to Chase, it was suddenly something very cold and even a little.. _Dark_.

_Is this what Jynx's Magic really feels like...?_

To him it was as if her Magic had taken hold of his very being, his Energy, his body, all of it. It was swirling about him in nearly imperceptible, never faltering rhythms at all times. He couldn't see her Magic, he might be able to if he tried to use 'Energy Sense' but he could feel it... And her Magic never faltered, broke, or left something open. To him, it felt so secure about him... It was like nothing could touch him, and he sweatdropped, blinking rapidly in shock at the feeling.

" **Being Protect** \- a very powerful defensive shield against any and all forms of attack... Whether they are physical, mental, spiritual, etc." Jynx went on, not seeming to notice the somewhat nervous looks on both boys faces. "I will keep this Spell going, and protect you both should this darkness lash back at you." They exchanged glances,

"Alright... But we still don't necessarily know how to go about this.." Sting murmured and Jynx slowly opened her eyes to see them again.

"As I already said, most of this will simply come as instinct to you both- I don't doubt that." She replied easily, "Have faith in yourselves."

Sting and Chase exchanged wary glances, both of them sweatdropping and looking uncertain. Instinct? On something they knew very little to nothing about? And at the same time, trying something along the lines of Frea's Purification Sphere Spell... of which neither of them had seen before.

Relying simply on instinct would not be so simple....

Chase sighed and turned to Sting, "Alright.... Since I know you have no idea how to go about this either.... We'll start with this at least." He murmured, earning a small nod and a questioning glance as Chase folded his hands in front of him and closed his eyes. "I'm going to lock on to your Energy Signature and try to get our Magics to meld before attempting to connect us both to the Land."

"Alright..." Sting murmured, body stiff and eyes fixed to the Energy Mage silently. Chase sighed silently at the tense emotions dancing off of the SaberTooth Mage, the uncertainty..... all things he shared.

But they needed to try, they had to try. This village was under their protection, they had take a job to keep it safe- and it wasn't, it wouldn't be until this shadow had been thrown out, and the Land allowed to heal itself, return to normal. They had failed to save the people's homes, but the couldn't fail to do this.

"Try to relax though... I'm not gonna hurt you. Just try and reach out with your Magic toward me," Chase murmured in slight exasperation. "Try not to fight me if you can, we need our Magic to move in rhythm, as well as they can..."

"Ok... But what then?"

"... I suppose, Spell creation." Chase murmured, nearly half to himself, ignoring the confused feelings dancing off of Sting as his senses cast out toward the Energy Signature of the White Dragon Slayer- trying to cast his Magic out so it could collide with Sting's, to move in sync... Though they battered and pushed at each other unconsciously at the sudden contact.

"... Spell creation...?" Sting mumbled, too low for anyone to hear as he frowned slightly at the answer. What did he mean by that? He couldn't know of a Spell that could fix this, could he?

He already said he didn't... _So what, was he just going to make one up now and hope for the best? That's insane..._

His body tensed as he felt a slight feeling of something cool hitting him, something calm and smooth- but not lacking in power... The soft scent of something like mist hit his nose, realizing it must be Chase's Magic coming toward him- and connecting with his own in a small jolt he felt deep inside himself. However much he tried to relax himself, his Magic didn't seem to want to meld, and he growled a little.

Chase grumbled a little and forced his Magic to try and conform to the nature of Stings- the bright, vibrant feel of it, the pureness of it... It was something odd in itself really, Sting's Energy was both fluid and a steadfast force, something about 'White Magic' was unique, something between light and pure force mixed together...

He let himself relax as his Magic began to move in the rhymthetic waves that Sting's own Magic moved unconsciously around him, forcing his Magic to move in ways it usually wouldn't, slowly changing... Until he managed to match Sting's nearly perfectly, and he was able to relax a little, no longer trying to force it more than he needed. Sting visibly relaxed a little too, though he still sweatdropped at the foreignness of it... He'd never combined his Magic with anyone other than Rogue before now, and the feel of Chase's Magic was very different from the Shadow Dragon Slayer.

Chase sighed silently, now to try and get Sting connected to the Land as he could naturally... In a sense, to guide Sting's Magic down into the Land itself in a stable connection that allowed him to feel it, allow Sting's Magic to move freely in it.

His mind moved toward the day they had first met Aisha, during the Balance Shift. To the very moment Frea had finished reciting her Spell, the moment her Magic flared in a sense of something far darker than he had ever felt from his Old Mentor- the strange markings that had appeared in the arm's of Frea and Aisha alike. The very moment he felt that somehow, Frea and Aisha's Energy a signatures were close, intermingled, held together by some dark power he had never expected... Forced together as one on a level so profound it should have been impossible.

He had never questioned that Spell, he hadn't ever needed to- because he knew what it was, he knew it was Forbidden Magic and he had known nothing he could have said would have made Frea happy, so he left it alone. When he had been training with Frea she had mentioned Forbidden Magic before, never in detail though- the rest he had picked up on on his own, reading from books or stories by other Mages. He knew of was dangerous, so he never pried- he wouldn't use it... But he realized it was that level of intermingling that had happened between the Energies of Frea and Aisha in all but a split moment- that was the sort of thing he needed now. In order to connect himself, and Sting to the Land in a firm enough bond that they could drive away this Ancient Power.

He had already managed to get his Magic to mix with Stings, though not perfect... It would do. And with that part out of the way- he would need to be the thing that held Sting down to the Land. The thing that forced a connection between the White Dragon Slayer and the Land itself.

_Almost... Like a bridge of sorts... Huh._

His thoughts seemed to click together as his mind fell into full concentration, his senses casting out toward the Land while also keeping his Magic flowing with that of Sting. Force the connection, act as the leeway, the bridge...

_"... Two Magics,_

_Unalike in sense,_

_Incompatible in energy,_

_One as the path, as the bridge,_

_The other the link to be made,_

_A connection to be forced,_

_The world to be opened,_

_And the Land to be placed in contact,_

_With what never was."_

The words began to flow on the odd sense of clarity that usually and when creating a Spell, as if he instinctively knew what to say, as his Magic began to pull Sting's own Energy away with him, pulling farther toward the Energy of the Land,

_"Bond the two that would not touch,_

_Connect those that were apart,_

_Ignore what may have kept them separate,_

_Allow them as one;"_

The light of light blue and white bag. To spiral in succession about the both of Sting and Chase as their Magic seemed to take a life of its own- their minds lost to concentration as Sting felt himself pulled further, toward the edges of his mind, his senses... His Magic began to act without him needing to think about it.

 **"Forced Link: Land Connection.** " Chase said, his to e clear and curt as his body tensed in effort, feeling the sudden strain of forcing his and Sting's Magic to hard, of forcing the Land to meld with Sting's Energy, to connect him to it.

Sting felt as if his senses had suddenly been heightened to new levels. As if he could hear the smallest sound for smiles, smell scents leagues away... Feel everything around him in a way he hadn't before. The sudden in-surge to him was madly staggering, and yet it was... _Amazing._

Was this what being connected to the Land felt like? This sense of the world around him that seemed to regale deep into the core of the earth, travel leagues in all directions...!

_Was this what it felt like.. To be an Energy Mage...?_

His Magic flared up in full force the moment Chase said those words, the moment the light blue increased to match the brilliant brand of white engulfing them both now.

There was a shadow hanging there, at the edges of their minds... Something dark and cold and toxic, and it began to move toward them as Sting's Magic flared. As his Magic moved to meet that of the shadow head on, backed by the blaze of blue of Chase's Magic, pushing, battering, ramming into it- driving it back as much as they could manage.

Streams of blue and white flowed from under their feet and across the ground all around Hilshine, earning the wide stares of the people,

Chase stiffened when he felt a massive wave of force moving toward them, from the shadow en-wrapped about the land- before that wall of black was suddenly stopped in its tracks by the sudden flare of purple, of Magic dark, foreign, and yet so familiar Magic.

_Jynx's Magic._

Sting growled at the strain of using his Magic, especially after hours of fighting- as his Magic was pushed backward by the shadow a little, he pushed harder. Chase's own Magic rose to move in unison with Sting's, combating the darkness with more force and effort until they were engulfed in a spheres of their combined magic, Jynx and the tree in which they stood by engulfed in the swirling mass of sure and blue as well.

The eyes of the townspeople moved from the streams of light moving over the ground toward the large mass of Magic surging at the highest rise in the cemetery, a sense of tenseness on the air steadily increasing, the feel of Magic rising to an extent they could feel the air vibrating.

Rogue, Lector, Moon and Frosch looked toward it with wide eyes, feeling the combined Magic washing over them in immense waves that couldn't possibly be coming from Sting of Chase alone... _No, not alone._

"Their Magic, its.." Moon murmured, eyes wide in complete shock. The amount of power radiating around them was immense, it was making the air shake it was so strong...

"... Completely combined, in perfect unison." Rogue murmured, his Power Face completely gone. And in such a short amount of time, and with so much power?!

 _"Unison Raid:"_ Sting and Chase muttered together, their Magics reaching an all time high as they completely converged to make a pale blue lined in shimmering white.

_**"Holy Ground!"** _

A wave of blue and white passed out over the entirety of the cemetery, and a long ways over the rest of Hilshine, breaking apart the clouds and causing them to begin to clear, shadows losing their dark, pitch black, the tenseness in the air, and the sickly scent of decay were replaced with the fresh scent of mist... It was as if the entire mass of Hilshine suddenly took in one, long, calming breath- just as the combined force of Chase and Sting's Magic rammed into the shadow with so much force it was completely driven out, it poisonous hold on the Land thrown out.

Their Magics faded as they both collapsed onto the grass, panting and covered in sweat, suddenly drained from the effort as the hold Chase had on Sting's Energy ceased. Both men fell onto their backs and tried to catch their breath, oblivious to the murmurings of the townspeople.

Jynx took in a silent sigh as she let her own Magic fade about the two- the dark feeling circling them suddenly melting away. She looked to the both of them, "As I said, instinct is all you needed... You both make a very formidable force." She told them softly, earning no replies.

The Ghost Girl looked away from them and toward the tree that rest behind her, her red gaze locked to the faint, nearly impossible to see swirling bits of gold moving from the topmost branches of the tree- toward the outline of the dome covering the cemetery.

Everything suddenly seemed to breath easier, a great sight being lifted from the space... Light returning as calm, peaceful power began to move out over everything in relaxing waves. The Ancient Magic connected to this Sacred Place beginning to move on its own accord, as if it had a mind of its own.

"... The Darkness is gone... The light may return... And time itself may right any wrongs it feels it should... Peace and health may fall on this land once more..." Jynx murmured, to herself and away from other ears, her red gaze moving about Hilshine, shining in some unknown light as a distant expression passed across her face.

"... Holy Ground... Awoken by Power unlike any other..."

* * *

 

 _Everything seemed..._ Lighter _than it had been, a soft river flowing past her, gentle waves lapping at her body as she lay in the cool, pleasant shallows- the sun shining down warmly, not a cloud in the sky as the warm rays hit her face... All sense of tension, fear, anger, sadness... Unhappiness... It had all been lifted. All of it kept from weighing on her as it had before, she felt lighter, more relaxed... Like she could breath easy again._

_"Everything you've already begun to guess, as I'm sure."_

_Her feeling of pleasantness and calm faded entirely as the conversation came back to mind, but she pushed it away- she wouldn't go back to that discussion, not now... And not ever if she could. She didn't need to think about that._

_Frea forced herself to feel the Energy about her- the peaceful emotion, the calm... The sense of light, and steadiness._

_She knew this Energy, it was intermingled, two of them- but she knew them easily, and a part of her smile softly on the inside._

_Though she had never considered it, it was Energy Magic and White Magic that seemed to make quite the pair when put together... Most certainly an effort between Chase and Sting- and for a reason she easily guessed._

_Even floating on the fringes of black unconsciousness and the waking world- that sense of peace, of relaxation- the lift of tension, the light. It was all because that Negative Energy that had been latched onto the Land around Hilshine was suddenly gone. It had been cast out, driven away- and what was left was a lasting wisp of their Magics, and the sudden surge of that same Ancient Magic that had erupted about the Sacred Ground- something she couldn't place, but something old, and powerful._

_And speaking of Magic she couldn't place..._

_A unexpected flash of anger found its way inside of her in the next moment- a sense of annoyance, distrust, and unhappiness- of hurt._

_She knew she was being lied to, that had suddenly become clear. Things were being kept from her, and she hated that- because those things kept, she needed to know._

_And she knew that damned Ghost knew it too- and still she was keeping secrets._

_She needed answers, and she damn well better get them._

* * *

 

Her eyes flicked open slowly, wincing slightly at the bright light that greeted her from a high sun in a pale blue sky- a soft breeze stirring the grass and her hair as it wound its way through... The Cemetery.

She glanced sideways, one eye cracked open halfway and the other closed, taking in the now blooming and healthy looking plants about her, the bedroll she had been laid on, the soft humm of people murmuring and the far off sound of... Hammers she guessed. She lift her head slightly to try and see if there was anyone close by, but there wasn't, so she let her head fall back against the folded cloth serving as a pillow with a small sigh- trying to fight down the lingering flash of anger she had felt.

Her eyes searched the blue sky silently, a nice change to the deep mass of black that had plagued the sky since they had arrived in Hilshine. Her eyes flicked sideways at the small flicker of pale white floating up from the ground still- the Magic of the barrier, which was still going... She supposed it would be for a long while yet.

She slowly sat up and stifled a wince, a hand moving to cover the wound in her side- which was now covered in bandages. The memory of the man's hand, and then her own, tearing through the skin made her sweatdrop slightly. Most of her other wounds were fairly healed and gone already- she slightly assumed it was something to do with being inside the barrier, even now she could feel it moving through her very being slowly, bringing a sense of peace and tranquility- but it was the wound in her side that didn't seem to have healed nearly as well, or even very much at all.

"Ms. Frea!"

Her head snapped around toward the happy greeting, her heart leaping a little since she hadn't been expecting it- she hadn't seen anyone, nor had she noticed any Energy Signatures near her-

A blob of pink and green crashed into her lap suddenly, small little arms wrapping about her torso gently, but not without bumping her wound- though she didn't let herself react to the flash of pain.

Frosch looked up at her with wide, happy, gleaming eyes as the Exceed smiled. She blinked, surprised he was there and unsure as to why she hadn't noticed the SaberTooth Exceed at all.

"You're awake!" Frosch said happily,

"Hello Frosch..." Frea murmured, smiling just slightly as she placed a hand on the SaberTooth Exceed's head gently. "Its good to see you." Not who she would have expected, but she didn't mind- in all honesty, Frosch was really cute- though she'd never admit it out loud. Just seeing that smiling face made her simmering anger die down a bit more.

"Fro thinks so too!"

"How long have I been asleep?" She asked, as Frosch moved to sit in her lap comfortably, she leaned back a little and propped herself up with her hands behind her.

"Two days!" The Exceed answered, and she blinked only once. Not surprised at the statement... _Well, a little_ \- she would have expected herself to be out for a bit longer than that, considering how much Magic she had used, even now she didn't have any to spare. Even know, though she felt ten times better and more refreshed, exhaustion still clung to her like a cloak.

"Where are everyone else?"

"Rogue, Lector, Sting, Chase and Miss Moon are all down in the village, helping with repairs." Frosch answered happily, raising a paw. "Frosch offered to stay here with you while they went!" She smiled fondly and patted the small Exceed on the head again,

"Well thank you for that, Frosch." She smiled, Frosch nodded eagerly with an innocent smile.

"You've finally woken up, dear!" Both Frea and Frosch's eyes moved toward the new figure, an aging woman with dark brown hair tied back, and and apron with a friendly smile. "Thank goodness for that, I was starting to get worried."

Frea smiled a bit, "Sorry for the trouble," she assumed this woman was one of the townspeople, she faintly recalled seeing her sometime during the evacuation... Of the town that was no longer there. A flash of guilt ran through her at the thought,

"Oh no trouble at all! You did a good thing, driving those men away. And ordering that we be lead here saved all or lives!" The woman replied easily, approaching them, her smile never wavering. "I'm simply happy to see you up, though it isn't a wonder you were out so long, with all the Magic you used up." Frea sweatdropped and smiled a bit flusteredly,

"I suppose so." She agreed,

"Well, the last of us were just packing things up to move back down into town- we were thinking of moving you, but none of those strapping young men would hear of it!" The woman chuckled, her tone full of amusement. Frea blinked in shock though, _moving back to the town? Wasn't it gone? Even with everyone working to rebuild it?_

She didn't have time to ask on the matter before the woman and produced a set of neatly folded clothes in her hands and leaned down to hand them to Frea. "Here we are, might be better to get out of those ragged clothes you have on, now that you're up and awake."

"You don't need to-"

"Nonsense!" The woman cut her off before she could finish the phrase, "No young lady should be walking around in those filthy clothes! You'll do much better with these." She stared simply, Frea slowly took them- maybe it was better that way, she had lost track of her bag, and with no Magic Energy at her disposal at the moment, she couldn't try and call it to her. So she smiled in thanks, the woman was very nice, a part of her felt she didn't deserve that though- considering Hilshine was destroyed...

_Was it though? They're moving back down to the village already..._

"Thank you, I really do appreciate it." Frea smiled and the woman waved a hand,

"Not a problem dear, make your way down to the village when you can. I'm sure your friends will love to see you up!" Frea smiled, a single word ringnig in her ears softly. Among all the pain, the conflict, the battle, the tension...

_After everything... Yes, friends. Even in a different Guild, even once being enemies..._

Frosch and Frea waved as the woman walked away and they were left by themselves again. Frosch looked up to her, the Exceed's smile never fading even a little.

"Will you go down to see Rogue and the others?" Frosch asked and she paused,

"... In a little, there is someone else I wanted to talk to first." She answered, Frosch's head tilted slightly in question, "You can go down to see everyone, I'll be there in a bit." She murmured.

"Fro stays with you!" Was the affirmative answer and she smiled but shook her head,

"I think it'd be better if I go alone." She murmured, Frosch frowned slightly.

"Fro will wait here for you." Was the simple answer, in the Exceed's tone was no room for argument, she sighed a bit but couldn't help smiling. For whatever reason the SaberTooth Exceed seemed suddenly attached to her- maybe it was because Frosch had promised to stay with her to everyone else, or maybe it was something entirely different... But she knew Frosch wasn't going to go back on the promise made to everyone else, and leave her be.

"Alright, you can wait if you want."

* * *

 

Frea walked upward toward the top-most rise in the Cemetery, eyes narrowed and expression neutral- her attention locked to the almost waiting Energy Signature of the very person she held a rising sense of anger toward.

She had been given a skirt that reached her shins and was slit up the sides, with a pair of black shorts underneath, and a tank top that tied behind her neck, leaving her back uncovered toward the center- both the skirt and shirt were dark grey in color, the skirt decorated a silver hue at the ends. She had left her hair down to fall about her face, though she had tied the ribbon she had been given by Virgo on her wrist- for safekeeping, and sported a pair of black sandals. The shirt was just short enough you could see the bandages wrapped about her torso, as well as the numerous cuts and small bruises all about her body.

Her steps never faltered, alone now that she had left Frosch not far behind, she wasn't sure what she would do or say... But she figured she wouldn't want the small Exceed to see her and the Ghost Girl.

With every second her earlier anger was igniting again- anger she wasn't sure what at specifically... But burning anger none the less.

There were secrets. She knew more than she was telling Frea... _She knew it._

She hated being lied to, kept in the dark- and especially from someone who deep down, she knew felt dark, foreign, unknown... And so familiar it was unnatural.

Everything about that Ghost was mystery, and deep seated feeling inside of her she didn't know how to understand.

She came to the top of the rise, stopping a few paces inside the clearing of a large, ancient tree towering over her head- the figure of a motionless girl with long back hair, her back turned to Frea, stood just before the tree, hands at her sides.

"Energy Dragon.."

"Jynx." Frea muttered, trying to keep her rising anger under wraps for now. It had been months since she'd been in the same space a the Ghost. Months of being avoided, ignored- her fangs ground down in each other and her fists clenched at her sides.

She didn't even know why she was angry, she simply _was_ \- but it was more anger than she could see remember feeling in a very long time, not even that Thing threatening people could make her nearly this angry in this moment.

"Its time you and I had a little chat." Frea snapped coldly, Jynx didn't react, not turn to her, she simply crossed her arms behind her back.

"You are angry." She murmured calmly.

"Something tells me you know why!" Frea snapped, "For the longest time I have trusted you, I have done as you asked of me, I never questioned you, not your annoying lack of answers, not the secrets, not the odd requests, words, anything. And every time something ever happened- from the Balance Shift, to Nvindorr, Tenrou, now with this- this Thing- you've been there, right in the thick of it, always with an answer, an idea about the craziness- you have always known more than you let on, but never told me anything!" She snapped, taking a single step toward the ghost.

"I ignored your secrecy for the longest time- but I won't anymore! Now people's lives are in danger, innocent people, the people I care about- and you know a lot more about than you have ever let me in on, and now leaving me in the dark is putting people at risk!" Jynx seemed to deflate a little, but Frea's anger just rose more, everything began to tumble out and even if she had wanted to- she couldn't sop herself.

"Of all my suspicions, all the things I have felt about you- you are a mystery to me. Your Magic, the way it works, how it mixes with mine, who you are really, what you have to do with all the crazy shit happening with me- and why and what you know about it! What this Thing after me is, what it wants, and why Hilshine was attacked at all! The fact that its taken me this long to really realize how much you've been keeping from me is freaking ridiculous on its own." She growled, her tone dangerously low.

Jynx slowly glanced over her shoulder at the seething Dragon Slayer, her red eyes dull and unreadable. Frea bared her fangs slightly,

"I am asking this only once Jynx, what are you not telling me?!" She snapped, "No more lies, no more avoiding the questions, no more deceitful answers, _enough._ You've gone this long keeping things from me, it is time it ends!"

"You are right." Jynx murmured, slowly turning to face Frea fully. "I do know much more than I have told you. About nearly everything, though in some regards I still know very little." Frea frowned, Jynx sighed slightly and set Frea with a steady stare, red and silver locked in a tense moment of pure silence.

"However, I do _not_ have any obligation to tell you anything, nor _will_ I tell you any more than what you full heartedly need to know." Jynx stated simply, sternly almost- her tone creeping toward a lower, more dangerous tenor suddenly. Frea's eyes lit up in cold fury at the answer, but Jynx didn't stop speaking to her.

"In the grand coalition of everything that has happened, has begun to, and will happen, to you- Energy Dragon- forced beyond your current understanding have started to fall into place within your life. Things you cannot, nor can anyone ever understand, comprehend, or stop. There is a natural, ethereal force that determines the happenings of this world, the events triggered, the lives taken, the hardships received, the good fortune, the bad- those sections and era's of of lives, and the time of this world that come to pass. The force the decides the individuals who are to experience the worst pain, those who live happily, those who live long, those who die young, all of it- and most importantly, the force that sets in motion events that shape this world, change it. In the most agreeable sense, it is this force that decides what anyone would call 'fate' or 'destiny'.

"There are things in this world no one is meant to understand, things no one can avoid. While I do not know why, of by whom it was decided, or even the instance in which it was set to come about- but you, Energy Dragon- tied to you is something great, large, and incomprehensible. Something dire, a current of events that ties into your life, for now, and from you, you will be plagued by an ancient force that even I do not know." Frea stiffened slightly, Jynx's gaze never wavered. "It has been decided that you should be involved in this coming catastrophe, of which I am beginning to believe is much more than any of us can imagine, more than we could ever dream, things will happen, things will change- and yet through it all- it will be you. You cannot escape it. You swore to defeat this Ancient Evil, as you should- but had you not it would not matter. I believe you are the one meant to combat it, you are the only one who can- you were the one chosen to."

Frea glared, her anger still boiling but her attention rapt about what it was the Ghost was telling her. Of a major event coming, something she had already begun to feel- something large and dark she hadn't been able to deny. It had already been clear she was in the center- but why?

Because she had been 'chosen', something, somewhere had picked her- it was her 'destiny'.

She had never much believed in destiny, and she wasn't about to start now- to her it was simply another vague answer given that only infuriated her more.

"Screw that 'destiny' bull-shit!" She snapped angrily. "You're giving me vague answers, what is it about me that has me pulled into this, in all reality? Bad things have followed me long before I ever met you, and long before this Thing ever popped up!"

"Did you not hear what it was I just said?" Jynx murmured lowly, eyes narrowing as a twinge of annoyance worked its way into her red eyes. "Whatever it is that had you chosen, thrown into this- no one will ever know! Your part to play in this event may have been chosen centuries prior, long before you or I! I have no idea why it is you- it simply is. Perhaps because of your personality, or your past. Perhaps it is because of who you are- the amount of Power you possess, your Magic." Frea's eyes widened a little when she saw a glint of... anger and such long buried emption she couldn't place suddenly work its way into Jynx's eyes. As if suddenly there was something scratching at the surface, something waiting to be said, or shown... but it was being held back, and replaced by fury, and even what she would only place as... _fear._

"In you there is much more Magic Power than I have ever seen- though you may be unable to utilize it. In you a Lost Magic has survived- and thrived. In you, you posses such Colossal Ancient Power, no one could ever begin to guess the limits of your abilities. In you lives a Magic as old as the World itself! One of which played a part in the Making of much greater forces than anyone can ever know!" Jynx suddenly cut herself off, her eyes closing as she rubbed her temples in frustration- as if she thought she had said too much and stopped herself before she could go any further.

"In you lives a Magic as old as the World itself! One of which played a part in the Making of much greater forces than anyone can ever know!"

Frea staggered slightly, something about those words struck some odd, unforgettable yet so foreign chord deep inside her very being- something inside her she had never known, and something she could not begin to understand.

"... You know nothing of me, you need not know anything about me." Jynx murmured lowly, "I am not here to be your friend, I am not here to try and make you trust me... I am here because the ethereal force driving this world, for whatever reason, wishes I be here. You may hate me, you may be angry with me- but I am here for a reason, and that reason is closely tied to you. Whether or not you'd like it, I am here to help you, to try and guide you through this as well as I possibly can. One way or another, you will face this Ancient Evil, and that time is approaching fast. I will answer no questions, unless I see fit to answer them." Jynx paused again, her expression softening a little, making her look much more weary than she had been. "I had hoped to get through this, without turning on one another- but that is not going to happen. You have the philosophy of trusting people without question, unless you have just cause not to. It would seem, you have just chase not to trust me- and that is fine. If you distrust me, fine. If you hate me, then fine. I simply do not wish for the outcome, I fear will mark the end of this oncoming catastrophe." Frea sweatdropped, her anger deflating significantly to be replaced by an internal sense of foreboding she didn't like. So much so, she took a small step away from Jynx.

Everything seemed to be crashing down on her head, and she knew even more now- there was something very big about what Jynx had said that hadn't actually been said. Something about her Magic, and something about... Being one of the driving forces... _One of many?_

All the sudden information, as vague as it was, it made her tense- because in Jynx's eyes, she was being unbelievably serious about all of it- hell, she even looked a little afraid, and the sudden fear that flashed through the Ghost Girl near the end of the last sentence she had spoken... It made her heart skip a beat.

"I will however, explain this." Jynx sighed, "The reason Hilshine was targeted, as you already began to guess- this place is the home of something deep and powerful and very old- this was the same as Nvindorr. They are both places built to house Ancient Power... Ancient Magic, the likes of which could very well be the strongest of any Magic, and even the most important, in all the world. These are Holy Sites, respected, protected, and revered- in the early ages of this world, when those Powers reigned dominion on this earth." Jynx murmured, "This site is the Place that holds home to one of several different Ancient Powers of the earliest ages of the world. Ancient Powers that all knowledge and fact has fallen away to dust and lost... Nvindorr is the same. This Ancient Evil coming after you now- is trying to secure, to use these Ancient Powers, but has this far failed. Lucky, as dominion over these Powers separately, they're Power is extensive... But together, they are a huge, unrelenting force that could destroy this world, and all others as we know them."

Frea sweatdropped as her mind flashed to the Power held in Nvindorr- Salengoreath. Its chaotic strength, it wild core, the intent to destroy, how uncontrollable it was... And then her attention turned to the swirling mass of Power under her feet, the Ancient Magic on e red to Hilshine- though calm and slowly winding, unlike Salengoreath, under her feet she knew there was a Power much deeper, much stronger, and possibly just as strong as Salengoreath itself.

_So that Thing... Wanted this Power, as she had guessed in Nvindorr? And there were several sites like this?_

"... How many, Jynx?"

Jynx just gazed at her for a very long time, her expression becoming unreadable again as Frea's mind rushed to make sense of what she said, of what would happen, of all of it... Before she faded into a purple haze and Frea was left alone on the hill under the ancient tree, the wind blowing through the cemetery in a short gust, Jynx's voice floating on the breeze;

_"Four Pillars meant to hold the base, a Fifth that threatens to break the Form. Balance of Four, the Creation of One. Force of Destruction, the Product of Four."_


	42. One Day For Rest

**Chapter 42**

**One Day For Rest**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

_"Four Pillars meant to hold the base, a Fifth that threatens to break the Form. Balance of Four, the Creation of One. Force of Destruction, the Product of Four."_

_"In you there is much more Magic Power than I have ever seen- though you may be unable to utilize it. In you a Lost Magic has survived- and thrived. In you, you posses such Colossal Ancient Power, no one could ever begin to guess the limits of your abilities. In you lives a Magic as old as the World itself! One of which played a part in the Making of much greater forces than anyone can ever know!"_

_"This site is the Place that holds home to one of several different Ancient Powers of the earliest ages of the world. Ancient Powers that all knowledge and fact has fallen away to dust and lost... Nvindorr is the same. This Ancient Evil coming after you now- is trying to secure, to use these Ancient Powers, but has this far failed. Lucky, as dominion over these Powers separately, they're Power is extensive... But together, they are a huge, unrelenting force that could destroy this world, and all others as we know them."_

_"One way or another, you will face this Ancient Evil, and that time is approaching fast."_

_"While I do not know why, of by whom it was decided, or even the instance in which it was set to come about- but you, Energy Dragon- tied to you is something great, large, and incomprehensible. Something dire, a current of events that ties into your life, for now, and from you, you will be plagued by an ancient force that even I do not know. It has been decided that you should be involved in this coming catastrophe, of which I am beginning to believe is much more than any of us can imagine, more than we could ever dream, things will happen, things will change- and yet through it all- it will be you. You cannot escape it. You swore to defeat this Ancient Evil, as you should- but had you not it would not matter. I believe you are the one meant to combat it, you are the only one who can- you were the one chosen to."_

How... How was she supposed to respond... React... To that...?

Frea didn't move as she remained on the hill, her eyes locked to the place that Jynx had been but moments before... All sense of the world around her seemed to tumble away into a swirling pit of confusion, of everything that had been said, of the dire warning, the hidden dark foreboding in the Ghost's words...

... The danger, danger she had been aware of before now, but suddenly- it seemed as if it really hit home, because all the Jynx said- all of it...

_... She believed it._

She didn't want to believe it, it seemed impossible to believe anything so odd, so impossible, so confusing. And at there was a part of her that knew it was true... She hated that.

Yes, she knew something bad had been coming. Yes, it was clear that 'something bad' was this Thing that was apparently... _Searching for Ancient Power, sealed away in Sacred Sites such as Hilshine, and Nvindorr. It was looking for Ancient Power like the likes of Salengoreath-_ for what end she hadn't a clue, but it couldn't be good.

And damn it, it made _sense._

She knew it was coming, she knew she was stuck in the middle of it, though why still wasn't clear- Jynx's 'Ethereal Force' and 'Fate' bullshit wasn't going to do it for her.

_"There is a large rift now, something massive- with you in the center. Surrounded by darkness."_

Jynx was not the only one telling her she was in the center of all of this either...

... Most of all she knew she wasn't going to avoid it, there was no way to avoid it. That Thing wanted those Ancient Powers, and for some reason it wanted her- something from her, but again she didn't know what, or why.

And those Ancient Powers, there were several. Several amazingly powerful forces the like of which she had never seen, and things she wasn't able to piece together, or understand- not Salengoreath, not this foreign Magic here in Hilshine.

And then... Jynx brought it up again, her so called 'Colossal Amounts of Magic Power'. This was not the first time Jynx had mentioned that, but the way she talked about it this time... About her Magic, Lost Magic as Old as the World itself...?

Not much was known about Energy Magic, she herself knew very little. She knew it was old. She knew it was rare, she knew it had thrived thousands of years ago, and then died out for some reason... But a Magic as old as the World?

While it was becoming clear she was gaining much more Magic Power than she had ever had, very fast- she still had limits. Her Magic, however powerful or Ancient as Jynx seemed to think it was- she couldn't do anything and everything.

_She certainly... Couldn't defeat that Thing, of she were to..._

She shook her head and scrunched her eyes closed, rubbing the back of her neck with a hand and letting out a very aggravated sigh.

She still hadn't gotten any real answers damn it... Jynx had spouted a lot of dire and serious things, but all of it had been vague and shallow- none of if had really answered anything. Nothing had really been out out in the open- and what was worse, she admitted to keeping secrets, and even refused to share.

**Refused**

That in itself made her angry, kept her anger going... But most of it had been shattered now, in way of the heavy cloud that seemed to fall over her in the next instant. The growing sense of evil and anticipation... Of the incoming danger... It grew to a massive weight and her anger was mostly replaced by urgency, wariness... Concern. Concern for what was coming next.

_"Kill you it may."_

Kill her? That was likely... But would she be able to save the people she loved before that? To keep them safe, to somehow, by some miracle, face this Thing- and win?

A cold pit of uncertainty began to settle inside of her, making her cold, making her waver slightly, her body tense, she opened her eyes to glance toward the sky-

She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt so...

She sighed, her eyes closing softly.

"Can I even... Do this...?"

* * *

 

Frosch greeted her with a warm, innocent smile that made her spirits and suddenly tension lift a little- she managed a small smile in return, anyway. The SaberTooth Exceed had not moved since she left, she continued walking slowly, getting closer.

"Miss Frea!" Frosch smiled, "Will we go see Rogue and the others now?" She smiled, thankful the Exceed hadn't pressed who it was she had gone to speak with.

"Sounds perfect." She smiled, picking Frosch up in her arms gently as she began to walk through the headstones, down toward the entrance. Perfect indeed... Maybe talking with everyone would help to take her mind off of.. _Everything._

She paused, coming to the gate into the cemetery and eyes wide as she took in the sight at the bottom of the incline... Hilshine, where it had been standing, where the Land had been reduced to rubble and craters...

"What the... Hell...?"

There were entire buildings and homes already erected, from here she could see that once overgrown fountain at the center of town already up and spewing water- the lands about the town had been somewhat flattened and green was beginning to sprout around it- there were entire trees!

It was as if a third of the damage and destruction had been wiped off the slate... _Erased, reversed!_

Yes, there were still slabs of torn up ground, there were still ruins of homes; not everything was back the way it had been, but a large portion of Hilshine seemed to be completely fine- but it hadn't been. Hilshine had been decimated, or at least... She thought it had.

_How is... That even possible...?!_

"Its weird huh?" Frosch said suddenly, apparently noticing her dumbfounded expression. "After Sting and Chase went with that weird girl from your Guild- a whole bunch of the buildings and trees and stuff just appeared!"

"... Appeared..?" She mumbled, still thing to come to terms with what it was she was seeing.

"Out of nowhere! There was a flash of gold and white light, and suddenly everything started to appear all over, like it was before!" Frea glanced down at Frosch for a split second, the description of white and gold light catching her attention. Her eyes shift back toward the headstones inside the cemetery, to the Magic floating inside, the memory of white and gold swirling...

The Magic inside this barrier seemed to have moved to canvas the land about it- Hilshine included. If Chase and Sting managed to drive the Negative Energy poisoning the Land- out, could this Magic have reached and spread out to the rest of Hilshine? And then, by some unknown means... Rebuilt Hilshine to a degree?

That in itself seemed absurd... But then again, everything seemed absurd suddenly, impossible, incomprehensible... Would it really be so insane to think this Ancient Power sealed here in Hilshine, could retreat buildings and the earth surrounding on its own accord?

_Many things were starting to seem less impossible every day..._

* * *

 

"Good to see you up and moving!"

"Its good to see you."

"How are you feeling?"

"Man! You're one strong Wizard, you know that?"

"Damn, she's up already huh?"

"Guess that's why Fairy Tail is the number one Guild!"

"SaberTooth too, all of them were amazingly strong!"

"You look so pretty! I love the way those clothes look on you!"

"Thank you for everything you did!"

Frea walked through the town slowly, smiling slightly, growing more flustered by the minute as she passed the scores of people calling out greeting and well wishes to her as she passed, as well as their murmurings and conversations, their comments- all of them smiling, every Negative Emotion that had been plaguing this place seemed to have disappeared, now there was happiness an calm... And hope too.

She couldn't stop herself from blushing a little at all the attention, but she nodded and thanked them with a small smile as she passed. Frosch continually called out greeting and smiled, waving a paw at the town in the most innocent and rather adorable manner- she huffed the Exceed a little tighter for a moment, smiling a little more.

The town was in full swing, the cobblestone pathways weren't installed again but the paths had been cleared. The buildings had mostly been out together in the center of the town, some of them looked like they'd never been decimated at all, the houses near the edge of the town were less finished- many of them were frames beginning to go up, the sound of hammers poising against nails filled the air and mingled with the sound of conversation and laughter. Many of the citizens were in the streets, either helping carry supplies or folding cloth and clothes. A few were cooking and handing the meals out, others just sat in the shade of full-grown trees that she knew hadn't been anything but jagged destroyed stumps two days prior. Even the grass had begun to spring up, and the flowers outside people's homes had bloomed once more.

Her eyes scanned the area, as she sighed deeply and took in the scents about her- the warm, soft smells of trees and plants, the smell of food... The sounds of laughter, and birds, of workers.

She closed her eyes a moment and allowed her senses to fall away from the material things about her, and instead feel the vibrant Energy flowing under her feet, the currents of Magic and Power that were invisible to the eye, but the Rivera of it as could feel all around, in the air, in the ground, in the houses, the plants, the trees...

She opened her eyes again, had she been able to use Energy Sense, she imagined she would be able to see the currents of that Magic spiraling in air around her like wisps of cloud.

_Calm, pure, powerful Power... Ancient Magic._

The air was filled with it, she could sense it, and even smell it if she tried- though she couldn't place what sort of magic it was precisely, she hadn't been able to this entire time.

But there was a stroke of familiarity that flared in the back of her mind constantly... A feeling that she knew this Magic, and yet she didn't.

_A lot like Jynx..._

"Ms. Frea!"

Her head snapped up, half expecting it to be Sting or Rogue that addressed her in such a way- as they had been doing, but she immediately recognized he voice as the Mayor of the town, and she noticed him walking toward her with a bright smile a cheery attitude, closely followed by his assistant.

"Mr. Mayor..." She greeted him softly, smiling slightly as he stopped before her.

"It is very good to see you up and moving! And so soon too! I do hope you are feeling alright, I hated to see you so injured after everything." The Mayor told her, "But none-the-less; you and your friends did Hilshine a great service! I doubt any other Wizards would have been able to deal with the situation here, so on behalf of all of Hilshine- thank you." She blinked, "You all did a splendid job, and we are deeply in your debt. Words cannot express our gratitude."

"It really isn't anything special." She murmured, sweatdropping a little. "After all... Your town was destroyed in the process..."

"And it is nearly rebuilt, I have no doubt it will better than before, and already the lands here are shinning more brightly than they have before. I am not entirely certain what it was you Wizards did, but you managed to bring life and prosperity here. The damage to the town is a distant and trivial matter now." The Mayor told her easily and she sighed silently.

"Fro thinks so too!" Frosch piped up with a smile and she chuckled a little.

"Well... Alright then." She murmured and the Mayor nodded.

"Now, as for the matter of your pay," he said suddenly and she blinked. "I do believe we agreed to come back to the matter?" He said and she nodded slightly,

"We did.."

"I've talked with your friends already, and as expected- they were reluctant to accept the doubled reward. Though I think that amount _is_ just, in light of how difficult this job was for the whole of you."

"It was hard, yes... But this Job seems to have more to do with it, than just Hilshine." She told him, earning a small confused glance. "In fact, that force that drove those men here, that caused everything to die- I have encountered it before, and will probably continue to face it for awhile yet. Even if you hadn't sent out a Job Request, I would have ended up here in Hilshine anyway." She explained. "I can't stop you from paying us, but doubling the original reward, even for two Guilds and the difficulty, for something I would have ended up getting involved in anyway- isn't any reason to make Hilshine pay that much Jewel." The Mayor just gazed at her steadily a moment, "Besides, the damage to the town is still a factor..."

"... Hmmm... I see your point." He said at length, "If that is the case... Then should 40 Million Jewel do?" He asked and she opened her mouth to argue- that was more than the starting price still, but he held up a hand to stop her. "I understand what you said, and I do realize the damage to the town would warrant a reduction in the reward normally- I however do not see this as normal circumstances. This Job Request was sent out as an S-Class assignment on the premise of what we knew of the situation beforehand- and those details drastically changed, and the job became much more difficult and dangerous than any Wizard should have expected. Any of you Wizards could have lost your lives fighting the odds you faced, all of you were injured in some way, you all fought hard, endured exhaustion, pain, wounds, and faced a force that- even to those like me, who know little of the World of Magic- could easily see the threat here was one of great Power and Danger. And all of you managed to win, you drove the enemy out and allowed Hilshine to bloom again." Frea fell silent at the hint of the tone of finality working its way into the man's voice. "Even with the damages to the town- of which, those lads you were with have been helping to rebuild-" the Mayor smiled slightly, "You have all more than earned your reward. But since I realize you will not accept doubling the pay, this will have to do."

Frea sighed silently and let her eyes fall closed a minute, she immediately realized she wasn't going to talk him out of this... But still, that was too much money. And for a town out here, regardless a large and prosperous town like this one, how were they going to manage that sum of money?

"Hilshine, despite its location and seemingly out of the way standing- is a very rich town." The Mayor broke in, as if he guessed what it was she had been thinking. She opened her eyes to look at him, "We earn great sums of money in cultivating flora and fauna from the lands surrounding, and do actually get many visitors in the spring and winter times. We will have no trouble paying you in full." He assured and she sighed again.

"... Alright... I suppose I don't really have a choice..." She murmured and the Mayor smiled, nodding once.

"Now that that is settled!" The Mayor clapped his hands together, seemingly pleased with the negotiation. "I assume you were looking for your friends? I'm sure they'll be pleased to see you."

* * *

 

_**PLUNK** _

"God... Damn it! Watch it Sting!"

"Its not my fault you can't hold a board up!"

" _You_ were supposed to be holding it!"

"I'm putting the nails in!"

"Both of you quit it, there's no use arguing..."

"Shut it Chase!"

Rogue rubbed the top of his head in frustration, glaring at Sting who was standing on a half finished frame of a building, Rogue underneath him on a ladder as they attempted to place a bough and nail it down. Chase was on the patchwork roof of the same building, sweatdropping as he watched Sting and Rogue glare at eachother in irritation.

Needless to say, they should stick to their careers as Wizards, and not as builders.

It was the gesture of helping that counted more than anything, and they had been helpful- some of the townspeople couldn't lift heavy beams and other such things, but the actual assembly had them bickering amongst themselves in their several failed attempts.

"You know, I could just use Copy Cat Magic on Laki's Wood Make-" Moon tried to tell them from where she floated nearby, Lector beside her as they watched the congregation of Wizards attempting to finish the frame. However she was cut off by both Sting and Rogue, who were very clearly in no mood to listen to her. Their voices rose in indignant tones as they growled,

"We can do it!"

"Its just a stupid frame, we don't need help with it!"

Moon sighed and shook her head, Lector shrugged his shoulders while Chase just sweatdropped a little. He had been attempting to keep them from bickering too much, patient as he was... He was very likely to become fed up and snap himself.

Frea came to a pause not far from the group of them, the citizens nearby shaking their heads but smiling in amusement at the scene- she and Frosch remained silent a minute, watching the small little exchange in silence.

On the note of 'not needing any help' she wasn't sure that was particularly true... They were clearly having trouble, and that frame- though it would do, was not the best.

_Its the thought that counts right?_

"I don't know guys, maybe you should just let Moon do it." She said, breaking her momentary silence as she called out to them.

"Fro thinks so too!"

Apparently her approach had gone unnoticed, because everyone jumped at the sound of her voice. Sting jumped and dropped the beam again as his head snapped toward her, and the beam promptly landed on Rogue's head with a loud thud- knocking the Shadow Dragon Slayer off the ladder. Frosch wriggled from her grasp and flew toward Rogue immediately. Chase whipped about with Moon and Lector in suit, their eyes wide and shocked expressions on all of them, before they all broke into happy grins and jumped toward her all at once- catching Frea completely off guard.

"Teach!"

"Frea!"

Moon smashed into her, making her stumble, then Lector did the same and she lost her balance. What made it worse was Sting and Rogue jumping toward her in a kid-like fashion she hadn't expected from either of them- causing her to crash to the ground, stifling a hiss and clenching her jaw as a agonizing wave of pain shot through her side and through her body, the breath being driven from her as Sting, Rogue, Lector, and Moon piled on top of her all at once.

She had expected the happy reaction from Moon- Lector was understandable, but both Sting and Rogue jumping at her like that, wide grins and happy faces on two people she hardly knew, and hardly knew her?

Yes, she considered them friends at this point, she just hadn't expected those feeling reciprocated by the both of the SaberTooth Dragon Slayers so quickly, and so strongly... She was comforted by it though, and smiled on the inside- she couldn't manage it at the moment, her eyes scrunched closed as she fought to keep herself from wincing.

Thankfully, Chase had the good sense not to tackle her like that, though he looked no less happy than everyone else. He did however noticeably flinch, his face concerned as he felt the flash of pain roll off of his Old Mentor instantly upon being dog-piled, and he realized it must have really hurt, seeing as she was wounded.

"Give it a rest guys! Come on, back off, she's already hurt enough." Chase said immediately, easily pulling both Sting and Rogue backward as it clicked in their heads and they sent her apologetic looks, sweatdropping a little.

"Sorry!"

Frea sat up, Moon still hugging her tightly while Lector hopped down beside her, she gave Sting and Rogue a small smile, to try and reassure them, though now her side was aching a bit. "Its fine..." She murmured, but cast Chase a thankful glance for half a second. She rubbed the top of Moon's head affectionately, smiling back at the bright, happy, relieved smile that Moon gave her. "Good to see you, Moon." She murmured,

"Its so good to see you up." Moon answered, hugging her once before backing up and hoping down beside Lector, all eyes tried toward Frea, all smiles and relieved faces.

"How are you feeling?" Rogue asked and Frea sighed slightly,

"No worse than I should have expected." She replied, earning a semi-worried look from them, so she chuckled and smiled- shaking her head a little. "I am fine, sore and completely out of Magic- but fine. Don't worry." she told them, smiling a bit more. "Much better, seeing as how everything isn't destroyed- though you three could use some lessons in building." She joked a little, earning an embarrassed look from Rogue, a shake of his head from Chase, small smiles from the Exceeds and a toothy grin from Sting in a childlike way she usually saw from Natsu.

"You're probably right." He smiled and she blinked, finding the smile a little too happy- even it really had been a joke.

"What's with the grin?" She asked and his smile didn't waver once.

"Its just really good to see you joking around, I figure it means you're feeling like your usual self- even after everything that happened." Sting answered with more of agreement from everyone else, Frea blinked in surprise. For a minute she wasn't sure she understood it... But then again, maybe it was because of her usual lack of taking things to heart when they were bad- for instance, the way in which she gave Rogue a bit of a hard time for calling her 'Miss' in the midst of the battle.

She didn't know it about herself to a full extent, but she did have a habit of joking or poking fun at the most random times- it was just the way she was, and the SaberTooth Members had realized that very quickly. Under all the seriousness and somewhat unwelcoming and harsh first appearance that Frea could have on people at first glance- she was a rather kind-hearted and welcoming person you grew to like very quickly, and get along with. Sting, Rogue, Lector and Frosch hadn't ever been given a lot of time to get to know Frea from when they had first met her during the GMG, and their image of her had since then had changed drastically, from the Mage with a short-temper, and reserved personality- to someone who liked to poke fun and one who would do anything to protect the people she cared for, someone kind and loyal.

Adversely, Frea had always had a good sense of who Sting and Rogue were- though during the GMG before the Dragon Fight, she'd ignored her instincts of them in way of her own anger. She was good at telling what sort of a person someone was, and deep down she had known Sting and Rogue were not bad people. She knew they were very loyal to the people they loved, they were brave, and soft-hearted, mostly in Rogue's case, as well as Child-like mostly in Sting's.

For the reasons that she instinctively knew what they were like, she hadn't any issue working with them on this Mission. And since fighting with them, since her want to protect them all from that Thing had flared so strongly... They were friends now, and she figured they thought the same.

What was even better- was how quickly she seemed to forget everything that Jynx had just told her, of all the side warnings and the vague answers- of all the sudden anger she had felt, all of it. Even what had happened, the pain, the battle, the sense of something coming- it all faded when she saw all of them smiling at her, genuinely happy to see her and she them.

They instantly lifted a weight from her shoulders, and she couldn't help but smile back.

"I suppose so." She chuckled, "I'm glad we worked this job together, that both our Guilds happened to eat the same Request. Even if you four were dragged into something that you shouldn't have been- I am glad you came." She told them softly, earning small blinks of shock from the SaberTooth members at the sincerity in her voice. She hadn't needed to mention the fact they nearly died, Sting and Rogue- twice. They didn't seem bothered by it- though deep down she knew they were, how could they not?

Nearly dying wasn't something anyone walked away from without the slightest trace of fear or even despair clinging to them. And especially not from two instances of near death, where once they were saved by something entirely unknown to them, and to her. While the second... She'd lost herself to anger for a moment, her Magic had spilled over, and a part of her couldn't control herself. It was as if she hadn't consciously elected to do anything, something inside her had taken over and she had pushed through.

She didn't allow herself to dwell on that for too long though, she honestly didn't want to ruin the mood- so she pushed it to the back of her mind for now, certain she would return to it later.

The SaberTooth Mages smiled at her, "We're glad to have worked with you too." Sting answered.

"Working with all of you was exceptional, we knew Fairy Tail was strong- but the three of you, show just how powerful Fairy Tail is." Rogue said, his red eyes passing over each Fairy Tail Member- though his thoughts flashed to the upsurge of raw unmatched Power from Frea for a minute. "It was an honor."

"And it was fun." Sting grinned, suddenly giving Frea a playful smile. "Even if I did lose the wager." He chuckled as Chase and Rogue shook their heads,

"That's right... You definitely took the most down, Teach." Chase told her and she blinked, remembering her wager to take down as many of the army as they could- to see who defeated the most. She and Sting had been pretty well matched from what she saw- but need the end, it was clear she had won.

"Its a bummer too- I thought I was going to win!" Sting sighed, "I'll beat you next time, don't you worry!" He told her with a determined smirk. She smirked back,

"I'd like to see you try!" She countered,

"I swear you're gonna lose next time!" He countered,

"Not if I beat you both." Rogue added coolly, his lips pulled into a faint smirk as both Frea and Sting turned on him- their natural competitiveness flaring.

"You're on!"

The three Dragon Slayers broke into an argument then- a playful, happy one, but an argument no less. Chase, Moon, Frosch and Lector watched in amusement, chuckling to themselves as Frea suddenly clashed with both men- ending in a small scuffle that ended with Frea on top of both Rogue and Sting, smirking in triumph as she held them down- even wounded and with no Magic they couldn't beat her.

Chase crossed his arms over his chest and watched them in silence, it had been clear when Frea walked up that something was bothering her- which didn't surprise him nearly at all. There were many things that happened, many things that hadn't really been explained- and he knew Frea would brood over them for awhile. It was nice to see her so relaxed like this though- even if he figured it wouldn't last long. He himself had doubts and worries, but he kept himself in check enough not to let his true emotions show too much for now.

He kept his real worries away as they spent the rest of the day in Hilshine, smiling at the constant power struggle waged between the three Dragon Slayers, the dinner they sat down for as the sun set and all three- Frea, Sting and Rogue dug into the food with that ravenous hunger that seemed to pass between all Dragon Slayers. Through the hours of smiling and laughing, the relaxed atmosphere and worry free emotions as they spent their time in each others company.

Of what they did speak about of everything that happened had been rather short and simple- Jynx had answered a few of their questions as Frea had been asleep (ones along the lines of why the houses reappeared and things mended- though even that had been vague. She'd only managed something about 'Ancient Power in this Land reacting to repair what was lost' or something of that nature), and Chase as well as Moon immediately recognized the small flash of mistrust and even anger pass trough Frea's silver eyes at the mention. It was much more emotion than Frea had previously been showing when Jynx had been mentioned... Part of it made him wonder if something had happened he didn't know anything about.

He cast Frea a question in glance as he followed their small group through the town slowly, later in the day as the sun had been preparing to go down. He caught her eye and she seemed to know what he was thinking- though she didn't say anything. She just gave him a look that clearly meant she would explain everything later- for now she was looking to enjoy a little relaxation and fun.

He nodded slightly and looked away. It was always better to see Frea happy and enjoying herself... He didn't want to ruin her good mood if he didn't have to.

For a minute his thought left what had happened there in Hilshine entirely and he found himself looking to the sky as the sun finally set and they were herded toward and open area in the town with fires and tables set up. His eyes following the slow ascension of the moon above them as night took over everything.

A small part of him wondered what she was doing now... As odd as that seemed. He couldn't help but wonder- hell, he'd left without telling her he was going to, and while he had no obligation to tell her where he was going- he expected a short retort or a small, irritated snap headed for him once they made it back to Fairy Tail.

He smiled slightly at the thought, amused as he imagined it.

_She will not be happy..._

* * *

 

"And how we were moved out of the way from those orbs in the sky." Sting mumbled around his food noisily, the fire everyone was congregated casting a warm glow over everything, orange flames against the deep blue night sky and half moon overhead. The rest of the town was gathered in the large open area at several other tables, enjoying the food that had been prepared that day for the dinner tonight. The air was filled with the sound of laughter and conversation, the scent of food made their mouths water, and the fresh night air added to a sense of peacefulness and content. They Mayor had insisted they stay for one more night and join in on the food- and Frea wasn't going to say no. Not only was she still exhausted, she was starving- the idea of food had made her stomach rumble- she couldn't remember the last time she ate a proper meal, and wasting so much Magic and Energy left her running on empty.

"That was odd- we should have been finished." Sting murmured, cheeks filled with food.

"We thought you were." Moon added in, nibbling on her own food with a glance at Frea who was chewing. Frea noticed the look of sadness on Moon's face at the thought and paused. "It was a great relief when we saw you put the Guild Symbols up."

" _How_ we were moved is a mystery- its as if we just missed the touchdown of the Magic nearly completely." Rogue added in, looking skeptical. "It wasn't any Magic I knew... What do you think, Frea?" He asked with a look toward the Energy Dragon Slayer who had just about been to take another bite off her plate.

She glanced away a moment, trying to recall the Magic she'd sensed in the split second it happened- the feeling of everything moving by very fast... A split second of feeling something old, and ancient, something that felt right yet very wrong to her- like Jynx's Magic mixed with hers.

She couldn't fathom how anything could have moved them, and kept them guarded against the attacks that would have surely killed them -and what could do something as quickly as it happened, be there for a second, and then disappear again.

A part of her felt that was something similar to what that Thing could do- somehow hide the overwhelming, insane amount of Power it had- release it all at once, make itself known, and then disappear again- even from her senses.

And then that voice... That conversation in the depths of black unconsciousness- she had faced that same Power that pulled them out of the way. Something that... _We didn't know..._

_"... And not even something inherently a 'who'. More a force... A fleeting power."_

_Her heart had skipped a moment when a flash of Energy suddenly enveloped her, something faint, something old... Something nagging at the back of her mind, something oddly familiar.. Like Jynx's Magic mixed with her own... as the Energy faded from all feeling to her, it was too faint and too quick to really pick up on it- just like before._

_"You moved us out of the way..." She breathed, the realization had clicked together in her mind on its own accord, having remembered the quick feeling of the world around her flying past suddenly when they had stared death down._

_"You woke me up."_

_She hadn't felt anything other than the Protection Magic flare up around them, and she certainly hadn't sensed anything foreign at all- it hid itself too well. Her mind couldn't work past that, not being able to feel the Energy Signature attached to it, like it was there, and yet it wasn't... Like the thing was moving too fast to even feel it._

_"... But why, why save us?"_

_"I was asked to."_

_"Asked?" She mumbled, "By who?"_

_"By someone who truly loves you."_

That part still confused her too, not only had she been unable to sense this new Power, and not knowing how it even knew they were in trouble, that they were about to die, and _who asked..._

She paused a moment longer, noting things had fallen into silence among them and that they were waiting patiently for an answer, all eyes turned to her as she thought it over.

"I only sensed... _Something_ , whatever it was that pulled us out of the way, for a split second before it was gone again. I couldn't place what it was... I just know it wasn't anything evil or ill-natured. That's about all." She replied with a small shrug, she decided not to mention the small conversation between herself and the Force the Pulled them out of the way, for now. "I literally only felt it for a split-second, and even for me that isn't enough to place something."

They all blinked once or twice before sighing and nodding in understanding, "I suppose it did happen every fast." Rogue murmured, Frea took another bite of her food as have Moon a side glance that went entirely unnoticed.

"Lets talk about this then-" Sting piped up suddenly, looking right at Frea who blinked in question. "- since when did you get so strong? I mean the Fight against the Dragons was one thing, but what you did two days ago was... Amazing."

"So much Magic Energy in once person all at once is nearly unheard of." Rogue commented,

"It just happens." She answered simply, shrugging a little. "A lot lately, I guess whenever I get mad or I'm pushed to the limit..." She paused slightly, "I guess I'm just... Getting stronger..."

Stronger than she could have ever imagined she would get to... Stronger than what would seem possible- what was impossible, through she didn't realize that.

Everyone else nodded in agreement, smiling though thy wanted to press the subject a little more- but they wouldn't. They had all become aware that something was bothering Frea, and they figured it was best to tread around Frea lightly.

They moved on to different matters as they spent the rest of the night laughing and gossiping away like anyone would- stuffing their faces and enjoying the newfound friendship between them. It would be a long time before either Fairy Tail and SaberTooth met each other again- for now that didn't matter and they just enjoyed themselves as long as they could.

* * *

 

Jynx remained standing on the kill in the cemetery, the barren tree behind her nearly silver in the moonlight as her eyes swept down to the warm glow of the town at the bottom of the incline. For all the happiness and good-will there... She couldn't ignore the deep sense of foreboding hanging about the air, and she knew Frea could feel it too.

Jynx sighed and closed her eyes, tilting her head back toward the darkness above.

"Let there be a good ending... Let peace last... please... Let things go well..." She murmured, she had lost any small amount of trust Frea held for her- she knew that, and while a part of her was alright with it, a part of her was... Saddened by it.

Not once had there ever been any doubt or fancy idea that she and Frea could be friends, she had known it would never work... The Energy Dragon never liked secrets, and Jynx had too many she had to keep.

 _"... It is very unlikely any such ending will come to pass..."_ Jynx's eyes snapped open at the wispy voice, she stiffened but lowered her eyes, sweatdropping slightly. _"... You know this... And yet you still hope..."_

"I have to." She mumbled. "I have to believe... That this Great Darkness coming for us... Will not win... I have to believe that it can be stopped, that Energy Dragon can stop it..." She trailed off as glanced up again, looking sideways as she tried to pinpoint the voice, the source...

Of course she couldn't, but she knew it could hear her.

"... I don't suppose you would be willing to share the outcome with me...?" She asked lowly,

 _"... Hehe... You are the Keeper of Souls, it is not your place to hear of what will come to pass..."_ Was he immediate response and she frowned. _"... In fact, that future is still unclear... It is shrouded in pain, and shadow... And death."_

Jynx flinched slightly, a flash of fear appearing in her red eyes for a split second.

 _"... But we will see. For now, I will tell you this-"_ Jynx perked up a little, looking somewhat surprised at the offer for information.

_"This here... This happiness... This will last no more than a day... The life of someone that She holds dear is going to be out on the line."_


	43. Thunder Without Lightning

**Chapter 43**

**Thunder Without Lightning**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

"See ya!" Sting called, waving a hand at the Fairy Tail Wizards, parting ways after being dropped off by the train, about the midway point between going south toward Magnolia and North toward SaberTooth's town. The group of Wizards had traveled to the train together upon leaving Hilshine behind, and narrowly missing the Magic Council as they arrived to access the situation- reporting to the reports of extreme Magic output they had been given.

That was all well- seeing as Fairy Tail had never had a very good relationship with the Council, and Frea less so.

And then, Frea wasn't sure she would have been all for explaining every bit of it she knew- though she figured she'd receive a sentance for a hearing later on once the Council found out which Wizards precisely were involved.

The citizens of Hilshine would tell what they knew, and that would have to do for now...

Frea, Chase and Moon stood on a small incline, watching the receding figures of the SaberTooth Mages fade slowly before they were entirely gone. Frea ran a hand over the back of her neck and sighed silently, the breeze that sprung up brushing through her hair softly.

Moon, her trusty Partner, had actually been keeping Frea's bag for her- so she'd been able to change into her own clothes shortly after leaving Hilshine.

Nothing fancy, just her regular dark pants and tank top that buckled about her torso, a black collar with a silver loop around her neck and her combat boots- her now regular attire for traveling. She'd put her hair up into a messy bun with the ribbon from Virgo and even had the cloak about her shoulders, of which she'd gotten from the same Spirit.

At times you could see the bandages wrapped about her torso if her shirt lift up, and the few cuts and bruises here and there- at any rate, she was still fairly devoid of Magic Energy. Deep down there was a small amount festering, slowly regenerating inside her as the hours passed- but too little for comfort.

What had surprised her, was when Moon handed her bag over she felt the weight of the 'Energy Magic' Book inside- a book she _knew_ she had left at home in Magnolia. Less surprisingly, it must have transported itself to her on its own accord once more- but she didn't question it. She'd more or less quit being bothered by the so called _'Book's'_ strange actions.

A small silence settled among them as Frea turned and started to walk, Moon and Chase following close by. They traveled in utter silence for a good hour or so, but she swore she could feel their eyes on her the entire time, though she was mostly certain it was Chase who kept glancing to her, waiting.

With a small sigh she waved a hand back at him, "Ask away you waited long enough." She told him quietly,

"... Teach, I know we talked about a few of the things that happened... But, what _really_ happened...? To me it seems like something might have happened, with you and Jynx...?" He started slowly, nearly cautiously as he watched for any flash of anger of emotion in his Old Mentor- which was exactly what he received.

There was an immediate flare of anger coming off of Frea and he nearly flinched at the sudden ferocity of it, though outwardly Frea didn't even seem to react. She seemed so good at hiding her emotions on the outside to a point it was unnerving...

Moon cast a cautious glance at Frea, sweatdropping slightly, because although she couldn't feel Frea's emotions as Chase could, she did sense a sort of tension spark suddenly.

_"You are angry." Jynx murmured quietly,_

_"Something tells me you know why!"_

"... She's keeping secrets, a lot of secrets... She admitted it." Frea growled lowly, eyes staring straight ahead. "... She spouted a bunch of bull-shit about 'fate' and something about 'destiny' that none of us an avoid." She growled a little,

_Some 'destiny' that I can't escape..._

"... Even beyond that, she refused to answer questions, _refused._ She's willingly keeping secrets, all she gave me was vague notions! Warnings over something she won't tell me about, and nothing helpful in the slightest! I thought she spoke in riddles and vague phrases before now- but all I got from her was rubbish, complete and utter nonsense!" Her voice was rising against her effort to keep herself as calm as humanly possible- but she couldn't stop it. Just like before, her anger was rising to utter fury for very little reason- she was so angry, and there was no clear reason.

"Whatever it is that is doing all of this, Jynx knows something about it but she's keeping it to herself! What she did tell me- there are more places like Hilshine and Nvindorr, more places housing Ancient, unbelievable Power- and that Thing _wants_ it!" Her anger erupted in the from of Magic- Magic she hadn't been able to use until seconds ago, since she had been drained. Silver shone up around her and she quit walking, the earth under her feet was beginning to crack and she clenched her jaw, eyes shutting tight in fury.

"She knows things are serious- she knows they're dangerous, she knows things about everything- and all she's telling me is nothing to go on! When I asked her how many sites there are like Hilshine and Nvindorr, she spouted some stupid riddle and fucking left!"

Her anger was reaching a high and so was her Magic, it was spiraling around her and for a little while- she had no control over it, nor did she care to try and settle herself down either.

She was angry, she wasn't specifically sure why- but maybe it was because... Because for the life of her, she didn't want to believe it-

_But I do believe it damn it!_

_Everything Jynx said, all the vague phrases, the unthinkable notions, the utterly confusing ideas- all of it!_

_My Magic, that Thing, the upcoming disaster, 'Destiny' and 'Fate'... For some reason I can't help but believe her! I can't help but believe what Jynx said is actually true!_

_Some part of me... Something deep inside of me..._

She did not believe in Destiny of Fate, she truly didn't. It was impossible for her to believe her Magic was Ancient or as powerful as Jynx believed it to be. It was incomprehensible to think there were other Magics, other Powers like the ones in Nvindorr and Hilshine. It was impossible to think that some disaster was heard their way- that could and probably would destroy everything and everyone she knew.

Worst of all it was impossible to think that she was the only one, that she was the one who had been somehow 'chosen' to face this, to fix it!

There was nothing on this World more powerful than three things she had come into contact with only recently- two of them were the Ancient Powers resting deep within Nvindorr and Hilshine.

The most powerful thing she had ever felt... **_Was that Thing!_**

For all her progress, for all her Magic, all her skill, all her willpower... To even consider that she was the only one standing between destruction, the death of the people she loved, and that Thing...

... There were few times in her life she had ever felt this way, few times the gravity of anything had hit her so hard, struck her to the core...

For the first time, in the longest time... Probably the first time since she was just a small girl...

She let out a small 'tch', her fists clenching as her head hung a little.

_.. Something deep inside of me... Knows what Jynx said is true... Some Part of me I don't understand knows... Instinctively... That Jynx is telling the truth..._

**_.:+:._ **

_A cold pit of uncertainty began to settle inside of her, making her cold, making her waver slightly, her body tense, she opened her eyes to glance toward the sky-_

_She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt so..._

_She sighed, her eyes closing softly._

_"Can I even... Do this...?"_

* * *

****

_... And I'm..._

**_.:+:._ **

_While it was becoming clear she was gaining much more Magic Power than she had ever had, very fast- she still had limits. Her Magic, however powerful or Ancient as Jynx seemed to think it was- she couldn't do anything and everything._

_She certainly... Couldn't defeat that Thing, if she were to..._

* * *

****

_... Afraid..._

Frea's body was shaking now- what at first had been pure anger and rage was suddenly not entirely that. A shadow passed over her face as she remained where she was, her Magic was slowly fading as a cold fell over her again.

_... That... Was it..._

She never allowed herself to feel like that... She never felt true... _Fear._.. This was something new to her, and she didn't know how to handle nor react to it... That was why she was getting so angry...

She _couldn't_ admit it to herself, she couldn't _fathom_ it, she didn't want to admit it... She didn't... To think Jynx was _right_ , because she _knew_ Jynx was telling the truth.. For all the Ghost Girl's secrets, all her vague answers...

_Frea knew when people lied to her_

She knew it was true, she had been aware of something foreboding before now... She hadn't needed Jynx to tell her of that... She knew she was in the middle of this shadow... This oncoming disaster... This Thing- this immense, foreign, unfathomably powerful Thing- that could destroy and would try to destroy everything, kill everyone... _The most Powerful thing she had ever felt. Something she was meant to face._

_... And I... Don't think... I can..._

_... Win..._

And that truly scared her, it scared her beyond belief, it struck her to the core, pure, cold, fear... She couldn't remember feeling so afraid, so hopeless... Not since...

The Image of the Shadowy Man- the only form of that Thing she had seen suddenly invaded her thoughts, _the ...the..._

_She... She didn't like the feel of this Power, it felt wrong, it felt... Dangerous... It was so wrong... It..._

_"Its always the same thing... Always the same problem... Always the same..." That power increased exponentially from the man, it reached out over everything, it engulfed everything and her eyes went wider than ever as she saw it- a great, dark mass radiating from him. Power unlike any other. Dark power, evil Power... Power that rammed into her, that moved through her, shook her being...The sounds of the fight around her faded, the sight of the men, her companions, the SaberTooth Mages- all of their Energy Signatures, they were all gone. They were lost from her senses, there was nothing but this man, this Power._

_"... Shouldn't you know?" The man asked and the shadow of his hood faded, and she saw dark, cold eyes glittering sickly grey. Eyes glittering with want, with evil intent... And then she recognized the voice, her heart seemed to stop, she felt a chill fall over her. This was the voice... The voice that had found its way inside her head, the voice that had forced her to open the Gate in Nvindorr... The voice of what or who had taken control of her! The one that had almost killed her and everyone else!_

_"...Malunafrey?"_

That thought in itself, that memory made her heart begin to race, another sheet of cold to hit her- and then beside that Image, came another image, and she felt her heart stop, her blood turn to ice, the world around her lost to a deep darkness.

_Cold laughter made her slowly beating heart speed up, her blood run cold, and her body fill with an unwanted, pure fear she couldn't stop... A fear that made her tremble slightly. She recognized that laugh, she hated that she knew it... But none-the-less, it scared her..._

_Out of the darkness, the world lit up with dark golden and red light, before her manifested the shadowy form of the one thing she never wanted to see again._

_"K-Kasumi..." Frea stammered, eyes growing wide and instinctively trying to back away, only to find she was stuck in place._

_Kasumi smiled sickly, looking to be enjoying herself a little too much. She hissed, inching closer. Frea trembled more at the close contact, she hated her reaction, but her mind wasn't working properly anymore, she couldn't think straight... Kasumi snickered, her green eyes lighting up with pleasure unlike anything she had ever seen in the woman, a dark pleasure that chilled her to the core, making her even colder than she already was._

The Image... The memories of that woman... The woman who had captured her... Tortured her... Stuffed two Demons inside her body... Ripped them out again... A woman who had haunted her at the corners of he mind for as long as she could remember...

Now suddenly the image of Kasumi was beside the image of that Thing, _they were equal..._

... She was truly... Of it... Of that Thing...

Her body, her mind didn't know how to handle it, it all turned to anger, because she just didn't know how to handle it, to live with it... Because the idea was unfathomable, because nothing ever managed to do this to her... Not since Kasumi...

_... I-I... I'm... A-afraid..._

Chase and Moon slowed in their following of Frea the moment she stopped, they watched in silence as her anger began to reach a high and her Magic rose with it, eyes wide and sweatdropping at the sudden show of pure anger.

"She knows things are serious- she knows they're dangerous, she knows things about everything- and all she's telling me is nothing to go on! When I asked her how many sites there are like Hilshine and Nvindorr, she spouted some stupid riddle and fucking left!" Frea snapped, her voice full of rage to an extreme that both Chase and Moon flinched, self consciously moving back a little.

Frea was so angry now not only was her Magic rising because of it, she was trembling in pure rage now, her fists clenched, her body tense- though they couldn't see her face they were sure they would have seen nothing by a dark scowl. The hot, fast waves of anger flowing off of Frea made Chase a little uneasy.

Chase and Moon blinked, exchanging quick glances between them.

Jynx had actually flat out refused to answer questions? After admitting she was keeping several secrets?

It was hard to imagine anyone admitting to such a thing, and then flat out refusing to say anything more... Especially about a situation so serious as the one they were in- the one they had been in since everything that had happened in Nvindorr. And from _Jynx?_ They knew she was secretive, reserved... But she was still a Fairy Tail Wizard, she was a part of the Guild- and it was odd to assume anyone in the Guild wouldn't try and give information that would be helpful in this sort of situation.

Being in a Guild meant helping your Guild-Mates whenever and wherever you could, didn't it?

Chase sweatdropped, eyes narrowing. He himself had always thought he had a good relationship with Jynx, probably more than Frea did- for however much time the three of them had spent each others company up on Frea's Mountain... Frea had never stuck to Jynx as he had- he and Jynx had become friends much faster, and in fact he spoke with the Ghost Girl more often than Frea usually did...

... But it was still odd to think, to see Frea so angry with Jynx... Frea was usually more level-headed than she was just now, her anger was boiling too fast- it wasn't normal, not even for a hot-head like Frea.

Moon's eyes remain fixed to Frea as the Energy Dragon Slayer fell into silence, each second her Magic and anger rising more and more... She was shocked as Chase was, to see Frea grow so angry so fast.

Yes... Frea had been growing agitated and wary of Jynx lately, but this is pure, unbridled anger... Anger beyond what's normal... As if it isn't even really all anger at all...

Moon's lips pulled into a small frown as her eyes grew wide and a little concerned.

They hadn't been standing there for more than a few moments, and in a few moments, Frea's anger and Magic grew steadily- until it all came to an abrupt halt.

Her Magic started to fade quickly, the feeling of tension and anger sparking off of her suddenly plummeted to near none-existence, but her shaking didn't stop.

Chase and Moon's eyes went wide, they stiffened and sweatdropped heavily as it hit them all at once.

_Her anger... She... There is no... Way..._

Chase's jaw dropped slightly, his heart skipping a beat as he stood very still, his eyes glued to Frea. The emotions bouncing off his Old Mentor suddenly, of every emotion he had felt sparking off of her- from anger to rage, sadness to tension, pain, unhappiness, frustration... Not once, not ever had he felt... Not since that once...

**.:+:.**

_"Shut up kid." Frea told him quietly, cutting him off and he blinked._

_"But-"_

_He broke off when Frea suddenly took a step forward and pulled him toward her quickly, her arms wrapping around his neck and she placed her chin over his shoulder. He froze, unable to process the sudden action, Frea never hugged people... At least not as far as he knew._

_Everyone else was rather shocked at the action as well, and they just stared with wide-eyes. Frea's eyes remained closed as she tightened her grip around him,_

_"Don't you ever, scare me like that again..."_

* * *

 

_Teach... She's actually... Afraid...? Is that even... Possible...?_

That seemed absurd, everyone was afraid at some time- everyone felt fear- but he had never, _not ever_ \- not since that time in Crocus, and even that was only a split second- he had _never_ felt fear radiate from his Old Mentor. He'd never sensed fear coming from her, need seen her truly afraid- and to feel it now, it nearly took his breath away.

For the first time ever, he was seeing Frea be gripped by pure, real, fear. It hit her so hard she was shaking from it- her anger had sprung from it- because fear was not something Frea was used to feeling at all- she didn't know how to handle it, how to react- that was why her anger was rising so quickly, too quickly to be normal.

And now she suddenly realized... She was actually afraid.

_Frea is actually... Then... Things must be... Worse than we thought... A lot worse..._

"Teach..." He mumbled, not sure how to react- his mind was whirling at the fact that she was scared- he felt he should try to lessen her fear, say some thing- but he couldn't think of the words, and sweatdropped, his fists clenching a little as his eyes remained fixed to her, narrowed in worry and shock.

It was hard to see the person he looked up to most, the one person who had taught him Magic, pulled him from a dark place, brought him into her heart- the one who encouraged him to get stronger, the one who- ultimately- was the reason he had a Family in Fairy Tail now. It was hard to see her breaking down in front of him- she was crumbling, slowly, but surely. The one person who had always been so strong, so powerful- the one person who never seemed to be afraid- was suddenly crushed by overwhelming fear, and it was tearing her down.

His heart lurched and his chest tightened, his eyes couldn't leave Frea- not for a second. He hated this... He couldn't hardly believe what he was seeing... He wanted nothing more than to reassure her, he didn't want Frea to feel this way- ever, but what was worse- he hadn't any idea how to help.

Moon's paws clasped together before her, her ears back and eyes wide- glittering in concern and worry, as well as slight shock. It took her little time at all to realize what was going on with Frea- in fact, she realized the full extent of what the Energy Dragon Slayer was feeling before Chase himself did. It did seem impossible- because Frea never, ever, seemed afraid in any situation- not in any fight, in any thing that had gone wrong- and now she was truly, entirely, afraid of something.

She hadn't any idea how to handle fear, because she hadn't ever really felt it before this point- and now she was struggling to keep track of herself and her emotions now, as Moon and Chase assumed- Frea began to realize she was actually afraid.

 _This is something so foreign and rare for her... She doesn't know how to handle it... And its starting to make her fall apart..._ Moon sweatdropped, with everything that happened, all that had been found out, all the things they had faced, it all came down to the realization, that Frea herself was exceptionally afraid of the incoming dark- and that chilled Moon to the core.

It it was enough to frighten Frea- then whatever was coming must be truly and utterly terrifying. And it was- it was unknown, none of them understood it even in the slightest, it was dark, malicious, and the most powerful thing that any of them had ever come across.

And for all of it- for all the people that Thing had hurt, or come after- it was Frea who had been hit the hardest, she was the one who took the larger blows, she was the one effected most- and she carried most of the burden.

Time and time again, whether it was to herself or out loud- Frea had vowed to take this Thing on herself- she took the responsibility of combating it, and she planned to stick to it- but it was only now the weight of that responsibility came crashing down on her hard enough to make her realize what it was she was facing- and the truth of it was terrifying indeed.

_She must feel alone, standing by herself... Against this Thing..._

Moon crossed her paws over her chest and let out a sigh, "You idiot.." She mumbled, earning a shocked look from Chase as Frea stiffened slightly, "Do you honestly think anyone is gonna let you face this alone? That Chase or I, Natsu, Gray, Erza- anyone at the Guild, do you honestly think there's any chance in hell we're going to let you fight against this Thing all on your own?" Moon asked lowly, "I know you tend to want to handle things on your own Frea- its hard for you to think about leaning on anyone else, especially against something this large. But even you must realize you can't do this one alone."

Frea's glanced to the ground silently, a bead of sweat rolling down her face as she remained with her back to the other two- listening to every word Moon said and knowing it was true. The cold pit in her stomach suddenly became colder,

_"...you can't do this one alone."_

_She knew she couldn't... That's why..._

Chase glanced to Moon in slight shock, eyes widening a little once he realized what the grey Exceed was doing- the thing he hadn't known how to do.

Kind words and tenderness weren't going to help Frea calm down, none of that would lessen her fear... And Moon understood that- she understood it so well, she knew exactly what it was that needed to be said that could actually have any effect on Frea.

**_She wasn't alone_ **

Not for the first time, he was utterly surprised with how well Moon seemed to understand Frea.

He smiled slightly and let out a calming breath, pushing away the fact his Old Mentor seemed utterly afraid- pushing away the shock at the realization, and the deep pit of direness that came with realizing how serious things really were- he looked to Frea steadily,

"You're not gonna be doing it alone." He said steadily, Frea's eyes widened a little and she went still. "We're going to be right there next to you, right there to fight with you- we'll get through this together. Together we'll win, don't doubt that."

"We'll stand by you through it all. You won't ever be alone, not in this." Moon assured with a small confident smile, suddenly both her and Chase's demeanor seemed so confident and calm, so light-hearted even- and brave..

Frea could hear in their voices their confidence, the fact that they truly meant they would stand with her- that they would fight.

_She wouldn't be alone..._

Their confidence and solace managed to relax her slightly, enough that her trembling stopped and she was able to stifle her nerves and calm down.

No, not alone... They would fight for her, she knew that-

The cold pit in her stomach remained as she let a small, almost rueful smile spread across her lips.

They would fight... But in the end... Even with their help...

_I am alone_

There wasn't a way around that, she knew deep in her bones- as Jynx had said, she was the one supposed to face this Thing, and she _alone_ was the one to be fighting really.

The Guild, her friends, her Family... She knew well enough they would die for her, she understood that, respected it...

But she couldn't accept it, and she wouldn't ever let anyone die for her.

_I'm not letting anyone die._

With that promise she forced herself to calm down completely- well, at least outwardly, and enough Chase couldn't sense any negative emotion flowing from her any longer. Her body stilled completely and she took in a deep breath, her smile faded slightly, to just a faint, grateful turn of her lips as she ran a hand against the back of her neck and let out her breath.

"... Together then." She chuckled lowly, slowly turning toward them with a soft expression. "Together we'll do this... I suppose I forgot about that." She admitted and Moon smirked slightly, while Chase seemed to breath a sigh of relief at the smile on her face. "Thanks for reminding me, you two."

Both Chase and Moon smiled while nodding their heads, Moon floated forward and gave Frea a hug, while Chase moved to stand before his Old Mentor and raised a hand.

Frea took his hand as they held them before the both of them, their eyes meeting.

"You're never alone, Teach." He said and she nodded, their words did help her to relax, and she truly appreciated their effort- and loved them both for it, she wanted to believe she wasn't alone- and technically she wasn't, though deep inside she had never felt so truly and utterly alone before now...

_Together... Yet I am still going to be... alone..._

* * *

 

Things had managed to pick up a little from there, the tension had significantly decreased- Frea retold a few more details- managing to keep her anger to a minimum this time around- and she explained as much as she could and was willing to about what Jynx had said.

Nothing really about what she truly felt... And she left out the small conversation she had with whatever it had been while she was unconscious.

Since then conversation had steered away from musings over what Jynx said, what happened, and nearly everything that had to do with that Thing- though Frea knew it was still on the minds of Chase and Moon all the same- they just seemed to keep away from the subject for her own feelings.

"I suppose... Master will need to be informed..." Frea mumbled to herself- having switched to following Chase and Moon instead of leading- they were traveling over the rocky terrain they had first met Aisha in now- Magnolia was a few hours away though- as they were only on the outskirts of this land yet.

The thought of detailing events to Master Makarov was not appealing to her either... But she knew the Old Man well enough to know he would easily figure out something was wrong, and she couldn't hide it from him for very long if she even tried.

_Besides... He may have a few ideas on what's happening... I could use some advice..._

Her eyes trailed up to the dark sky above them- thunder clouds had rolled in not long before and a wind was staring to pick up as the smell of rain tinged the air.

"... I wish you were here, Chaitanya... I could use some help with all of this..." Frea mumbled under her breath, there was no doubt in her mind her Foster Mother would have insight on what was happening...

_Lets face it- if my Magic, Energy Magic, is as old as the world itself like Jynx said so... Chaitanya could definitely tell me more about it- I just wish I had asked more questions when I was still with her._

She paused slightly, her thoughts flashing to the heavy old book in her bag- which, as it truly surprised her, hadn't bothered her at all so far.

_Lets also add teaching me the Dragon Language to that list of things I should have asked you about, Chaitanya._

She didn't think to assume that there would be anyone other than freaking Jynx who could be of any real help right now- this Thing, all of it- it seemed far too old and obscure to be something anyone would know about- besides that Thing itself, and Jynx.

How she knew so much was still a mystery... What she knew was a mystery.

Frea shook her head to clear it of the thought and the oncoming surge of irritation- trying to move her mind to lighter things to clear it of all the dark and the serious. She needed something to take her mind off of everything happening, brooding over it wasn't helping...

* * *

_Sting jumped and dropped the beam again as his head snapped toward her, and the beam promptly landed on Rogue's head with a loud thud- knocking the Shadow Dragon Slayer off the ladder. Frosch wriggled from her grasp and flew toward Rogue immediately. Chase whipped about with Moon and Lector in suit, their eyes wide and shocked expressions on all of them, before they all broke into happy grins and jumped toward her all at once- catching Frea completely off guard._

_"Teach!"_

_"Frea!"_

_Moon smashed into her, making her stumble, then Lector did the same and she lost her balance. What made it worse was Sting and Rogue jumping toward her in a kid-like fashion she hadn't expected from either of them- causing her to crash to the ground, stifling a hiss and clenching her jaw as a agonizing wave of pain shot through her side and through her body, the breath being driven from her as Sting, Rogue, Lector, and Moon piled on top of her all at once._

_She had expected the happy reaction from Moon- Lector was understandable, but both Sting and Rogue jumping at her like that, wide grins and happy faces on two people she hardly knew, and hardly knew her?_

* * *

A small smile pulled at her lips at the recent memory and she felt herself relax again- the time spent with Sting and Rogue, Lector and Frosch... That memory was going to be one of her better ones, most assuredly. The faint ache of unhappiness at the GMG seemed to fade every moment, and the dark cloud hanging over her head seemed to fade too... And she was glad for it.

Her attention snapped to the present and she faltered a little in her walking, her eyes sweeping about suddenly- a tingling sensation suddenly hitting her full on, somewhere deep inside her as her skin crawled a little. There was a faint, fast flicker of... _Something_ , about the air for a second- a small feeling of something, that seemed really off, settled over her before disappearing again.

She didn't stop walking but kept glancing around, unsure of what it was she just seemed to sense- it didn't make any sense and it happened so quickly... It wasn't Magic, it was just an odd feeling.

Chase and Moon didn't pause in their walking ahead of her and she didn't stop following them either- she assumed Chase hadn't felt anything and after a minute or two decided it was nothing. She shook her head with a sigh,

"... Weird..."

Her skin crawled when the feeling returned again- this time she recognized it immediately, a deep-down sense of uneasiness settled inside of her- the feeling that something was most definitely wrong- she just wasn't sure what.

She slowed in her walking then, her action earning the attention of her two companions as they tried toward her curiously- though her eyes didn't move toward them, she only continued to glance around warily, sweatdropping a little.

"Frea?" Moon murmured,

"Something wrong, Teach?" Chase asked, immediately sensing the uneasiness coming from the Energy Dragon Slayer.

"... You don't feel anything, _off?_ " Frea asked without glancing his way. Chase blinked in surprise before glancing away too, his senses casting out about him as far as he could- but he didn't feel anything out of the ordinary.

"No, what do you feel?" He asked and she sweatdropped a little more,

"I'm not even sure..."

_**BOOM** _

Everyone seemed to jump at the sudden several series of loud booms of thunder echoing overhead- at least a dozen or so as their heads snapped up toward the dark clouds above them, expecting to see a flash of gold to accompany the core pounding booms.

Frea's body went rigid, a cold spear striking her core suddenly as that uneasy feeling, the pricking of the air and the crawling of her skin suddenly climbed to an apex and hit her full force all at once- the feeling suddenly made sense and her blood ran cold despite herself.

"Huh... I didn't see any lighting, did you?" Moon asked, her head tilted in slight confusion. The Exceed's eyes moved toward Chase and she sweatdropped when she noticed the slightly shocked look on Chase's face, and then she saw the utterly stricken look on Frea. "What's wrong?"

"There's no way..." Chase mumbled, eyes narrowing in shock. "He didn't just... Did he...?"

Frea's body remained motionless as her eyes fixed in the dark sky above them, her heart seemed to stop, her blood went cold, even despite herself and her feelings toward that man... To suddenly feel any Energy Signature... From anyone... Just... _Snuff out like that.._. To feel something be nearly wrenched away from this world entirely- especially someone in Fairy Tail- it shook her to the core.

"... Laxus..."

Moon's ear twitched at the barely audible name, her eyes sparkling in confusion. "... What do you mean...?"

Frea hesitated only a half a second longer before she took off quickly, sprinting past Chase and Moon in the direction toward Magnolia.

"Come on!" She snapped back toward the two, her voice jolting them into action. Moon sprouted wings and took off while Chase started running, his expression serious. Thunder boomed overhead even louder than before as the wind began to pick up, a glance to the dark sky was nothing but dark- there was no lightning, no smidgen of gold in the clouds, nothing.

"Wait a minute! What just happened?!" Moon asked quickly, still unsure what it was the both Chase and Frea seemed to feel and a little uneasy at the fact that Frea looked so... _Worried._

"The Lightning Dumbass... _Laxus,_ his Energy Signature feels like it just... Disappeared." Chase told her lowly as Moon caught up with him. Moon blinked, "... Usually when an Energy Signature goes out like that... It means..." Moon's stomach flipped as her blood went cold.

"... The person belonging to it, just died."

"You... You can't be serious...?" Moon stammered, suddenly realizing why Frea took off- the expression on the Energy Dragon Slayer's face... But wait, how could they even feel that? They had no idea where Laxus was!

"How do you know...?"

"The Energy Signatures of everyone at the Guild are so familiar, we could pick them out faster and from farther away than anything else. And something like this... Its like a familiar part of the world is suddenly ripped out, it leaves a sort of hole... It can be felt anywhere if you know the person well enough.." Chase mumbled, his eyes moving to Frea.

Frea had felt something before even he had- and even then it hadn't been particularly strong. He knew what it was, he felt the sudden pull of the Lightning Dragon Slayer's Energy Signature being torn from the air... But Frea must have felt it even on a deeper sense.

_She knew something was wrong before it even happened..._

"... Then Laxus is...?" Moon asked and Chase sweatdropped,

"He is _not_ dead!" Frea snapped back, almost angrily- her tone caught both Chase and Moon off guard. "His Energy Signature is still there, I can feel it... Its just suddenly very... Weak..." Frea growled,

_Its not just weak, its fading... Its almost gone... He's almost..._

"Where are we going then?" Moon asked,

"To where he is." Frea replied lowly, "Something has just happened, that's obvious... But there's something else, something off.."

Her senses had locked on to the (albeit) distant form of Laxus' Energy Signature with near to no issue- her heightened senses were enough even to be able to pick up on it when it was weak and fading fast.

It was also enough to relay to her that something about his Energy Signature had suddenly... Changed, a part of it felt like it was missing- if that was even possible.

_Something was missing..._

A cold brick of lead fell to her stomach when a thought struck her, what was missing about his Energy Signature... Why it was different...

_... His Magic... Why is it..._

_... Gone...?_

* * *

 

Everything suddenly turned to destroyed rock and terrain- the ground was burned, thrown up, crushed. It was as if a Dragon had flown trough in rage- and only bothered to tear up a perfect circular hole into the earth.

Frea, Chase and Moon came to a stop in their running at the top of the crater- eyes wide and tension rising.

Coming closer to the crater both Chase and Frea had managed to pick out the Energy Signatures of Evergreen, Freed, and Bixlow- which wasn't surprising seeing as how this was where Laxus was.

Frea's silver eyes swept down around the crater- immediately spotting the forms of four people at the bottom- without a seconds hesitation she jumped over the lip and slid down toward the center- Chase and Moon followed closely.

They came to the bottom to see Evergreen, Freed, Bixlow and Laxus beaten and bruised to an unbelievable extent- and all unconscious.

Moon's eyes moved from the four unconscious people to the crater about them- immediately noticing the strange Runes etched into the sides of the crater around the four, sweatdropping.

"Holy shit..." Chase hissed, Frea moved over to Laxus nearly immediately- his Energy Signature had only continued to grow weaker and he was clearly in the worst condition- there was a deep hole in his chest bleeding profusely, his breathing was faint and in short gasps, she listening closely to hear his heart... _Struggling to beat._

"What the hell happened...?" Chase mumbled, he moved toward Evergreen and tried to rouse her- it didn't work. Frea took her cloak off and folded it, resting it under Laxus' head slowly. Chase moved to Bixlow,

"... These Runes... Frea..." Moon mumbled breathlessly, too low for Chase to hear but Frea heard it- and sweatdropped, but didn't look up at Moon. She didn't need to, she realized it immediately.

Laxus was the worst out of the three, though they were all hurt. When Bixlow wouldn't wake up Chase tried Freed next, and the green-haired Mage's eyes fluttered open halfway with a small groan of pain.

"... Chase..." Freed mumbled, his eyes focusing on the Energy Mage beside him.

"Freed," Chase murmured, looking surprised he woke up at all, "What happened? Why are all of you so beat up?" Freed's eyes opened a little wider once it came to him what must have happened.

"... We were on our way back to Magnolia... When we suddenly got trapped inside some Runes, we couldn't break through them... I couldn't even rewrite them... The sky clouded over, and suddenly... Laxus... All our Magic started to drain... We're were being pummeled by... _Ivan's_ Magic... He was here."

Chase and Moon's eyes went wide at the mention of Ivan's name- why would he even be here? And what was the point of this?

Frea's fangs ground down on each other at the name- anger flaring because she had immediately smelled Ivan's scent upon entering the crater.

"I thought Ivan was in Prison?" Moon mumbled and Chase sighed sweatdropping.

"No, he got out a few months ago... at the same time Oracion Seis broke free." Chase explained, earning shocked glanced from Moon and Freed alike. "He was one of those Master Makarov asked Aisha and I to look into- he'd been in a small country named Veronica for the most part... He must have come back." Chase glanced round them, "But for what?"

Freed's eyes shot open wide and he shot up into a sitting position, only to cringe over in pain, his jaw clenching. Chase rest a hand on the man's shoulder to try and get him to relax, easily feeling the pain flowing off of him. Despite that his head snapped about him to see Bixlow and Evergreen unconscious, but his eyes were looking for one person- Laxus, who was hardly breathing with Frea beside him, her eyes closed and a bead of sweat dripping down her face.

"Laxus...!" Freed breathed, breaking off to wince. "Ivan... He... He trapped us to get to Laxus... He wanted to..." Both Moon and Frea seemed to deflate a little, both of them realizing what it was that happened. The Runes about them made it clear to Moon- who could read them easily as knew what they were used for, Frea knew... Because it was precisely why Laxus' Energy Signature seemed to odd now, why something was missing... And why he was slowly... Dying...

Frea nodded slightly to Freed, her eyes opening to look at him. "Ivan took the Dragon Slayer Lacrima out of Laxus' chest, right?" She asked quietly, Chase's eyes went wide and Freed nodded slowly, looking worried.

"Yes... He did, and Laxus..."

Frea clenched her fists and her eyes, her anger rising more and more.

To take the very thing that had been placed inside Laxus when he was only a kid, the thing that strengthened a sickly child... The thing that had been inside him for years...

A part of him had been ripped out- and that was enough to kill anyone- Frea knew that all too well.

"... Laxus..." Freed mumbled, realizing how serious things were, and he knew he was looking at the possibility that Laxus may-

Frea had pulled her bag off and begun digging around inside of it- producing a heavy leather bound book from the inside, one that Moon and Chase had seen several times before. The Energy Dragon Slayer's hand rest in the faded cover a moment as her eyes closed, and then opened again.

Frea got to her feet and stepped back a little, she quickly tossed the book toward Chase- who caught in in surprise, sweatdropping and looking uncertain,

"Why...?" he mumbled, trailing off as Frea clapped her hands together as she closed her eyes and her Magic erupted around her in seconds. Moon, Freed and Chase blinked in shock- not sure what it was she was doing- because what could she do?

 _"Divened Protere uf ve Enogora Magion."_ Frea growled lowly, her Magic spread out around them and passed over them in a warm wave, taking the form of faint, see through dome around them as the wind suddenly died inside of it- streams of silver moved up from the center and circled around Freed, Bixlow, Laxus and Evergreen-

Freed let out a sigh of relief when the pain in his body started to diminish and his strength started to return a little- immediately recognizing this as the same Spell that Frea had used in Crocus, and the effect was the same.

Laxus' breathing eased, though only a little- and his pale complexion grew a little better- but Frea knew that wasn't going to be enough, not even Mornana Drearand would help him at this point...

"Teach..." Chase mumbled, still holding on to the Old Book in his hands- which, as soon as he touched it, he could feel some worn of strange Energy coming from it... _A book._

Frea opened her eyes and looked at him, "I'm going after Ivan." She said firmly, "I'm getting that Lacrima back, Laxus won't survive without it- and not for much longer either." Everyone sweatdropped at the words being spoken aloud, but they all blinked in slight shock to see a fire begin to burn in her eyes, all her previous tension was beginning to melt away and be replaced by pure determination- determination to do as she said, get the Lighting Dragon Slayer Lacrima back.

Freed sweatdropped and blinked in shock at the look on Frea's face, and the sudden firmness in her demeanor. He had seen that Frea and Laxus hadn't gotten along for as long as he knew the two of them- to see Frea suddenly so determined, to see that fire erupt inside of her like this... it was somewhat astonishing and he blinked at it.

"You kid, you're going to stay here and make sure he stays alive- can you do that?" Frea asked,

She very well knew Chase and Laxus were not friends, but Chase wouldn't abandon a Guild Mate to die- but it was a little more than that.

Frea was the one asking.

"... Still waiting for the, _how?"_ He mumbled lowly, "I can't use the same Spells you can, Teach. I don't know any Protection or Healing Spells..." She nodded slightly and gestured to the Book in his hands,

"I am going to assume, that just this once- that Book will open for you." She said simply, earning a confused glance from Chase, Moon and Freed alike. What the hell did that mean-?

The Book jolted in his hands and he jumped a little, the cover flew open and the pages flipped rapidly before coming to a sudden halt near the back of the book. In a flare of blue, words suddenly flashed onto the page- in... English.

A Spell

"How does... Is... This...?" Chase stammered, quite confused now. This is a Book damn it- _right?!_

"Trust me, if that's what the Book is showing you- it'll help." Frea told him calmly, her expression determined and he couldn't help but fall silent.

There was really no time for questions, as he well knew it was just- how could a Book even know how to help... By itself...?

"... Alright, Teach. I trust you..." Chase mumbled, "... Just... What am I supposed to do... With this Spell...?"

"You'll know. It comes naturally." Frea replied with a small reassuring smile, before her attention snapped to Moon who looked up in attention.

"Moon, how fast can you fly?"

* * *

 

Chase sweatdropped as be moved to stand closer to Laxus, Freed had managed to stand and was standing beside him- looking confused as Chase was.

Frea's some of Magic and the sense of relief that came with it remained even after she and Moon had taken off- leaving Chase without a very good idea how to cast the Spell written in the Strange Book in his hands, and with more than a few questions.

"This is all so strange..." Freed murmured,

"There are more than a few things strange about Teach." Chase replied lowly, Freed nodded- though his thoughts weren't entirely on the Book or even Ivan's motives- he was still thinking about that fire that had started burning in Frea's eyes before she left.

"How is this Spell going to help?" Freed asked.

Chase sweatdropped again, "Reading it over... Its an Aid Spell, sort of like Teach's Divine Protection Spell. Its a little different though, like its supposed to... Pour one's Magic into a person, and flow through them continually- warding off Negative Energy and... Slowing things down...?" Chase trailed off, all of it was so confusing he wasn't even sure. "I don't know... But if Teach thinks this is going to help, then I'll do it."

If not for Laxus himself, for her... For Frea.

He would usually be hesitant of helping the Lightning-for-Brains on any day- but he realized the life of a Guild Member was in the line- but even more than that... It was some thing more unspoken between Frea and himself.

He didn't like Laxus, but he respected Frea enough- cared for her enough, that he had to help Laxus- because he very well knew how Frea felt about the man, even if she would never admit it, or even realize it.

For all the anger and rage she felt toward Laxus, how much she claimed to dislike him... Chase knew that Laxus meant much more to Frea than even the Energy Dragon Slayer realized.

"Here goes... Everything I suppose..." He murmured, he squared his feet and close his fist, his other hand open to hold the book as he pressed his fist to his chin and took a breath, his Magic began to spiral around him and encircle the downed Lightning Dragon Slayer.

_"Light that battles the Dark,_   
_Flow of the River against,_   
_The Darkness of Pain,_   
_Tragedy,_   
_Death..._

_Let the flow go unhindered,_   
_The stream to travel its course,_   
_The movement of all,_   
_To go by slowly,_   
_To keep shadow at bay,_   
_Pain,_   
_Sickness,_   
_And Death,_   
_Away..._

_Give strength,_   
_Give time,_   
_Let Life..._   
_Remain..."_

With each line his Magic began to flow more freely, more calmly- in smooth rhythms and turns, first moving under his feet, then into the ground, and then into Laxus himself...

With each line he felt his Magic moving more slowly, bending, twisting, glowing brighter, stronger.

This Spell... It was nearly _perfect_ for the Nature of his Magic, which had always been flexible and fluid- unlike Frea's, that had always seemed firm and steel-like.

The Book seemed to know his Magic so well, it gave him a Spell he would be perfect to cast... That couldn't be possible.

Freed backed away a little, his eyes fixed to Laxus and Chase silently.

_"Let Death be kept at bay,_   
_Strength and Light flow,_   
_Time and deterioration slowed."_

His Magic glowed brighter than ever before, and slowed to a small, gentle flow- he hissed a little when he felt the strain beginning to set in.

However perfect his Magic was for this Spell, it was still complex- and he wasn't sure he could keep it up for long.

_**"Energy Protect: Strengthening Stream!"** _


	44. My Family

**Chapter 44**

**My Family**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

"Why would Ivan even want that Lacrima? Let alone go to the trouble of taking it from Laxus' body?" Moon huffed, holding tightly on to Frea as she flew at her max speed- which in reality, was particularly fast.

"Why Ivan does anything has always been a mystery to me..." Frea muttered lowly, her eyes fixed to the ground sweeping by below them- her nose twitching from time to time to pick out Ivan's scent easily. "... I've oftentimes wondered about the sanity of that man..."

She and Ivan had never been close when she had been younger and he was still a Member of the Guild- the few times she had ever interacted with the man had always left a bad taste in her mouth. He was vile, evil, twisted... And he really just didn't seem to care about anything other than personal gain and money.

He'd never even seemed to really care about Fairy Tail or his own Family unless he needed to seem that way- he had always seemed, in all reality, like he could be very well be a little insane.

But more than anything, she didn't just dislike him- she _hated_ him, and that feeling was just growing stronger every minute as her anger began to rise.

Whatever Ivan's motive was behind taking the Dragon Slayer Lacrima from Laxus' body- there was no excuse for it! Doing that crippled him, it was going to kill him-

_I have to get that Lacrima back_

That was the only thing on her mind now, nothing else mattered- not the situation involving Hilshine, Nvindorr, that Thing, or even Jynx. Her true focus now was Ivan, and her aim to do whatever it took to get that Lacrima back, Laxus' life depended on it.

"How close are we?" Moon asked, her voice low and slightly out of breath. Frea's attention snapped back to her Partner as she cast her senses out to lock on to Ivan's Energy Signature. They were very close now, nearly on top of the man...

She stiffened, her eyes widening when her ears caught the sound of paper tearing through the air, and the sudden flare of Magic reached her.

"Stop!" Frea ordered quickly, catching Moon a little off guard as the Exceed struggled to come to a halt- thousands of paper dolls streamed up through the air toward them- the Magic poured into them among the paper as sharp as a razor's edge.

Frea's arms swept out in front of her, a silver dome erecting around herself and Moon as the dolls rammed into the surface with so much force a boom echoed and the shield cracked a little. Frea hissed a little as Moon sweatdropped, eyes widening.

The dolls ceased and Frea let the shield drop, "That was close..." Moon mumbled as Frea nodded once, her eyes traveling down to see the form of Ivan standing below them, the man looked, well... Awful.

His hair was longer and frizzed; his clothes were worn and frayed and there were dark lines under his blood-shot eyes that only served to make him seem more insane that she had already assumed he was. He looked so worn and frayed she was a little unsure if he could have even managed a Spell to remove the Lacrima from Laxus at all... But the sheer force poured into those Paper Dolls of his proved that thought completely wrong.

"Eh? I hadn't expected any pursuers so soon- and certainly not you!" Ivan called up to her, sneering a little in his displeasure at finding her there. "It's been awhile Shade Demon- or what is it everyone calls you these days? Frea?" He growled and her fists clenched at the name she hadn't heard in so long-

Ivan had never treated her very well when she was younger, and the reason she had hated him- it was because he always sneered at her and berated her for her 'Demon Status' back then. Of the few people in the Guild who ever referred to her in such a way- Ivan had done it most frequently and now it only made her exceptionally angry.

"I suppose this is fitting- a debt to be repaid for your interference at the Grand Magic Games is still owed." Ivan snickered, earning a dark glare from Frea in return. He smiled and pulled his hand from the pocket it had been in-

He held a smooth, glittering blue and yellow Lacrima up to her- her eyes narrowed when she noticed the blood staining the stone, and her thoughts immediately flashed to the hole in Laxus' chest.

"Is this what you're looking for, eh, Shade Demon?" Ivan asked, eyes glittering in malice as she bared her fangs at him a little. "Priceless this thing is, it was a bit of work to get it back- even with those Runes and the extraction Spell- I still had to get my hands dirty ripping it out."

Frea's face suddenly went dark as her eyes began to burn with a furious cold fire- her fists clenched and her fangs ground down on each other in the utter anger that suddenly turned to full on rage.

"You little..!" Frea hissed lowly, her body starting to shake in rage.

Moon's eyes went wide at what Ivan said, and she flinched slightly too- both at the cruelness in the mans voice- and the sudden anger that erupted in Frea at the words.

She had been concerned the Energy Dragon Slayer was still low on Magic- and still pretty hurt from the things that had happened in Hilshine- and she had been afraid she wouldn't be able to handle fighting Ivan without getting hurt again.

Suddenly that idea seemed stupid.

Frea was so angry... Her fury was almost breathtaking and she hadn't even landed a first blow yet!

"Frea..." Moon murmured, her expression suddenly surprised and a little in awe.

"Drop me." Frea growled lowly, Moon paused a single moment, before letting out a silent sigh and complying.

The moment she let go of the Energy Dragon Slayer silver erupted about her and the feeling of raw Power hit her full on- Ivan's eyes narrowed in disgust as he replaced the Lacrima back in his pocket and raised a hand, before smirking darkly.

"Did I make you angry, Shade Demon?" He laughed as Frea dropped through the air in a blaze of silver light. "What was it? The fact that I stole the Lacrima? Or maybe it was the way I tore it straight out of the useless boy's chest?"

"Ivan you _bastard_!" Frea yelled, suddenly flipping in air as she swung her arms down toward him- he had erected a sudden flurry of Paper Dolls to stream out toward her- they all shredded and burned before they could even get close to Frea, and Ivan's eyes went wide along with Moon's.

Frea's Magic swirled into a massive stream of pure silver that curled over Frea's head as she flipped in air above Ivan- the Magic following her movement as she swung down at him and the Arc tore trough the air toward Ivan at incredible speed-

Moon's eyes went wider than ever- she recognized that move! It had been enough to knock a Dragon to its belly!

_"Dragon Slayer Secret Art: LightStream Arc!"_

Ivan's eyes went wide in utter shock at the amount of Magic streaming down toward him- suddenly realizing that he just engaged himself in a battle with someone he knew- but someone who was nothing as they had been when he had known them.

The amount of Power and skill that Frea had now was more than 20 times that she had when Ivan had known her- probably more than that in her rage. His expression suddenly changed- he realized he had underestimated her and he was about to pay for that mistake.

Everything was engulfed in dazzling light as a resounding boom shook the air and everything around it to the core- the ground shook violently as it caved in and cracked- slabs of land being uplifted and rubble flying everywhere as Frea's Magic made contact with the site where Ivan was.

Moon flew higher, her wings beating furiously to stay afloat against all the savage wind that had been created from the attack- her eyes narrowed in shock.

"She's just entered this fight, she hadn't even landed a move yet and already she used a Secret Art...!" Moon hissed to herself, using such a powerful attack so quickly...

_I underestimated how angry Frea is... She's pissed... And she's looking to end this fight quickly..._

She sweatdropped, Frea was angry, so she was attacking harshly- and it doing it very quickly, because the Energy Dragon Slayer knew Laxus wasn't going to last very long now that the Lacrima had even ripped out of his body- she was hurrying to save him.

And she doesn't care how much Magic Energy she wastes to do it.

Frea swipe a hand down below her, in a flash of silver a Magic Circle appeared there and a box sprung up in the air- she landed on it neatly.

Frea stiffened as she heard the wind whistling and thousands of razor sharp Paper Dolls tore out of the dust cloud that had risen, she swiped an arm out as a few waves of silver sliced through the hoard- before jumping backward off her box toward the ground- flipping backwards in air as she snapped her fingers.

The box glowed brightly before detonating with a resounding boom, tearing a hole in the hoard of Paper Dolls still streaming toward her. In fluid succession- Frea leaned back and sucked in air, her cheeks puffing up.

"Energy Dragon Roar!"

The spinning silver tornado tore out over the space before her- destroying what was left of the Dolls and carving a trench into the already destroyed ground for a good long ways.

"I had realized you were a Dragon Slayer last time we saw one another..." Frea hissed as her head snapped toward the left to see Ivan standing on a very large Paper Dolls shaped as some sort of bird- which inevitably, he used to dodge her attacks- for the most part.

His right shoulder was torn and bleeding furiously though he didn't seem to care. His clothes were frayed and his skin cut- her magic had done a number on him but it hadn't been enough.

"... But I must admit, I am surprised. Its as if you're a different person." Ivan muttered, his lips pulling into an insane smile as he started laughing. "Who would have believed that same little freak my worthless Father brought into the Guild would ever get this strong?! Its nearly hilarious!" Frea growled lowly at the 'freak' comment, but her eyes lit up with fire at the 'worthless' Father comment.

"Don't you dare talk about Master Makarov like that!" She napped furiously. "Say what you want about me, Ivan- but don't you dare disrespect Master like that!" Ivan gave her a curious look somewhere between a grin and a sneer.

"Always the loyal little kid, aren't we?" He chuckled and she clenched her jaw. "You've been smitten with the Old Man as long as I've known you... You and the rest of that stupid Guild. Blind fools the lot of you. The only thing in the world worth anything is money." He paused, his lips twitching in a small smile when he saw she was growing agitated with him.

"What I don't understand, is this-" he waved a hand at her, "You were always overly smitten with my Father, the Guild- but my useless son? Now that, that is what confuses me- since when were you so concerned with his well being? Eh, Frea?" He asked, "I seem to recall you flat out hating the idiot."

* * *

 

_"Oh shut up you she-devil!" Erza snapped coldly, the (very) young red-head butting heads with a similarly young Mirajane- her white hair pulled into pigtails and dressed in her usual shorts and short top- before she switched to her now regular attire of some dress or other._

_Erza, even as young as she was- which at this time was about 14 or so, always had her armor on- and her hair pulled into a braid behind her back._

_This exchange happened regularly. There wasn't a day when either Erza or Mirajane were at each others throats for some reason or other- personally, Frea was convinced it was a combination of the two were secretly vying for being the strongest female Wizard in the Guild (of which, in that contest- they had left Frea herself out of the running) and the fact that they were much more alike then they'd ever want to admit._

_Frea- being the older, now around 16 to 17- and having joined the Guild several years before the both of them, had somehow fallen into the role of mediator between the two._

_Lucky me..._

_She let out a heavy sigh and crossed the Guild Hall without a second thought, her hair pulled into a loose fishtail braid over her shoulder, wearing shorts and a tank top- with a belt where a drape with the Fairy Tail Insignia was emblazoned in cool silver- she earned the looks of the Guild Members as she approached the two bickering girls- everyone was standing away from them, besides the young forms of Gray, Natsu, Lisanna, Elfman and Cana._

_"Better be careful Frea! Those two might snap your head off if you intervene!" Wakaba called to her with a drunken smile on his face as both he and Macao laughed to themselves. She waved a hand at them but otherwise let the comment slide and continued walking._

_"Wanna go, red-head?!" Mira snapped back, smirking evilly as they locked hands and butted their heads together- Magic beginning to rise off the both of them as the watching children around them sweatdropped and shook their heads._

_"Geez, don't they ever quit it...?" Gray mumbled,_

_"They're super scary..!" Natsu mumbled, sweatdropping heavily with a worried look on his face._

_"Mira please..." Lisanna and Elfman mumbled half-heartedly._

_"So annoying..." Cana muttered._

_"I'll take you!" Erza hissed,_

_"Bring it you little bi- **MMMPH?**!" Mirajane snapped- only getting halfway through her sentence before being choked off by Frea yanking the back of both Mira's shirt and Erza's armor roughly- easily splitting them both apart and tossing them in opposite directions, placing her hands on her hips with a less than enthused look._

_Both Mirajane and Erza landed hard on their asses with shocked gasps, looking a little dazed for a minute or two as everyone else watched in awe and nervous surprise._

_"That was fast." Gray commented lowly, Natsu smiled a little and pumped his fist in a childlike manner._

_"Frea's so cool! She's not even afraid of mean old Erza or Mirajane!" The pinkette grinned. The small and very newly born Happy rest in Natsu's head, holding a small paw up with a sleepy,_

_"Aye..!"_

_"Enough, both of you. Don't you ever get tired of bickering all the time?" Frea sighed, her eyes closing as she stood between the two people she had just separated, oblivious to the looks she was getting of the comments from everyone else._

_Erza and Mira jumped to their feet with furious glares and unhappy expressions, their eyes glittering in anger toward the older girl who had interrupted them._

_"Who gave you the right to barge in like that!?" Mira hissed coldly,_

_"This doesn't concern you Frea! Stay out of it!" Erza snapped,_

_"It does concern me, especially when your fighting starts tearing up the Guild." Frea replied calmly to both._

_"You're one to talk!" Erza growled,_

_"Yeah! You and Laxus hate eachother so much you're always fighting- and you two do more damage than anyone!"_

_Frea's jaw clenched a little at the mention of the name, a small vein ticking on her forehead and a little less than unhappy she had been called out on that- because it was true._

_"You have no right to badger us for fighting when you do it too-!" Both girls yelled, but Frea hissed under her breath and swiped an arm out at the both of them in pure agitation._

"Enough!" _She snapped coldly, the air about her suddenly going dark as her eyes burned with a cold fire and her face went dark- everyone flinched and sweatdropped at the dangerous look in her eyes, and they shrunk back- even Erza and Mirajane's mouths shut immediately and they looked to Frea with wide eyes and slightly nervous expressions._

_"I don't care if my fighting with Laxus is worse or better than you two! All I care about is the both of you quitting it!" Frea growled lowly, "If I catch either or you so much as calling the other a name- you both will have hell to pay." A deep shadow cast over Frea's face as small wisps of cold grey began to circle about her body and the feeling of Magic slowly began to rise- she rest a deadly flare on both Erza and Mira that could have petrified someone faster than Evergreen's Stone Eyes._

_"Am I understood?" Frea asked lowly, her voice dropping as everyone besides Erza and Mirajane scooted backward, the two girls swallowed hard and slowly nodded- they weren't ones to be scared easily, but even they couldn't disobey Frea sometimes- she had too much a sway over them, and in all reality-_

_They weren't sure they could win if Frea decided to fight them._

_To avoid the conflict and the threat, they nodded slowly and walked in separate directions, shivering slightly as Frea let out a sigh and all dark anger about her fading._

_Gray, Cana, Natsu, Lisanna, and Elfman all stood frozen to their spots, sweatdropping as they watched Frea walk back toward her seat._

_"G-geez..." Gray stammered,_

_"Frea... Is so manly..." Elfman breathed,_

_"... But she's a girl Elfman..." Lisanna replied,_

_"S-she's so scary...! Even Mira and Erza were scared...!" Natsu stammered, shaking a little._

_"That's why you never piss Frea off.." Cana sighed in a matter of fact tone._

_Frea moved toward her favorite bench near the back of the Guild in silence, ignoring the murmurings about her and faintly aware of Erza and Mira setting up seats the furthest from eachother they could- and also aware they were sharing dirty looks between them, but she didn't really care._

_She had almost reached her bench when an unwanted voice interrupted her in her walking._

_"If it isn't the Shade Demon picking on the little brats. With that look on your face, someone would think you were debating on whether or not to eat them."_

_Frea's fists clenched at her sides and her jaw clenched as she whipped about toward the owner of the voice- immediately recognizing it as Laxus as her furious silver gaze rest on the teen from where he was standing, leaning against the wall with his shoulder and a small frown on his face._

_He usually said things like that- some quip about her Demon Status, some regard to her 'eating someone' or something of that nature- and more often than anything, he always called her a hateful name- Shade Demon or 'Little Demon'- he'd been doing that for as long as she could remember. It was something he actually shared with Ivan, the use of the nicknames she hated so much._

_There was hardly a shred of memory from the first time she joined the Guild- when he hadn't been beating down on her or berating her in some way- he was always saying the most awful things, always egging her on. And it was simply because he could- because the both of them felt a deep seated resentment toward the other they couldn't seem to shake. Resentment, and for what reason- it wasn't clear._

_"Say that again, bastard!" Frea snapped back, her anger rising again in seconds- it always did, he just made her so angry damn it!_

_"Why? Ya gonna eat me?" He hissed and she growled, her Magic suddenly flaring about her- not silver, grey._

_Grey- because she was pissed, because deep down inside her, because of her anger- Shadow was stirring and the Dark Demon's hold on her was steadily growing stronger, threatening to send her spiraling over the edge._

_"Screw you Laxus! You wanna fight, man up and say it out loud!" Frea yelled, pointing a finger straight at him. "Quit with the relentless insults already!"_

_"Make me." He hissed lowly,_

_Her vision suddenly blurred red and for a minute she was a little afraid that she's lost control to Shadow there and then, and worry hit her._

_She launched forward, her mind- still hers, as she forced Shadow away and both she and Laxus interlocked in a battle royale of grey and gold smashing into one another in the air- throws thrown, Magic shot out- the Guild barely standing a few minutes later and a seriously angry Master scolding both of them- his words lost on deaf ears._

_He makes me so angry... Its so hard to keep Shadow at bay... God I really hate that Lightning Bastard!_

* * *

 

Frea let out a low breath, closing her eyes as the memory started to fade away once invading her mind without warning. It had been a very long time since she had thought back to her younger days in the Guild- back to the days when she and Laxus had literally been at eachothers throats nearly every day- when their rivalry and hatred for one another had gotten so bad she couldn't go a day without getting so angry, she almost lost control to Shadow.

It had gotten bad enough, that Master Makarov eventually had to intervene and never let either Frea not Laxus within twenty feet of one another- and even then that hadn't helped very much at all.

_He was a true and utter git back then, now that I think about it... He egged me on for no reason, called me names, insulted me..._

_But I really wasn't much better either. We just made one another so angry, for almost no real reason at all. I really hated him, I said I hated him so many times before... We both said it..._

"... Yes, I hated him back then. We made each other so angry, he was awful to me, and I wasn't much better to him." Frea replied lowly, her eyes still closed. "We were always fighting, always on each other for some thing... And there wasn't even a reason for being the way were were- we just were." He eyes opened to rest on Ivan steadily,

"We were stupid, foolish kids. In some ways- we're still that way. But now a days- for all our arguing, irritation- for everything that happened between us in the past- the fact is," she sighed slightly.

"I don't hate him. I don't think I ever really could truly hate him."

Ivan blinked in somewhat shock, his head cocking a little at the words. Moon's eyes went wide, before she smiled softly and crossed her paws over her chest.

_"You hate me, remember?" Laxus told her. Again, silence._

_Frea let out a heavy sigh and turned to look at him, "I don't hate you." She replied and he blinked at her answer. "We just find it hard to get along sometimes, you're my Guild-mate, I could never really hate you, idiot." She murmured._

"What's stupid is I never realized it until years later. Its taken years for us to get to the uneasy relationship we have now- and its much better than we used to be... Though we still get on eachother's nerves sometimes." She couldn't help but chuckle a little at that thought. "He's still my Family, no matter his flaws, no matter how angry we make one another- and I fight for my Family. I protect them no matter what- something you don't seem to grasp, Ivan." Her tone suddenly dropped to a low, dark tone. Ivan's face pulled into an angry scowl and he swiped his arms out toward her,

"Enough of your nonsense, you stupid girl!"

Frea jumped sideways, avoiding the collection of Paper Dolls streaming toward her, hissing as one of two caught her skin and cut her a little, one of them drawing across her cheek rather deeply, a stream of crimson dripping down toward her chin- before her Magic spiraled around her and destroyed the ones near her.

"All this Family nonsense is just that! Utter nonsense!" Ivan yelled at her furiously,

"He's your _son_ Ivan! Does that really mean so little to you?!" Frea snapped back coldly. "He's your Family, your blood- does his life really mean so little to you?! How could you even think about killing your own flesh and blood?!"

"Nothing in this world is worth anything if you can't profit off of it! You can't make a profit off of 'Family'!" Ivan snapped back, the feeling of his Magic rising with Frea's in their increased anger toward one another. "My son is _worthless_ , he always has been! The only thing worth anything is that Lacrima!" Ivan snapped back, Paper Dools streaming around him on all sides and starting to circle Frea rapidly- coming closer. Her Magic rose up around her, spinning to meet the advancing dolls and destroying many of them- but not all. They started to glow a sickly purple color and she stiffened, knowing they were about to blow- she needed to get out but they have enclosed about her in a spherical shape.

"His life isn't worth anything! It means nothing!"

Frea stiffened, a great surge of red hot lava suddenly burning through her body as her mind suddenly unhinged and all she saw for a moment was utter red.

Her Magic nearly tripled in a split second, all of its own accord as she and the Dolls about her were suddenly engulfed in a dazzlingly bright silver dome of spinning Magic that shook the air itself with thunderous booms, stirring up heavy wind and sending rubble flying.

Ivan was pushed back by the sheer force of the backlash coming off so much power all at once, eyes going wide at how much power seemed to explode off of her.

_"HIS LIFE IS NOT WORTH NOTHING!"_

Frea suddenly erupted from the spheres of Magic and dust at top speed, her fangs bared and her eyes burning with undeniable rage- she appeared in front of Ivan in moments, he hadn't time to react as she swung a silver encased fist out toward him.

"All life has meaning! All life is precious!" She snapped, her fist making contact with his cheek with so much force she knocked a few teeth loose and immediately bruised his face- he flew back through the air and smashed into the ground hard enough to wear a trench through it, before she flipped over and got back to his feet.

But Frea was on top of him again, her body moving faster than it may have ever had before- and all of it fueled by sheer anger.

"Laxus is _not_ worthless, his life sure as hell isn't meaningless or not worth anything!" Frea brought her leg around as Ivan raised his arms to block the next blow- expecting it to be another punch.

Her leg made contact with his torso, the impact causing a wave of pure force to ring out about them as her ears caught on to the unmistakable sound of ribs cracking- he was sent sideways for a long ways.

"Its unthinkable to even Imagine his own father could be so twisted and hate filled that you would even think about taking that Lacrima out of him! Don't you realize doing that is going to kill him?! I don't care how insane you are, how dark, how evil- he's your son and you've just tried to _kill_ him Ivan! You must realize somewhere inside of you, that doing that is truly and utterly wrong!" She yelled furiously, taking a moment in her movements- it was enough he managed to retaliate- sending hundreds of larger Paper Dolls out toward her, all of them glowing purple- all of them explosive.

"Shut up...!" Ivan snapped, "I don't care about that useless fool, I don't care if he dies- I never loved him and nothing you say is going to change my mind on the matter! He's always been a waste of space, I took pity on the boy when I put the Lacrima inside him- but I know now that was a mistake! Without it his life was worthless, with it- his existence meant little, and now it means nothing again!" Frea's anger continued to flare as Ivan went on, all weariness and fatigue from the events in Hilshine were a distant memory.

_The Lightning Idiot... His own Father... Didn't even care... His own Father tried to kill him... Would kill him if she didn't get that Lacrima back._

_How could his own Father think like that? Say things like that? Talk about his only son as if he was a piece of garbage?!_

It only made her more furious, to see Ivan's true colors now- to hear anything the Bastard was saying... Her anger was rage, and it kept burning stronger by the minute.

The hundreds of explosive dolls coming toward her suddenly turned into thousands- all of them packing every last bit of strength Ivan had, every destructive shred of his Magic he could manage-

_That bastard... He is so wrong... Laxus isn't... Worthless damn it...!_

"You fucking... Bastard... How... How dare you..." She hissed, her Magic faded from around her entirely as she stood where she was, fists clenched at her sides and body shaking in anger. Every second the thousands of Explosive Paper Dolls drew nearer, and she didn't make a single move- her eyes shut, completely still.

Moon stiffened, "Frea...!" She yelled a little frantically, just as the Paper Dolls were about to make contact.

Frea's head snapped up as she looked right at Ivan, passed the attack streaming toward her, silver eyes glittering in _soul-tearing rage._

"HOW DARE YOU EVEN TALK ABOUT HIM LIKE THAT?!"

There was a sudden influx- a shift, a vibration in the air as time seemed to slow down for a split second- the Paper Dolls halted in their tracks and every single one suddenly glowed a soft silver color, before they fell away into glittering pieces.

_Every single one_

Ivan and Moon nearly reeled back at the sudden feel of raw power hitting them all at once, eyes wide and fixed to the hoard of glittering Magic falling to the ground- all of those Dolls, destroyed in _half a second_... Frea's Magic hadn't even been visible! It was almost as if her Magic had poured itself into the very air itself at such an intensity a single look had been enough to shred the Dolls on a minuscule level- enough to shred them without even moving a single muscle.

"... That... How did she...?!" Moon stammered, "... Her anger... Her rage is so strong..."

"How _dare_ you say such things?! How _dare_ you try to hurt him, kill him?!" Frea shouted, Ivan stood motionless- now suddenly looking frightened after his Dolls were destroyed without a single move from her- and the feel of raw power ramming into him continued to rise, to grow stronger. "Everything you said- you are dead fucking _wrong!"_

"Laxus is _not_ worthless, he's _not_ useless, he's _not_ a waste of space, he isn't weak- he's one of the strongest people I have ever met, and hell- he's been through so much with _you_ alone, its a wonder why he ever put up with your shit! Or why he was loyal to you for so long!" Her voice rose coldly, cutting at the air as her Magic started to show itself again- and the glittering pieces of Magic falling through the air between her and Ivan began to swirl into small streams around her.

"He was loyal to you because Family _means_ something to him- where it clearly means nothing to you! He loved you, and he trusted you- and you don't even deserve a damn thing from him! Laxus is a better person that you ever were, his life means more than yours ever will, he is stronger than you- _better than you!_ Its a shame so much of his time and life was wasted on you- when he was just being your son! His time wasn't worth being wasted on you!"

Frea's voice kept rising in anger- but behind it, everything she said- she said it with so much _meaning._

_She truly meant everything she said._

Moon's see went wide and she clasped her paws together in front of her- eyes shinning as she witnessed a whole new side of Frea she had ever seen before, Frea never said anything unless she meant what she said- that had always been true... But Moon had never heard Frea sound so die-heartedly meaningful about anyone before, and especially not the man she was always at odds with.

It all came crashing down on her head what Ivan was, what he had always been... And Frea must have begun to come to terms with everything she had guessed at before, everything she believed- and now she was saying everything she felt deep down. Things she knew to be true in her head, in her own mind- things that normally would _never_ have been uttered out loud, ever- but her anger broke down the wall that would usually keep Frea's deepest most inner thoughts at bay and to herself. Frea nearly always kept her thoughts to herself- she was more reserved than one would guess on first thought, but all of that was gone now.

"Oh... Frea..." Moon murmured, "... Your emotion is so strong... Its a wonder nobody really knows how you really feel about things... About... Everything..."

Ivan couldn't move, he was transfixed- he hadn't ever seen so much emotion in Frea before, and it was... Astounding. Not only her sudden change in heart toward his son- but the sheer amount of strength and power her emotion brought with her- the Power of Emotions itself.

He hadn't ever felt anything so strong in his life.

"And now you're wasting my time. I want that Lacrima back, Ivan- and I'm getting it even if I have to beat you to a bloody pulp." She hissed, her words and darkened expression sending a chill over him. "Attacking my Family is the worst mistake you've ever made." His head snapped down as a massive Magic Circle suddenly appeared under his feet- stretching out from where Frea was, the ground shaking with the amount of power she put into it.

"Energy Trap!"

He was blown backward with a successive boom, he let out a yell of pain in air- his vision dancing and skin ripped in several places. His eyes scrunched closed against the pain, as he moved his hands out and managed to make another Large birdlike Paper Doll appear- it caught him as he adjusted, eyes opening to see Frea jumping through the air toward him.

"Explosion Dolls!" He snapped hoarsely. They appeared and flew out toward the advancing Wizard-

"Energy Dragon Wave Attack!" Frea snapped, twisting round in air as three large waves swung out in her motion and cut through the dolls easily. Frea landed on the Paper Bird he was on and continued toward him, her fists swinging back.

"Energy Dragon Iron Fist!" Her fist connected with his stomach hard enough to send him on his back- in the midst of her attack a small Magic Circle appeared between her hand and his chest, "Energy Force!"

His body was propelled downward with an amazing among of force- pushing his body straight through the Paper Bird and down into the ground- his body bouncing painfully as the impact made the ground cave in a little- blood made its way up his throat and into the air as he coughed out- his eyes catching glimpse of the glittering stone of the Lacrima bouncing out of his pocket in front of him.

Then Frea was on top of him- her hand snatching the stone from mid-air above him, her legs on either side of him and his battered body, his vision blurring and going dark. She stood over him a moment- her eyes burning with such fire and rage he thought maybe she was angry enough to end him. _Kill him.._.

"Laxus deserved a better Father than you." She hissed lowly, moving her hand down toward his forehead and flicking him-

Her Magic flared at the last minute and pushed his entire body further into the ground, knocking him senseless as she stepped over him, the Lacrima grasped firmly in her hand as she took a deep breath and her Magic faded entirely, she could feel Magic pulsing from the stone in her hand- it seemed to have come alive the moment she touched it- she recognized it... It was Lightning Dragon Slayer Magic, but it had come from a Dragon itself...

 _It was probably an actual Dragons entire life-force trapped inside this stone..._ She shook her head of the thought.

Moon stayed where she was a moment, floating above the site of the fight- which was now a good radius of utterly destroyed land and rubble. Her eyes remained fixed on Frea, nearly dazed with what had happened, with everything Frea said, all her anger, her rage... That Power...

"Moon!" Frea called up to her, startling Moon from her shock as she caught the Energy Dragon Slayer's eyes- noticing the sudden lack of anger, it had been replaced with a sense of urgency and even worry. "Can you get us back quickly?" Frea asked and Moon blinked,

"Y-yes..! Yes!" She stammered, swooping down quickly as it hit her they were running against the clock- everything she had just watched had made her forget the fact that every second taken- was a second that Laxus got worse, and close to dying.

Frea was painfully aware of that- through the whole fight, despite her rage, her anger- she'd always been locked on to Laxus' Energy Signature, and every moment it got weaker and weaker.

Moon grabbed Frea and took off quickly, casing a glance backward to the motionless form of Ivan.

"Should we leave him...?" She murmured,

"Laxus is our first priority." Frea answered immediately. She paused, "We'll call the Council later... I don't think Ivan will be getting up for a long while yet."

* * *

 

"Frea!"

The sun had started to set whilst Frea had been fighting Ivan, not the moon was rising and the sky had grown dark about them.

The faint glow of the dome she had left sitting around Laxus and the Thunder God Tribe could be seen through the gloom as she and Moon approached it, Moon slowing down and panting a little now for using her Max Speed for so long.

Frea dropped down onto the ground as Freed and Bickslow moved over to her immediately- Evergreen had come to as well but she remained near Laxus, but looked over.

All three of them looked exhausted and worn- and their expressions turned to Frea in slight hope, a little worried too.

They couldn't compare with how Chase looked though- Frea's eyes immediately found her former student standing at Laxus' feet- his eyes closed and nearly motionless- besides his labored breathing. He was panting, the continued use of whatever Spell he had called up from the Energy Magic Book was taking a fast toll- and just glancing at him, Frea could tell he was strained- and nearly all of his Magic Energy was gone.

"Frea, did you find Ivan?" Freed asked,

"Did you get the Lacrima back for the boss?"

"Lacrima, Lacrima!" Bickslow's Tiki Dolls chanted, the banged up and burned things circling Frea's head suddenly.

"Please say yes," Evergreen murmured, her eyes moving to Laxus slowly. "He... He's worse... He isn't going to last much longer without it... Even with the Spell Chase is using..." Frea sweatdropped slightly, before raising her hand to let them see the stone she held- they visibly brightened.

"Yes, I managed to get it..." She murmured, trailing off a moment. Freed noticed the worried look on her face, and blinked.

"What is it?"

"... Getting back was one thing... Transplanting it back into Laxus' body is something else entirely." She admitted- she had realized this issue nearly immediately upon getting it back.

She could manage to defeat Ivan and retrieve the precious stone... But she hadn't a clue what to do now- not how to transplant it back into Laxus, not even a little smidgen of where to begin if she were to try and make a Spell...

It was such a delicate process, she wasn't sure she would den manage it if she had a Spell to go off of anyway.

Everyone seemed to realize the issue all at once and a sense of panic and fear made its way into the members of the Thunder God Tribe. "... I hadn't... Thought of that..." Freed stammered,

"... What are we gonna do...?" Bickslow mumbled,

"... But Laxus..." Evergreen breathed,

Frea flinched slightly, her eyes scanning the sudden hopeless and deeply pained looks that passed across the faces of the three- a wave of sadness, fear and despair hitting her as the emotion began to flow off the three in powerful waves. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen any of them so... Hopeless and lost.

Not since... Not since Laxus was expelled.

She had known that the three of them cared for Laxus more than anyone in the Guild- they were his the friends, they were dedicated to him- they would die for him and Frea knew that Laxus would do the same for all three.

And now they were all...

Her fangs ground down on eachother a minute, her fists clenching as she sweatdropped and slowly stepped toward Chase-

"... How you doin', Kid?" She asked lowly, more or less knowing the answer to her own question. She could tell he was exhausted,

"..p... Peachy..." He panted and she sweatdropped, he cracked an eye open to glance at her sideways. "... I can't keep this Spell going for much longer though... Teach..." She nodded and gestured toward the Energy Magic book he was still holding- it was shut now.

"Let me see that.." She murmured, easily sliding the Book from his arm and placing her hand on the cover, her eyes falling closed a minute.

_A Spell... For infusing this Lacrima in Laxus' body again..._

"... Please..." She breathed, she blinked her eyes open after a moment when-

Nothing happened

She blinked and curled her fingers over the edge, trying to pull it open- but the Book was sealed shut, no amount of pulling was going to get it to open.

A cold weight fell in her stomach and she hissed lowly, the Book was ignoring her... And now it wouldn't open.

_Does that mean... There is no Spell in it that would help...?_

Her eyes trailed from Chase, who was straining with the Spell he was using, to Evergreen, Bickslow and Freed, who were all standing together with hopeless expressions, tears threatening to spill, wishing for anything to save their friend and leader- then toward Moon, who glanced back at her with a sad look but didn't say anything.

Her eyes moved toward Laxus, he wasn't even hardly breathing anymore despite Chase's effort, the hole on his chest had started bleeding again... And his Energy Signature... It was very nearly...

She looked away, her eyes falling to the glowing stone in her hand- Magic still pulsing from it, the surface still flecked red with blood...

She didn't know any Spells, she didn't know how to put it back in Laxus' body, the Book couldn't or wouldn't help her... Everything was seeming to be hopeless. Getting the Lacrima back was one thing... But even with it, if she couldn't Implant it back into Laxus it wasn't worth anything... She couldn't save... He was...

_I can't fix this_

Her eyes shut tight, her grip about the stone tightening a little. Without a Spell or any clue on making one, she couldn't save him, she was useless, she couldn't do it.

No, she couldn't do it, but-

... _She_ could.

Her eyes snapped open, her expression growing suddenly hard and determined. She shifted slightly, moving to stand a little ways away from Chase, and on the other side of Laxus from the Thunder God Tribe- her eyes shifting toward the sky as everyone else glanced at her in confusion- noticing the sudden determined look.

"Alright, I know you're still listening even if... Even though I snapped at you..." Frea muttered lowly, her eyes narrowing at the sky. "I can't Implant the Lacrima, I don't have a Spell, I couldn't make one if I tried- so I..." Her fists clenched and she let out a low growl as if it pained her to continue talking, Moon blinked in shock- noticing the sudden spark of anger and... Resentment creeping into Frea'a voice so suddenly.

"Frea... Are... You...?" Moon mumbled breathlessly,

"... I am _asking_ for your help. You told me that, helping me, is what you're meant to be doing- so... Please, help me now." Frea muttered through gritted teeth- it was hard for her to be asking this at all, she was not on good terms with her, she was still exceptionally angry...

_But damn it, she'd rather ask for help from that damn ghost than let Laxus die!_

"Jynx, I need your help!" Frea hissed, the words seemed to leave a bad taste in her mouth as she said them- the Thunder God Tribe blinked in slight confusion as Chase and Moon looked to Frea in utter astonishment.

After all of the anger and the distrust they had seen on Frea at even the mention of Jynx's name- to see her asking, nearly pleading for the Ghost's assistance was... Staggering, unbelievable.

And they knew very well nothing less than the thought of losing the life of one of her Family Members would see make Frea put aside her anger, put aside her pride like this- to ask for help from the one person she was truly at odds with.

A flash of purple smoke suddenly swirled in front of Frea as Jynx appeared the Energy Dragon Slayer without a word, her red eyes meeting Frea's silver ones as they simply looked at eachother.

"... Energy Dragon.." Jynx murmured lowly,

"... Things between us aren't better, don't mistake that." Frea said firmly, earning a blink from Jynx and nothing else. "But I know I can't save him, and I can't have that... But something tells me you can. So I am asking you, if it means anything to you- if anything about what there is between us means a _thing_ to you- don't let him die." Frea growled and Jynx just looked to her calmly.

"... Of course." Jynx murmured, earning a blink from Frea. "After all, I am still a member of Fairy Tail- and so is Lightning Dragon. As Guild-Mates its my duty to protect those in the Guild... As well as to uphold my debt to Makarov." Jynx murmured, Frea narrowed her eyes a little at the mention of a debt.

Jynx's eyes softened slightly, to the point she looked weary and a little... Sad. "I meant what it was I said, Energy Dragon... I _am_ here to help you." The ghost added in a lower tone, only loud enough for Frea to hear. "You are right, I am very much able to Implant that Lacrima back in Lightning Dragon's body. However... Know that my help is a two way road- I will help you, but I am going to need your help in return." Jynx's eyes glinted,

Frea stiffened, sweatdropping. Was she going to be black mailed then? In order to earn Jynx's help, was she going to have to agree to do as Jynx wished?

"... My form does not carry the Power required to cast the Spell needed to Implant the Lacrima, at least not in this Plane." Jynx told her, Frea blinked in shock- before a cold fell over her when she realized what it was Jynx wanted from her. The very thing she had never wanted to do again even before she and Jynx had their falling out.

"... To cast the Spell, I would require your Magic Power." Jynx said slowly, easily able to see the uneasiness in Frea suddenly.

She wanted Frea to merge her Magic with hers again... But she hated that, she inherently disliked the feeling that came with combining her Magic with the ghost's, and she never wished to feel it again.

Frea stiffened slightly, pausing as she let her eyes close and her fists clenched a little.

"... Energy Dragon..." Jynx murmured, about to remind the Dragon Slayer that time was short- only to cut herself off.

"Do it." Frea said firmly, her eyes opening to rest on Jynx steadily, unflinchingly. Jynx blinked in slight shock at how quickly she relented, "Take as much of my Magic as you need, I don't care. Whatever you need, its yours."

Jynx stared, her eyes growing slightly wide as she listened to what Frea said, saw the firm expression, the determination on the Energy Dragon Slayers face...

Everyone else stood in assembled silence and surprise- because even for Freed, Bickslow and Evergreen- all of who had no idea what the tenseness between Frea and Junx was even about- they were all shocked at how quickly Frea seemed to he complying with everything, how steadfast she seemed to be about trying to save Laxus...

Jynx's lips twitched in a small smile for half a second, before she nodded and held out a hand for the Lacrima. "Very well then, Energy Dragon- may I suggest you take a seat?" Jynx murmured as Frea handed the stone over without a word, and settled down to sit cross-legged, clasping her hands together in front of her and in her lap.

"What are you going to do?" Freed asked,

"Use a Bonding Spell that will safely implant the Lacrima back inside Lightning Dragon's body and seal it there- so this may never happen again." Jynx replied easily. "I know how to cast it- but I lack the means for such a complex Spell on my own, so Energy Dragon must help me by combining our Magics together." The ghost turned away from Frea slowly and toward Laxus, the stone floating up from her hand into the air before her. Frea stiffened slightly and sweatdropped,

_"... our Magic together has the ability to do as we wish."_

Those words Jynx had spoken in the floating nothingness of Salengoreath suddenly came back to her.

It made one wonder... With how wrong and yet how perfectly right their Magic seemed to be together... How powerful it was when combined...

_... What all could we actually do, anyway?_

"You may quit with that, Chase." Jynx murmured gently, "This will be over quickly, you may rest." Chase paused slightly, looking unsure- before his already wavering Magic was allowed to fade and and he let out a breath, sinking to his knees as he fought to catch his breath.

The minute Chase stopped casting his Spell, Frea's eyes closed as silver appeared around her and moved over toward Jynx quickly- Jynx's own dark purple Magic spiraling around her and spinning in sync with Frea's Magic nearly all on its own accord.

The feel of Jynx's Magic hit her full on, immediately making her tense- the dark feeling falling over her, the unnatural way they mixed...

It would never make any sense to her, how different Jynx's Magic felt, how wrong it felt- yet how perfect it was all at once... And how _familiar_ it seemed.

Nearly immediately she could feel Jynx pulling her Magic Power from her- using it to fuel her own Magic, draining her. She let the ghost do it- she meant what she said, she was willing to give every last shred of Magic she had.

Silver and purple light stretched across the ground, circling Frea, Jynx and Laxus all- the feeling of immense power began to radiate from them and ram into those watching with wide, worried eyes.

_"Bend and fuse,_   
_Meld and link,_   
_Body and mind,_   
_Soul and Magic,_   
_Everything as one,_   
_Everything in sync,_   
_Balance,_   
_Harmony"_

Jynx began to recite the lines of her Spell clearly and calmly, the Lacrima spinning in air before her and over Laxus as her red eyes closed- and she continued to draw Power from Frea continually- making the Energy Dragon Slayer hiss a little as weariness began to creep in.

_"The bond was broken,_   
_The connection cracked,_   
_Body broken,_   
_Soul torn,_   
_Magic ripped away,_   
_Life nearly stolen"_

Frea winced slightly when she felt a small stab of pain rise up from the wound in her side suddenly, unexpectedly.

_"Push away what was torn,_   
_Repair destruction,_   
_Mend what is broken,_   
_Turn back that black tide,_   
_Let Magic and light shine,_   
_The piece of one's being,_   
_Left inside,_   
_Will not travel,_   
_I have chosen it to stay,_   
_Life to remain,_   
_Death to be kept at bay..."_

Frea's entire body went rigid when she felt the Spell reach its apex- all of her Magic was being taken now, Jynx was channeling it into the Spell without stopping, it was beginning to make her head spin and her body ache at the strain of it- but that wasn't what made her grow still.

In the midst of the Spell being recited, as her Magic swirled with Jynx's own... Something felt _off_ \- not the same off she had been expecting. There was a sudden shadow lurking at the edge of her senses, something old, dark, wild... The uniform motion of her Magic with Jynx's faltered slightly, hitching- as if the flow had been tripped suddenly.

It was at that moment she felt her consciousness threaten to fall to endless black nearly entirely- at that moment she almost lost control of her actions, and at that moment- there was an unbelievable burst of pain from the wound in her side, she hissed in pain, biting down on her tongue to keep herself from making too much noise.

Jynx faltered in her work, her eyes opening suddenly as she felt something... Something dark, _impure_ , she felt the sudden hitch in the flow of their Magic and she glanced backward to see the pain etch into Frea's features, her red eyes narrowed.

_What was that...?_

Her eyes snapped forward and closed again- the light from both her Magic and Frea's was blazing brightly now, and she let out a breath as she pushed the odd occurrence to the back of her mind for now.

_"Seal the Stone,_   
_Create the wall,_   
_Never to let force,_   
_Nor hatred,_   
_Remove this Magic again,_   
_Heal the broken,_   
_Fuse the Power,_   
_Shut the gate,"_

Jynx took in a deep breath, the stone suddenly dropping toward Laxus.

"Sealing Fusion: Lacrima Restore!"

The light and feeling of power radiating around them reached an all time high as the watchers had to shield their eyes from the glare- Frea let out a small gasp of pain as her Magic was suddenly wrenched from her body faster than even the hold of the Eclipse gate, and the shadows lurking in the edge of her mind suddenly engulfed everything.

* * *

 

_Everything was silent... Stretching on into nothingness, empty, alone._

_Frea's eyes shot open to the familiar surroundings about her from where she sat- everything was gone, Laxus, Chase, the others- even the sounds were gone, the scents..._

_She recognized this place nearly immediately- the same place she had been so many times, the same place she had spoken with Winter and Shadow, the same place she had built a bridge to restore the Balance... A place lurking on the further most recesses of her mind, a plane of existence between that of her everyday waking world, and the Spirit World._

_The White Plane..._

_She must have been thrown in here after the Spell was over... Maybe she had passed out, she couldn't remember sending herself here of her own accord..._

_Her attention snapped the haze of purple that manifested in front of her as everything grew a little dimmer- her eyes resting on the form of Jynx as she appeared there, her red eyes narrowed and expression serious and a little... Unhappy._

_This was... Jynx's World, she had said that before- this was where the ghost had the most Power._

_"Jynx... Why am I here..?" Frea muttered, eyes narrowed._

_"I brought you here." Jynx replied curtly, her red eyes suddenly scanning Frea up and down in tense silence. The Energy Dragon Slayer stiffened slightly at the lookover she was receiving, quite unsure as to why-?_

_Jynx suddenly walked toward her without a word, her eyes narrowed to slits and lips pulled into a tight frown. Frea flinched slightly at the movement, eyes widening a little as Jynx reached a hand out and lightly tapped a finger to the center of Frea's chest before she could even react._

_The minute Jynx touched her Frea's whole body went rigid- a sudden, unbelievable wave of true and utter agony suddenly swearing through every part of her, through her very being. Unbearable pain, as if there was a sudden flurry of thousands upon thousands a of swords being plunged through her entire body all at once._

_Jynx nearly jumped backward as soon as her hand made contact, the Ghost's eyes growing wide and a bead of sweat dripping down her face- her eyes lighting up with undeniable shock, and a sinking sense that seemed to say something was very wrong._

_Frea let out a shout of pain and doubled over, her body felt as if it was on fire from that one split second of agony she had just felt, sweat dripping down her face and panting heavily, she'd never been in so much pain... Not since Kasumi... She winced harshly, her jaw clenching at the waves of agony still tearing though her._

_"... W... Wh... What... Did... Y... You jus...t... Do... To me...?" Frea struggled to say in between winces and breathing hard,_

_Jynx backed away a pace or two, her eyes narrowing and falling, looking unsure and truly and utterly shocked... And a little worried too._

_That small sense of dark, of impurity she had felt while their Magics had been flowing together- the sudden hitch in the flow itself, the pain Frea had felt, the shadow that had suddenly made itself clear while their Power converged..._

_She had known that was unnatural, it was something foreign, it shouldn't have been there... Why it was there at all..._

_Frea's being... It had always been pure, bright, clean... But now... Now there was a sudden dark spot there, a blemish on something that had always been clear... She hadn't noticed it till now..._

_Her... Her... Its been... Corrupted... By something powerful... Dark..._

_That small smidgen of evil, of an unnatural force on Frea's being- the moment Jynx had tried to see it clearly it lashed back, sending utter agony racing through the Energy Dragon Slayer's body._

_Jynx had never even imagined that Frea could be tainted by anything... Let alone by something so dark and twisted as what she had just felt..._

_Her eyes narrowed more and she frowned, a new found sense of dread and uneasiness making its way into her heart._

_This was unexpected... And there was no telling what this black mark on Frea would do..._

_"... Forgive me for that... I cannot make you forget it, that pain... Your mind is blocked off, as always..." Jynx mumbled lowly, sweatdropping. "... You'll still feel it when you wake up... It was just... Something I hadn't... Expected..."_

_"... What... The hell is... Going on, Jynx...?" Frea hissed through gritted teeth, her silver eyes glittering in pain._

_"... Nothing you'd understand... And hopefully nothing to be concerned about..." Jynx sighed wearily, shaking her head a little. "... I'll send you back... Lightning Dragon should be fine... I just need... To think things over..."_

_... Corrupted..._

_Is that even... Possible...?_


	45. Awful at Expressing Emotion?

**Chapter 45**

**Awful at Expressing Emotion?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

**.:+:.  
**

"... Teach!"

Frea's eyes flickered open, nearly immediately scrunching closed again at the pain that followed her return to the waking world. She grasped the wound on her side gingerly- though her body felt as if it'd been stabbed hundreds of times over, the wound there was now throbbing angrily at every moment. She stifled a gasp of pain as her body tensed up, shaking slightly as she tried to catch her breath and breath normally.

"Teach? What the hell, are you ok?" Her attention turned to the gentle hand on her shoulder as the cool scent of Chase hit her nose- she realized she had heard his voice just then, and could feel him hovering over her.

She cracked an eye open to glance up at him and his worried expression, managing a small nod that didn't seem to reassure him.

"... Yes... I'm fine..." She breathed, "... For some reason... My body just started hurting all over..." Her mind flashed back to the White Plane.

 _It was utter agony when Jynx simply_ tapped _me..._

She let out a calming breath, opening both eyes and trying to focus her cloudy vision in the gloom- leading past Chase to see Freed, Evergreen, and Bixlow looking relieved- even to the point that Moon had been snatched from her spot in air and was being crushed by Bickslow and his happy embrace- while Evergreen had moved down beside Laxus and was holding his head now- the former of which looked... Well, not dying.

"The boss is gonna be ok!"

She blinked, slightly surprised... Jynx must have only forced her consciousness to the White Plane for a split moment, before letting her go- she hadn't even been unconscious for very long at all...

"... Letting Jynx use all of your Magic would do that to you, especially after getting beaten to a pulp in Hilshine." Chase murmured, earning her attention. "Moving around so much while you're still recovering isn't going to help anything." She blinked, realizing... Well he was right about that, she had taken several hits in Hilshine, she had exhausted herself- and now she was right back in the same situation not too long after.

At any rate, her former student just gave her a whole different reason to explain why she was in so much pain suddenly- though she was sure his words held some truth now that her adrenaline had died down, she was fairly certain her pain was mostly from what Jynx had done to her.

What had she done to her anyway?!

_"... Nothing you'd understand... And hopefully nothing to be concerned about..."_

Yet more non answers, and more frustration and anger for her... _Damn it._

"... Jynx left just after we finished the Spell then?" Frea muttered and Chase nodded, taking a seat down beside Frea a moment. "Did she say anything?"

"She said the Spell worked, though that seemed clear the minute it was over." He murmured, Frea agreed- Laxus' Energy Siganture had been nearly non-existent not a few minutes ago- now it was strong and getting stronger, his complexion and breathing was better, as the hole on his chest was already mended.

"Laxus is gonna be out of it for a long while, but he should be fine given time." Chase glanced up to the sky. "She also mentioned something about informing the Guild as to what happened here- so they can call the Council to pick Ivan up, and get ready for when we get back." Frea nodded slightly and let her eyes drop to the happy and relieved looks on the faces of the Thunder God Tribe, smiling slightly herself.

"Bickslow, you can let me go now..." Moon mumbled, in the hold of the man- who gave no notice of having heard her at all. Both Chase and Frea chuckled a little at that, though Frea broke off early to wince a little.

"We're still a long way from Magnolia..." Chase murmured, "We won't be back until its really late..." He sighed, he eyes moving up to the form of the half-moon slowly climbing the dark sky above their heads.

"And we'll be moving slow too." Frea agreed, "A lots happened in the last hour or so... The last few days." She admitted,

"Yep, things are crazy again... But I'd say that's just about normal." He smiled slightly, Frea shook her head but smiled anyways.

He was right of course... Things were usual crazy around Frea, the Guild... It was just something to be expected she supposed.

She glanced away slightly, thinking that this time...

_Things may be a bit more crazy than we can handle..._

* * *

Frea sat silently with her back against the wall, her eyes closed and arms resting on her propped knees- sitting in the hallway outside the Guild's Infirmary a little ways away from the closed door.

Freed, Evergreen and Bickslow were hovering about the door- bandaged up now as they had been looked over by Porlyusica upon arriving at the Guild, before the Old woman moved on to Laxus, while Chase was leaning against the wall across from her, Moon sat beside her and Master was pacing the center of the hallway near them. Mirajane stood nearby, her hands clasped together in front of her and eyes moving from Master to the Thunder God Tribe slowly, before she quickly glanced between the silent forms of Frea and Chase.

Frea was very aware of Master's pacing, almost maddeningly so- his footsteps over the floor seemed louder than the murmurings of Freed, Bickslow and Evergreen not far off- and they weren't being very quiet.

It wasn't helping that the Guild was particularly silent, as they had thought- they'd gotten back to the Guild rather late, though in better time than Frea had first thought. There was no one else here besides those previously mentioned, which wasn't a surprise, she assumed Master had kept what had happened low key as not to start a panic or worry anyone.

"... Ivan... That damn boy..." Master mumbled under his breath, too low for anyone without Frea's heightened hearing to actually catch. "... What a fool... I can't believe he..." Frea stopped listening, not bothering to open her eyes again.

Jynx had apparently filled Master in on what happened, as he had failed to ask many questions upon their return, or maybe he was too worried about the state of his grandson to worry about such things just yet.

They were all just waiting for Porlyusica to come out of that room and give them her verdict on the matter, well- Master, Mira and the Thunder God Tribe were, Chase and Moon were just waiting because Frea had yet to make a move to do anything.

Nearly immediately after coming into the Guild Frea had taken a seat there on the floor and fallen incredibly silent, it wasn't worry that kept her there, it was just that her head was filled with endless swirling thoughts, and her body was just too strained and exhausted now to let her keep moving anymore.

Every hit taken in the events at Hilshine, and every ounce of exhaustion seemed to have caught up with her again after the fight with Ivan, where now her Magic Power was just about depleted and her body ached, a deep cloud of weariness hanging over her head and making her movements slow. She hadn't any energy left at the moment, so sitting was what she would do.

Whatever Jynx did to her in the White Plane wasn't helping any... Everything hurt worse than it should.

She let out a low breath, her attention turning from the endless swirling thoughts and questions bombarding her mind to the faint sound of footsteps from the Infirmary- she couldn't listen to Master's pacing and listening to the murmurings of the Thunder God Tribe wasn't appealing.

When she couldn't hear anything she let her head fall back against the wall softly,

She would need to have a talk with Master later... About everything she supposed. Not just Ivan, not just what happened with Laxus, she would have to tell him about Hilshine... And then she'd had to ask about Jynx.

_"...As well as to uphold my debt to Makarov."_

_I wonder what she meant by that..._

"... Frea?" Frea's eyes opened slowly to the sound of Moon's voice beside her, she glanced down toward her Exceed Partner with a look of question.

"Hmm?" Frea answered softly,

"... You mentioned something earlier, about Jynx _meant_ to be helping you." Moon mumbled, earning a nod from Frea. "What did you mean by that?"

"... It was something Jynx said to me when..." Frea sighed, her eyes closing again as she tilted her head up to the ceiling. "... When I snapped at her back in Hilshine... In the midst of all the vague notions she spouted at me, she did say something about being here to help me..."

_"I am not here to be your friend, I am not here to try and make you trust me... I am here because the ethereal force driving this world, for whatever reason, wishes I be here. You may hate me, you may be angry with me- but I am here for a reason, and that reason is closely tied to you. Whether or not you'd like it, I am here to help you, to try and guide you through this as well as I possibly can."_

"... She almost made it sound like... The only reason she even came back was because of everything going on around me. With that Thing, with all the craziness..." She sighed, "... It still makes no sense..."

"... But you seemed to think she meant it, Frea." Moon murmured softly. "Even if it doesn't make sense... You trusted the idea she must have meant what she said about helping you, otherwise you wouldn't have asked for her help, right?"

"... That's true." Frea relented, "Despite the lies and the secrets... I know Jynx stays true to her word at least, that's never changed... She's always done as she said she would... "

_I suppose Jynx still has a sense of honor... Even if I don't agree with it..._

She paused, taking note that the sound of Master's pacing had suddenly ceased. She opened her eyes and looked to him- only to see he had stopped in front of her, his eyes narrowed and a serious expression on his face.

"... Master..?" She murmured lowly, blinking once.

"Hmmm..." He hummed and she tilted her head slightly, unsure as to why he seemed to serious suddenly, and why it was his attention had suddenly snapped to her. "... I believe that you and I have quite a bit to talk about, don't we?" He asked suddenly and she blinked, before sweatdropping slightly.

"... Yes." She replied. "... A lot more than you realize." She admitted and his eyes narrowed a little.

It had been a long time since he had seen Frea long so worn- and not physically, but mentally. For the first time in a long time there seemed to be numerous things weighing heavy on her mind, and it was showing in her behavior, her posture- she looked strained and tired... And a little concerned too.

Unbeknownst to Frea, Master had caught on to the mention of knowing 'Jynx stays true to her word'. That had immediately caught his attention, and it stirred up a few old memories he had left forgotten a longtime ago.

Frea's eyes moved sideways when she heard footsteps from the other side of the Infirmary door and the sound of the same door being opened, followed by some incoherent grumblings and a sudden flurry of questions being asked.

Master looked over along with everyone else, the Old Man hurrying over toward Porlyusica as she came out of the room with her usual frown on her face.

"Is he ok?!"

"Is the boss gonna be alright?!"

"Was there anything wrong?!"

Porlyusica scowled at the questions being thrown at her, batting away the Thunder God Tribe with a broom she had produced in an instant, they backed off behind Master as he approached, fidgeting-

"Porlyusica, how is he?" Master asked of the Old Lady, who sighed slightly.

"You should keep better watch over your brats Makarov." She snapped, earning a blink from him. Porlyusica waved a hand at him and shook her head, "He's fine, exhausted and weak- but in a few days he should be back to normal. I couldn't find any issue when the Lacrima was implanted a second time, to be honest its more stable now than it was before." The Old Lady's eyes moved toward the silent Frea, who looked back at her without saying anything. "... Doing that would have taken a lot of Magic Power..." The Old Lady mumbled almost to herself, Frea blinked and gave her a small nod, but Porlyusica looked away toward the relived faces in front of her.

Mira and Moon let out sighs of relief at the news, "Thank goodness..." Mira breathed, Chase just shrugged slightly and shook his head- Frea on the other hand didn't seem to react- inwardly though, she felt a small part of her tension fall away.

"Don't let him take any jobs for a few weeks, and don't let him use Magic either! I'll be back when he wakes up, but for now rest is what he really needs." She finished, Master sighed in relief and nodded, whole the Thunder God Tribe moved closer.

"Can we see him?" They asked and Porlyusica frowned.

"You three need to go home and rest yourselves!" She said, but she saw the stubbornness on their faces and relented, grudgingly. "Do as you wish, foolish humans..."

"Thank you Porlyusica," Master told her as the woman blinked. She paused a moment, let out an unhappy sigh and slipped past him, waving her hand back at the Old Man.

"I'm not the one you should be thanking." The Old Woman told him as she quickly left the hall, leaving Chase, Master, Mira, Moon and Frea in the hall as the Thunder God Tribe moved into the Infirmary.

"She is right," Master said, turning back toward the other four, his eyes resting on Moon, Chase and Frea in turn. "I cannot thank any of you enough for your part in helping save my grandson's life." He told them and Chase shook his head,

"No problem, Master." He murmured. "What are Guild Mates for?" He smiled slightly, along with Moon.

"Besides, we didn't do much." Moon mumbled at the same time Chase did and Frea blinked at them both.

"It was mostly Frea and Jynx." Moon murmured,

"They did most of the work." Chase agreed and Frea frowned slightly,

"That isn't true, you two." She sighed, "I don't get why you're down playing the part you played..." Chase and Moon exchanged glances, looking somewhat amused suddenly, as if there was a hidden joke she wasn't catching.

"Its nothing Teach," Chase assured her, pushing himself off the wall, cracking his shoulders a bit. "Are we heading out?" He asked and Frea paused, her eyes flicking to Master a minute.

"You two go home," Frea murmured, talking directly to Chase and Moon. They blinked in surprise, "Master and I need to talk about some things, you just go get some sleep ok?" She slowly, stiffly pushed herself to her feet and stifled a wince at moving.

"I can stay with you, Frea." Moon told her but the Energy Dragon Slayer shook her head,

"Its fine. You're tired, I'll be ok." She smiled, glancing to Chase who looked at her silently. "You're tired too, after using that Spell so long- so both you go home and get some rest." He let out a breath, Frea glanced to Moon. "If I'm not home when you wake up, just assume I crashed here, ok?"

Both Chase and Moon took a minute to answer, but eventually relented anyway. "Whatever you say Teach."

Moon frowned a little, she was tired, Chase was exhausted... But Frea was more worn out than anyone and she didn't seem to care nor realize it. But she knew better than to argue and nodded slowly,

"Alright Frea, just take it easy ok?" Moon told her Partner quietly and Frea nodded, still smiling.

"You got it."

Mirajane, Chase and Moon slowly left the hall- while Frea and Master made their way upstairs toward his office in silence, Frea's body sting every time she moved and she was doing her best not to let her pain not her exhumation show-

She had a feeling she and Master would be talking for a very long time.

* * *

"... She refused to tell me anything. The last thing she told me before taking off, more or less confirms there is more than two sites like Hilshine and Nvindorr, I just don't know how many more... And I don't even know what sort of Magic was even housed at either one of those sites. It was so old and foreign I couldn't place it, I tried to but I couldn't." Frea murmured, eyes closed and sitting at a chair set in front of Master's desk.

The Old Man had been sitting in utter silence since she began to retell everything she knew, which at this point was a few hours ago now, she told him everything that had happened- all the while his demeanor growing more and more tense, though he didn't interrupt or say anything.

"... And all of these places, that Thing, whatever it is, it's looking to harness these Powers... Take them over, get stronger... Though I don't understand why." She paused, her eyes opening to rest on the floor as she sweatdropped heavily. "I've never felt anything as Powerful as that Thing, the amount of Power it has alone is... Colossal, its almost impossible- in Hilshine we were beaten to a pulp in a few moments time, we couldn't stand against it. From sheer brutal power, to the ability to hide itself entirely, and control hundreds if not thousands of people at once... I never believed there could be anything so purely powerful." She trailed off and sighed,

_Its something I can't beat..._

"... For the most part, everything Jynx has said to me... Is that I am in the middle of everything going on, that everything that has happened and whatever will happen revolves around me and I can't get away from it. She told me a greater darkness was coming and soon... But I had already been feeling that anyway, she hadn't needed to tell me. I've been feeling a sort of.. Dark foreboding hanging on the air for a while now, anticipation really, but I hadn't really known why- until now."

"It's this Thing, and whatever its really planning to do." Frea sighed, and she very well knew that Jynx had been telling her the truth then- that she was in the middle of it, and no matter how many people promised to stand by her, she would be alone against it no matter what.

_Maybe it was better that way..._

She glanced up to the Old Man as they fell into a deep silence, his eyes closed as he pressed a closed fist to his chin in thought- sweatdropping slightly as the severity of her words slowly sank in. She could feel the concern and worry flowing off of him the entire time, and it didn't stop as they fell into silence now.

"... Jynx has always been secretive and reserved... And she did always have some unnatural talent for knowing things she probably shouldn't, for knowing things involving great, powerful, ancient incidents and the like... At one time I questioned her every move, from the day she first joined the Guild I never trusted her, I found myself always glancing over my shoulder when she was around, and often times found myself at odds with her. When she arrived here she was alone, a mystery- and remained that way. When questioned about her past she never answered, she never gave any clue as to who she really was and that never changed. " Master spoke suddenly, his eyes closing as he seemed to go into thought on the matter. "In all the years she was in the Guild before her death... There was hardly a moment I hadn't questioned her motives, her actions... It wasn't until the day she died did I ever warm up to her slightly, and then it was too late."

"... She mentioned owing a debt to you, Master." Frea murmured, earning a surprise blink from the old man. "When I asked for her help, she said something about it- as well as promising to me it was the truth when she said it was her job to help me."

"She always kept her word." Master replied and Frea blinked, realizing the Old Man must have caught her small word with Moon earlier. "You already realized as much, but I don't think you realize the full extent of what that means." She filed her head slightly,

"Despite all the mystery and secrets that always revolved around Jynx while she was still alive and in the Guild, whenever she spoke of some odd ancient notion or mentioned a piece of information no person on this earth could understand of even should know- whenever she said she would do something. Whether it was fix an issue, help someone, protect something, anything- whatever she said she would do she _always_ did it. She never lied about her actions, she always stayed true to the promises she made- almost die-heartedly." The Old Man explained. "In fact... Her habit of sticking to her word is what got her killed. And its also something that now, I fear that she may have been warning the Guild all those years ago in her own way." Frea stiffened in shock,

"What do you mean?"

"She died, because she promised to dispose of a Demon from the Book of Zeref that had been slowly moving toward Magnolia- a creature that devoured people endlessly, and something no Wizard or army had been able to contend with." Frea blinked, _Demon..?_ "Jynx was a small girl when she joined the Guild, though she never acted as such... And when she told the Guild she would defeat that Demon, everyone moved to stop her- but we couldn't get her away from the idea."

Frea stiffened, eyes growing wide as the thought invaded her head... _Jynx died because she kept to her word... That..._

"I think she knew she was going to die." Master said softly, catching Frea off guard. "Even though she knew as much, she didn't turn back on her word... I have always admired that about her if nothing else. And in the end, she did it- that Demon was killed by her hand, but using as much Power as she had and the wounds she had sustained meanwhile had been too much- and that killed her." He paused a moment, a bead of sweat dripping down his face. "I never put much thought into the things she would say about some ancient power or event that no one could believe had happened or was true... I never thought to assume anything she said had any weight... But there was something she said that day, just before she went to face that Demon- something until this moment I had pushed to the back of my thoughts and hardly thought about since."

There was a long pause and Frea just waited with bated breath, trying to let all the new information sink in slowly.

"I had attempted to stop her just before she ran off to face the Demon, and as I did so... She simply smiled slightly, telling of some future events that would come to the Guild, things that were dark and fierce..." He sighed.

* * *

_Makarov moved to grab Jynx's arm as she was about to run from the Guild, her expression determined and eyes hard. She whipped about toward him as he grabbed her, eyes sparkling in sudden indignation at the unwanted interruption in her plans. People in the Guild about hem were rushing about, getting things ready for the impending danger, the ground under their feet shaking with the heavy footfalls of the approaching beast._

_Her eyes widened slightly to see who it was that had stopped her, his eyes hard and expression serious._

_"I will not let you run off to get yourself killed." He muttered firmly, all reservations and mistrust for the girl suddenly put aside. No he had never been fond of Jynx, but he couldn't allow her to run to her death on good conscience either._

_Jynx blinked once, before smiling slightly and easily pulling her arm away from the man's grip, pausing a moment in her attempt at movement._

_"You will not be able to stop me, Makarov." She told him softly and he frowned._

_"You are running to your ruin." He muttered and she sighed, shaking her head slightly, a smile still gracing her lips in a look of utter calm at what he said, before she promptly ignored it._

_"Makarov, I have no doubt you will be here for years to come, your soul lies with this Guild... So I feel you are the one I should tell this too." She smiled and he blinked in surprise, not sure what had prompted the sudden change in subject..._

_"The future of this Guild is a grand one, but there are several different dark clouds moving toward here- dozens upon dozens of hardships and dark events coming for this place, its members, everything. The darkness here today is no different, and it is certainly not the last. I will do as I can here, but later on there will be special people- people who will play a very large roll in the fate of the Guild, and probably Fiore itself. That is what this Guild is, it is a bright light in a darkened land that attracts the truly important- the shield that wards against the dark and the thing that attracts it all at once." Jynx told him, her voice even but her to e betraying some old hint of... Of deeper knowledge no one would expect in someone so young._

_"There will be so many battles in this Guild... So many young people whose souls will be destined for greater things, I just hope that the Guild will hold against whatever evil it may face." She sighed slightly, before a sudden worry and chill seemed to fall over her and her smile faded entirely. "In the end... I may or may not be here to see those days come, I only hope... That it will never be an event so dark, that my assistance will be needed- in event of that, then things would surely be dire." She shook her head slightly, and moved away, leaving him somewhat speechless._

_"You will protect this Guild for a long time to come Makarov, and already I owe you much more than you realize- I owe you that debt, and I will repay you. In the event that things do become too dark to handle on your own-" Jynx had turned away and stopped in the door way, glancing over her shoulder as she smiled slightly, her eyes glinting with too much emotion to place any single one._

_"I will do everything in my power to help any and all of you."_

* * *

Frea felt a heavy weight drop into the pits of her stomach as Master Makarov told her the words that the ghost girl had spoken oh so long ago... Her eyes wide and a bead of sweat dripping down her face.

_There will be so many battles in this Guild... So many young people whose souls will be destined for greater things..._

That sounded so eerily familiar to what it was Jynx had told her of her own supposed 'fate' and 'destiny' to face the Thing wreaking havoc in her life now...

And it certainly wasn't lost on her just how accurate Jynx had been about the future of the Guild. The Guild had faced many dangers, battles, so many dark events and misfortunes it was too much to try and count... And everyone in the Guild had always pegged it as what it meant to be in Fairy Tail.

_'Its always this Guild getting into trouble'_

For the first time it really hit her just how accurate those words really were... And the deeper truth behind it, the deeper meaning was enough to turn her blood to ice.

_There were so many people here whose lives had been thrown apart and torn out at, so many ways in which the Guild had been hit, so many major events and dark powers that had vied against Fairy Tail itself..._

_"That is what this Guild is, it is a bright light in a darkened land that attracts the truly important- the shield that wards against the dark and the thing that attracts it all at once."_

_How could Jynx have known that all those years ago? Could it even be possible someone could have so much foresight?_

But even behind that, it was that last set of words Master reiterated. It was that phrase that hit home the most... Because it was the reason Jynx had come back, her earlier thought was right!

_"... She almost made it sound like... The only reason she even came back was because of everything going on around me. With that Thing, with all the craziness..._

_"In the event that things do become too dark to handle on your own- I will do everything in my power to help any and all of you."_

_She... She came back, she became a ghost... Because... Things are too dark for the Guild to handle on its own, to dangerous, too big..._

A new, stronger sense of foreboding and worry settled in, the inkling of her unwanted fear hit her again and she swallowed.

_Its so dangerous... The Guild can't do it, I can't do it... And not even Jynx could help with this... Its so dark and powerful we're nearly helpless against whatever is coming..._

This was the largest cloud of swirling evil, shadow, ice, pain, destruction, death, danger and foreboding hanging over the Fairy Tail Guild, that had ever come to block the skies of the Guild before now.

_She's here to help... But what if we can't be helped?_

_What if I can't be helped...?_

"You understand what I now have of those words then..." Master said slowly, eyes closed and shoulders hunched slightly. "It would take nothing less than some huge impending disaster that would bring Jynx back from Death itself... If she has come here, and promised to help you- and now with all that has happened and all you have told me, we can only assume it is going to get worse." He said gravely and Frea just stared at the floor, her jaw clenching a little. "I am worried about what may happen, and with right to be... But most of all I am worried for your safety." Frea's eyes snapped up to him, blinking in surprise.

"Jynx is convinced you are stuck in the center of the impending danger, and I cannot argue with her on that fact- I have sensed as much, and it has become clear in the motives of this Thing and its action against you." He frowned, "Twice now you have faced it head on, both times you've been controlled and both times you have walked away wounded... One of these times, you may not be so lucky as to walk away with your life intact." She sweatdropped slightly,

* * *

_"Kill you it may."_

_Kill her? That was likely... But would she be able to save the people she loved before that? To keep them safe, to somehow, by some miracle, face this Thing- and win?_

* * *

Her chest tightened a little when she felt the fear and worry start sparking off of the Old Man, she saw the sadness come into his eyes at it made her heart ache.

Master was no fool, he understood the gravity of the situation better than most anyone outside of Jynx maybe... And the reality of what would probably happen was tearing him apart on the inside.

He knew he couldn't stop things from happening, they had already been set in motion- and he knew he couldn't pull Frea out of them either, neither she nor whatever it was that was after her and the World itself was going to allow that.

"I have watched you grow since that first day I met you in the rain, and brought you into the Guild. Through all your hardships and the battles fought, lost, and won... You prospered through everything thrown at you, you've grown stronger than anyone I have known. If there was ever anyone on the Guild who I could always trust to make it through whatever you got yourself into- it was always you Frea. I have trusted you to make it past the dangers in your life, I have seen you do the near impossible, I have seen you win against impossible odds..." He trailed off a little as his words hitched a little. "... To see you about to face something so colossal, so big... I hate to doubt you and your strength, and it tears me apart to do so, but even then I cannot keep myself from fearing of what will come. I do not want to see you hurt, I do not want to lose you, not again- but I can't stop any of this from happening, and I am powerless to do what needs to be done to ensure that you are safe." His words died away as he fought to control the sudden surge of emotion bubbling up inside of him and Frea stiffened, eyes glittering as she quickly got to her feet and moved toward him,

"Master... Please... I understand your feelings, trust me I really do... I would never want to put you through so much pain, or to make you worry so much about me, I know what my 'dying' the first time did to you and to the Guild... I know I seemed like I blew it off, and I know I kept the fact that Kasumi's Magic was killing me from everyone the second time around... But I understand what the Guild feels, I understand the pain, the sadness the fear and the grief better than anyone knows... And I hate to feel that floating from any one of you." She told him softly, her eyes closing as she stopped before him, her head lowered a little. "... All of the people here, this Guild, you, everyone in it- you're my Family and it hurts me to feel the Negative Emotions coming from any one of you. I care for all of you too much to ever be the reason you feel like that- ever, I'd do anything to keep you all from feeling that way- I truly would... But I do understand the danger I am in, and I do realize the risks... But I can't..." She shook her head a little, "... I will fight, I will spend every ounce of my Power if need be, I will do everything that I could possibly do to avoid the outcome you're afraid of, I give you my word, _I will try_." She slowly glanced up to meet his eyes and she flinched a little at the pain she saw there, she bit her lip a little before going on.

"... But I can't promise you anything else, I can't bring myself to lie and tell you that everything will work out, because I know my own limits... And I know what I'm facing is bigger than anything I have ever come across." She mumbled, her eyes growing hard as she clenched a fist and stood a little taller.

"I give you my word, I will do _everything_ that I possibly can to make it out of this Master. I promise that, and I ask you trust in my want to keep you and the Guild from suffering anymore than you already have on my part." She told him firmly and he blinked, seeing the sudden spark of fire that seemed to ignite in her very being as she said the words.

He of course understood the reason Frea ever kept secrets from him and the Guild- and he knew it was because she didn't want to worry them over anything. She never wanted to burden the Guild with anything that would bring them sadness, worry, fear, pain, anything... She worked day in and day out to keep any such things from happening to anyone here in the Guild, that was something he appreciated and disliked about her in all honesty. But he respected it.

He believed in her dedication to that idea, he had watched her do so much in the hopes of keeping the Guild happy, seen her fight harder than anything if she thought doing so would keep the Guild from harm, pain, sadness... And he immediately trusted what she said.

He nodded, smiling just faintly. "I trust in you Frea... Despite my doubts I will always trust in you." He replied and she smiled just a little too, looking a little renewed and a little relieved. He hadn't half a mind just how much that meant to her; to hear one of the very people she loved the most, and one of the few people she truly looked up to ever say that they trusted her.

She let her fists unclench as she glanced away a moment, sighing.

"Master, but for my promise- I need a promise from you." She said, catching him a little off guard.

"Yes?"

"I need you to promise me, that if things go awry, if they don't turn out they way we want them too- I need you to promise me, you won't let yourself fall endlessly into a pit of despair and grief, not on my part. I hate seeing you so heartbroken, Master- and so does the rest of the Guild. You can't stay fixed on the bad for very long, you have to move forward- its the best thing for you, and for the Guild." She smiled brightly, despite the seriousness of her words. "Can you promise me that?" She asked and he just gazed at her steadily for a long time, and her smile never faltered. This time, he immediately recognized just how much his promise to what she asked of him really meant to her-

"I promise."

* * *

By the time she and Master had finished speaking, it was only a few hours or so before dawn... And although she was exhausted, her mind was racing too much to even think about trying to sleep.

She left his Office silently, sure the Old Man would be taking up residency in the top most floor of the Guild where he kept a spare room tucked away for such occasions when he needed to spend the night at the Guild for whatever reason. She hoped he would find some sleep where she wouldn't be able to, if his mind and emotions were half as strained as hers were at the moment- he would really need it.

She crossed over to the other end of the second floor, toward the locker rooms- she felt dirty from her fight with Ivan, though she hadn't taken much damage, and she was so tense and strained... She needed a way to relax.

In the upgrade of the Guild Hall, with the game room in the basement put in, the pool, the courtyard, the stage and all manner of other things that had been added in during the rebuild- the locker rooms had been upgraded too, and now play host to a large heated bath- which was only bested by the one at Fairy Hills itself, of which sounded spectacular at the moment, but the one at the Guild would do. She didn't feel like trekking all the at back there at the moment.

She could relax in the warmth of the water and the quite of the bathroom, giving her time to sort thoughts in her head around and put away the ones she didn't need to dwell on anymore, saving her already frayed mind from worse strain.

She made her way inside and shut the door behind her, moving past the lockers themselves and toward the bath, turning the faucets on and sighing as the steam started to rise up- she paused beside a bench set to the side and flicked her hand up so the palm faces the ceiling, her Magic spiraling up slowly before a small pop had her bag landing in her hand, heavy...

_Yes, the Energy Magic Book is still in here, I nearly managed to push that out of my mind..._

She shook her head with a small sigh and started to dig through it-

Producing a set of new, fresher set of clothes from the inside. A loose fitting black short sleeved t-shirt with a v-neck and a pair of dark skinny jeans, the last of her extra clothes reserves, aside from the ones she had received from that kind woman in Hilshine... But again, she really didn't feel like going back to Fairy Hills.

She let her hair down before slowly stripping her clothes off and gently unwrapping the bandages about her torso, hissing slightly as it stung suddenly and her body seemed to flare in dull pain- remembering the agony a simple touch from Jynx had granted her.

The first thing to push to the back of her thoughts... It wasn't as if Jynx was going to answer her questions even if she did ask.

She shut he water off and slowly stepped down into the pleasantly steaming water, stifling a growl when the water earned another flash of pain from the wound on her side, before it dulled and she settled all the way in, the water all the way up till just under her nose as she let her eyes close. The water itself smelled of soap and a few other herbs and whatnot- something Mira often did both here and at the bath in Fairy Hills, they were supposed to help one relax and even ease pain... Which proved to be true as her pain dulled to a tolerable level.

The second thing to push to the back of her mind would need to be... _Her fear._

She growled a little at the thought and shoved it away, no thinking about it, she couldn't let that rule her emotions nor actions... She had made a commitment to the upcoming danger whether or not she was afraid, and she would stick to it!

Now what to actually do about what was coming? How was she going to fight back, figure out where and when that Thing would strike next? How was she going to manage to keep herself from being controlled again? She couldn't go wounding herself like she had back in Hilshine to avoid control every time.

What could she do to combat it? For all her Power and strength... She just couldn't see a way to win, it was too powerful.

_I suppose all I have left to do is fight like hell, huh..?_

She let out a calm long breath and banished that thought too, simultaneously throwing the incessant questions of Jynx from her mind, her foreboding words, and the anger she felt from the ghosts noncompliance to actually answer anything asked.

_... I wonder if I could use Magic Protect to keep from being controlled... I haven't tried that yet..._

Not that it was likely to work, even if it had kept her Magic and body from being controlled by Mary Hughes' Puppeteer Magic- the Control that this Thing had over her was nearly absolute, it took control of her Body, her Magic and her mind all at once... It was the control over her mind itself that had her the most worried.

Nothing should be able to do that... For the same reason that Moon's Memory Magic, and all other Telepathic and Mind related Magic never worked on her- the reason that Moon, DoranBolt and Warren alike were always blocked off from her mind.

_... Just another reason this Thing is more different and powerful from the rest..._

She let herself fall under the level of the water completely,

_What am I gonna do..?_

_I can fight. I can give it my all. I will do everything I can to win. I know I will..._

_But will that be enough?_

She stayed under a few minutes longer before surfacing and taking in a deep breath, leaning back against the wall of the bath and propping her knees up.

"You seem troubled."

Her eyes snapped open to the sudden voice in the room with her- she had been so caught up in her own thoughts she hadn't noticed the sudden flare of an Energy Signature appearing just a little ways in front of her, and she couldn't say she wasn't relieved it was the golden Energy Signature of Mavis, instead of Jynx.

Mavis was submerged in the water up to her neck on the other side of the large tub, her green eyes resting on Frea silently as she gave the Energy Dragon Slayer a small smile.

"Though I suppose you have right to be, anyone would be tense if they were in the situation you are in." Mavis told her gently with a small sigh, leaning back against the side of the tub. Frea let out a small _hmm_ and let her eyes close again,

"Are you planning on a lecture... Or are you looking for some answers...?" Frea mumbled, Mavis chucked lightly and shook her head.

"Neither of those, I assure you!" Mavis replied brightly. "In fact all I came here to do was enjoy the bath and relax as you are! I have no reservations or worries about the upcoming events, I am sure of your ability to handle everything that may come your way." Mavis smiled, Frea blinked in slight surprise. "I have faith in your Power and your strength Frea, as well as your willingness to protect those closest to you- I believe you can beat this new Enemy, I don't doubt you, even if you doubt yourself."

Frea just blinked a few times, before she smiled slightly and nodded a little.

"Well... I suppose if you can believe in me... I might as well quit worrying about it..." She murmured, chuckling under her breath.

"I think that's a wonderful idea." Mavis smiled.

* * *

"Frea?" Moon mumbled, rubbing her eyes sleepily as she pushed herself up from the comforter, eyes narrowed as she glanced around the dim room- taking immediate note that the Energy Dragon Slayer was nowhere in sight, and that light was pouring in through the curtained window.

She yawned and got her her feet, moving across the bed toward the window, slowly pulling the curtains to the side so the sunlight from outside could pour in- something she noted, didn't happen often enough. The curtains were nearly always closed, as seeing everything bathed now in the light of the mid-day sun...

"The room is so... Disorganized..." Moon mumbled, sweatdropping a little as she turned to the rest of the room and sighed, shrugging a little with a small smile.

Clothes and other random supplies were thrown about the room, half of the pillows from the bed and half the comforter were on the floor too- Frea's desk was engulfed in a mass of papers and old books borrowed from the Library, with a melted candle set on the edge. She knew that in the bathroom the counter was flooded with bandages, and other medical supplies- including shampoo bottles and sanitary stuffs.

Frea's closet was... A nightmare, but it had always been that way- and the same could be said for her dresser.

The only part of the entire room that she was entirely certain hadn't been touched- was the kitchen/living area located through a small archway to the right upon entering the room. To be honest, Moon wasn't sure she had ever seen Frea step foot in that part of the room at all...

She glanced back out the window, it was noon now and it was clear Frea hadn't come back since last night.

 _I suppose that means she slept there then..._ She paused, because she managed to sleep till noon herself- she hadn't realized she was so tired.

If she slept so long... Frea was much more tired than she had been, she wondered if she may still be asleep.

She hoped so, Frea needed some rest and a chance to relax.

On that thought, she decided she would avoid the Guild for a little while and being just a little productive.

Productive how?

The room was an utter mess! And though it hardly bothered her, and she knew it didn't bother Frea- it was something to do and she didn't mind doing it. And, with all the crazy going on it would be nice to do something relatively mundane for once.

_Besides... This will be easy!_

She turned her attention toward the overflowing closet in the corner, and sweatdropped.

_... Maybe not that easy..._

* * *

The Guild had fallen into full swing and rowdy noise not long after the sun had risen and people began to show up, Master hadn't opted for telling the Guild of the previous nights events until most of the Guilds Members were present in the hall- and not surprisingly, the news hadn't really gone over very well.

For starters, there was quite a bit of anger and rage toward Ivan himself, followed by shock, a little worry, disbelief, unhappiness...

It was a little hard for anyone in the Guild to believe that Laxus was nearly killed under any circumstance... But it was even more shocking to think that Frea was the one who had ultimately turned the tide.

Despite the shock of that, the Guild managed to settle in to its usual demeanor- it helped when they were told Laxus was going to be fine.

"... What do ya mean Silver?" Gajeel grumbled from where he sat at the table across from her, Lily and Levy beside him, Wendy sat next to her with Carla in her lap, Natsu and Gray, Juvia hovering about the Ice Wizard on Gajeel's other side, Happy and Lucy sat together to her right and Gildarts was leaned back in his seat at the end of the table to her left, with Cana beside him. Chase and Aisha were seated beside one another at the end of the table on her right, silent and not having said a word the entire time.

"Exactly what I said." She replied lowly, her hands folded on the table in front of her. The Guild was oddly lacking her fellow S-Class Wizards Erza and Mirajane, and Moon hadn't appeared either... She didn't dwell on it very long. "Whatever it is that took control of me, and lead me all the out to Nvindorr- its the same thing that attacked us in Hilshine, and its looking for Power, more power like what was trapped away in Nvindorr, what is in Hilshine. Ancient centers of age old Power unlike anything I have ever come across... Of which there are certainly more than two."

"And how do you know that?" Natsu asked,

"Do you have any idea how many there are?" Gray asked simultaneously,

"Jynx told me there were more." Frea replied, managing to keep the anger from her voice this time around.

She had spent a very long time in Mavis' company after the girl had appeared, and for several hours they had talked away in friendly chatter that had completely kept away from everything going on, and did wonders on her mood. She was grateful to Mavis for that, as it was clear she had even aiming to better her mood and it worked- though she was still exhausted, sleep hadn't been anything she could take hold of, and she could feel sleeplessness pulling down at her though she managed to ignore it.

"But she failed to actually tell me how many of these Powers that are out there, among many of the other things she decided to keep from me." Frea explained,

"So does that mean that Jynx has turned against the Guild?" Happy asked,

"Its hard to think any Guild Member would keep things like this from another." Lucy mumbled,

"From what I know of her I can't say I'm entirely surprised." Gildarts murmured, earning quizzical looks from most everyone else.

"Master thought the same. Apparently she's always been secretive, even when she was alive. He didn't seem surprised that she chose not to share much information with me." Frea elaborated, nodding in agreement with what Gildarts said.

"So she has turned against us?" Lily asked slowly and Frea shook her head.

"Its not that simple," she murmured. "Her lack of answers isn't because she's gone rogue or turned against the Guild- in her own way, its more as if she's keeping secrets... To protect us from things." She sighed, "Its as if she doesn't believe that we need to know every detail, that knowing isn't going to help... And that giving all the answers for free will do no good. That there are things we really shouldn't know, and there's good reason we don't know them." She shook her head slightly. "That there are things 'no one could even begin to understand' but for what that means, I'm not entirely sure." Everyone exchanged glances between themselves, looking a little confused and tense.

"But in the end... Both Master and I are in agreement, that even if Jynx refuses to answer questions asked, even if she continues to keep secrets- she's not going against us. Whatever this is that is happening, it affects Jynx, and no matter what it is she has done- Fairy Tail is still her Guild, and she always keeps her word. She's promised to do what she can to help the Guild through this, she promised Master and I directly... And we trust that she will hold to her word, if nothing else."

"... What we know so far is that any attempt made by this Thing at gaining the Magic from the various sites I mentioned, has so far been foiled and stopped, luckily." Frea went on, moving away from the Jynx note as people glanced between eachother. "I sealed the Power in Nvindorr with Jynx, so it can't be opened again- and activating the the Protection Magic at Hilshine kept the power buried there safe- and I expect it is going to stay that way for a very long time to come."

"So how are we going to find these other sites then?" Natsu asked,

"Shouldn't that be our first priority now? To keep the Magics that that Thing is after out of reach?" Carla asked and Frea blinked,

"Unless Jynx decides to share... I have no idea how to locate these other sites, I never knew they existed until everything in Nvindorr, and running into the one at Hilshine was... Well, somewhat luck."

"It wouldn't have just been luck though, surely?" Lucy asked and Frea sweatdropped, "It would take a pretty big coincidence for you guys to have just happened to show up as this Thing made a grab for Hilshine."

"I agree... But I don't think it was planned either." Frea replied. "In all honesty, when Mira first showed me that Job Request, I took it on a whim. For some reason I felt that Chase's and my Magic would be perfect for the job... Which it sort of was, but it was only a feeling- I suppose you could chock it up to... Fate, that we needed be there- but that Thing didn't want us there, because in the end we messed with its plans." She paused a minute, "It told me so itself, and got pissed when it realized it was blocked off- to the point it attempted to murder us." She was Chase grimace at the memory and everyone's eyes grew wide.

"Wait, what?!"

"You didn't mention that before!" Gray told her,

"You mean you guys almost died?!" Natsu snapped, his emotion flaring ip suddenly and Frea sighed,

"Nearly, but we managed to walk out of it... Relatively unharmed, which was another weird thing." She answered, Chase nodded.

"Yeah... We still have no idea what it was that saved us from that." He said lowly,

"What do you mean?" Levy asked,

"It was something odd, random, foreign... Something seemed to move us out of the way and shield us from the very attack that would have killed us," Frea replied. "I only sensed it for half a second, and I couldn't begin to explain to you what it was- it just... happened. It moved all of us, Sting, Rogue, Chase, me- and we were fine."

She made a point not to mention the fact she had actually had a conversation with the strange force that had saved their lives, it wouldn't do any good.

"In the long run... The entire Mission was just one big pile of strange and crazy." She mumbled,

"You said it talked to you, Frea?" Cana asked, she nodded.

"Yeah. Its done it a few times, back in Nvindorr, and now in Hilshine." She replied, "It's mostly threats and vague phrases..."

"That Thing, when it took the form of a man when we were fighting, Teach- it called you something." Chase said suddenly, the thought occurring to him just then. "Some weird name... Malun... What was it..?"

Frea nodded solemnly. "Malunafrey. Its been calling me that since it first made its move... Though I don't know why."

"That's strange..."

"... Maybe it has some sort of importance we don't know about?"

"... There was something else." Frea murmured, the murmuring that had started up died. She hadn't thought of it until she had been speaking with Master, and it brought up some more worries.

"Its clear that for whatever reason, I have been swept up into the center of what's going on, that Thing has something to do with me... It said it 'needed' me, for some reason." She murmured, her eyes closed. "Right before it was about to kill us, it said it needed something from me, and that I wasn't meant to die. I don't know what it wants... But it may be a reason why its been targeting me specifically so far."

"Needs you?"

"Why doesn't that sound good to me...?"

"Because it sounds very bad."

"But what could it want from you Frea, really?"

"This is bad..."

"But that means you're playing into what it wants." Natsu said suddenly, earning Frea's eyes. "If it needs you, going after it is just doing what it wants. Fighting this Thing is putting you in danger."

"Yes, I realized that."

"But it said you weren't supposed to die, right? That means its not looking to kill you." Lucy said and Frea sweatdropped a little, she stopped herself from saying.

"Not yet anyway.."

"So what are we gonna do?" Gajeel muttered, his arms crossing over his chest. "Pursuing this Thing and trying to look for those sites may be what it wants you to do."

"It may not be what it wants either." Lily intoned,

"... But either way, its still after you and its proven its willing to do whatever it takes to get what it wants." Gray muttered.

"Even if it means hurting other people, and killing them." Juvia murmured lowly,

"... So what course of action should we take?" Happy mumbled,

"Should we wait and see what happens? Or should we chase after it and start searching for more sites?" Carla murmured, "Either option may be playing into whatever this Thing has planned. We just don't know specifically what it wants with you, or what's its real plans are."

"We don't really have very much to go on." Lucy said quietly,

"Whatever happens, who cares?" Natsu growled, "We'll kick its ass into next week! Ain't nothing's gonna beat us!" He grinned, earning small smiles and shakes of their heads from everyone else. Frea glanced toward the pinkette in silence, before he looked right at her and gave her a toothy smirk. "If this Thing comes after you or anyone in the Guild, Frea- I'm gonna help stop it no matter what!" Gray smiled at the words,

"You got it, the Pyro's right. We've faced stuff like this before, we can get through it no problem." Gray smirked,

"Giihee... Piece of cake. This thing should no better than to underestimate Fairy Tail." Gajeel snickered,

"With this Guild who would be worried? We've got this!" Lucy smiled,

"We're with you Frea." Wendy gave the Energy Dragon Slayer a nod and Frea smiled slightly,

"Well sounds like that's settled..." Gildarts said lowly, smiling himself. Everyone else nodded in agreement, the mood lightening indefinitely as Frea nodded and sighed.

"Thanks, I know I can count on you all." She smirked,

Aisha glanced to Frea in silence, her eyes narrowed as she watched Frea closely, her smile, that smirk, the tone of her voice... The way she seemed to agree with everyone so quickly... It was almost... _Unnatural_. And she wasn't sure she believed it herself...

Frea seemed to agree and appreciate the pledged help from everyone else, accepting their help in the upcoming danger... But for whatever reason, Aisha couldn't shake the feeling that her words and that smile she wore were empty and hollow.

As if Frea didn't seem to think she could really count on the Guild itself... And it wasn't because she doubted their strength or their loyalty, no...

_Its as if she... She's already made up her mind, about who is going to end up fighting in the end..._

Aisha's eyes widened slightly as the thought hit he and she understood why she didn't believe what Frea said. What it was the Energy Dragon Slayer thought on the matter, but didn't say aloud.

_She truly believes she'll be alone in this fight..._

* * *

****

_**THUMP** _

Moon let out a hiss as something heavy landed on top of her and she was suddenly crushed under its weight. The sound of it dropping echoed throughout the room loudly, breaking the otherwise peaceful silence.

The room was nearly clean and tidy, her last bit of work was Frea's closet... And that was proving to be a challenge.

She'd managed to tidy most everything up, but now suddenly among the clutter, something seemed to have fallen from the top most shelf and landed right on top of her. It looked like an old chest, but she couldn't see it very well at the angle she was at. She started to try and wiggle her way out from under it, and got halfway before the door suddenly opened and she paused.

"I apologize for the intrusion but I heard something fall-" the familiar scarlet hair of Erza appeared in the doorway as the red-head pushed her way in. She paused when she didn't see anyone at first, before her eyes landed on Moon.

Of course she heard something fall- Erza lived in the room just across the Hall, and the thump had been rather loud as it were.

"Moon?" Erza blinked in surprise, pausing a moment before walking inside the room and bending down to lift the heavy chest off of the Exceed gently, setting it aside before reaching a hand out to help Moon up- who took it gratefully and got to her paws, letting out a sigh of relief. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, thanks. That thing just caught me by surprise is all." Moon answered with a small smile, Erza blinked before her eyes moved across the neatly organized and nearly spotless room with interest,

"Are you cleaning?" Erza asked and Moon nodded.

"Yes. The room's been a mess for a long while now, I figured it was time to fix things up a little." Moon answered. "Besides, I'm sure Frea could use a break from being hovered over- I know she hates it when I do that." She sweatdropped a little and Erza blinked, before shaking her head slightly,

"She may seem that way, but I assure you she appreciates your concern much more than you know." The red-head answered easily, earning a blink from Moon. "Master informed me of what happened, its worrisome... But I'm sure things will turn out alright."

"I wish I had your optimism." Moon sighed and Erza chuckled,

"Yes well, its not easy being optimistic. But its better to have hope than let worry and tension consume you completely, its much better to look to the future instead of dwelling on what's happened." Erza smiled a little and picked the chest that had dropped on top of Moon, "Those are things Frea taught me, actually." The red-head smiled and Moon smiled in return.

"You've known her for a very long time, huh?" Moon murmured and Erza nodded.

"She was already a part of the Guild when I joined." Erza replied, "Though it may not have seemed like it when we were younger, I grew close to her- and learned a great deal from her too."

"As did I. Frea taught me more than I think she ever intended to." Both Moon and Erza's attention snapped around toward the open door to see Mira standing in the entrance with a small, nearly nostalgic smile on her face."I came by to see if Frea managed to make it home after all." Mira murmured, "It doesn't seem she did."

"No, she's been at the Guild all day I assumed." Moon replied and Erza nodded,

"I saw her just before I left." The red-head affirmed. Mira nodded as she let her eyes fall closed a minute, her thoughts flashing to the past.

"I always saw Frea as an older sister... And she acted like it too. She was always keeping us from too much trouble when she could manage it, wasn't she, Erza?" She chuckled and Erza chuckled too.

"That is also true, we were a handful back then... Though she never seemed to mind." Erza agreed and Moon blinked, imagining a younger Frea keeping Erza and Mira in line... It was a little odd, seeing as how the three of them were equals now, and at times Mira and Erza were much more mature than Frea was. "I've always thought of her as an older sister as well, though I don't suppose anyone would have believed that back then. We fought with her nearly as often as we fought with eachother." Mira nodded with another small laugh, Moon blinked curiously at the mention.

"Things have certainly changed since then. We're much different than we used to be."

"How different is Frea?" Moon asked, suddenly curious. She knew nothing about what Frea used to be like, especially when she had been younger. Erza and Mira blinked, "If you've all changed so much since you were younger, what was Frea like back then?"

"Hm... That's a good question Moon." Erza murmured, getting to her feet as she set the box down on the bed. "In the short run, it wouldn't seem like Frea's changed that much at all... When in reality she's significantly different than what she used to be."

"I agree. But there's also been a lot that's happened over the years." Mira murmured as Moon blinked, moving to stand on the bed as Erza took a seat in the chair at the desk and Mirajane settled on the bed with Moon.

"Frea's always been headstrong, resilient, hardworking... But she was also very self-conscious and hesitant for a very long time too. She wasn't comfortable around the Guild because of her 'Demon' status at the time, though she'd never admit it out loud- she was always a little wary of what might happen if she let herself go, or opened up." Erza started,

"In a lot of ways she was like me." Mira said softly. "When I first joined the Guild I was afraid, I didn't know how to control my Magic and it kept me from interacting with others. Letting myself get close to other people, and accepting who I was wasn't easy... It was hard and I need felt comfortable in my own skin. So I put on a harsh shell and acted as if it didn't hurt but I did." Moon blinked, "Frea did that same thing. She distanced herself from people and kept them just out of arms reach. Put on a face to ignore the fact that she wasn't a fan of who she was."

"For that, she was always very reserved and kept to herself, she never shared much about herself not let herself relax completely around other people. She's remained secretive and reserved through the years... But she has relaxed around the Guild completely. She's opened up much more than anyone would have thought she ever would, and she's learned not to dwell on the dark and the had for too long." Erza murmured with a small smile, "That was her philosophy suddenly, for whatever reason she stopped being afraid of what she had done and what she could do, and looked to the future, focused on the good that could be done and what she would do to keep herself from hurting anyone. There isn't a thing she hates more than being the reason the people she cares for get hurt, she never did anything to risk the safety of the Guild- and to do so she worked hard to protect it."

"Before then, she wouldn't have out herself out in the open like that, she would have let herself dwell in negativity and felt with it, without moving forward... The first thing I ever learned from her was how to let go and move forward, last my insecurities, to turn my discomfort into a driving force- the willingness to protect what I cared for." Mira smiled. "She let herself go, opened up more, relaxed... Become more involved with the Guild and more involved with the people on it. She helped so many of us through pain and hardship, she helped teach us important things, helped protect us against danger, and gladly out herself in the line of fire if it meant someone else would be spared."

"She became determined to make herself better, to be better, get stronger, improve so she could move past her own shortfalls- and protect what she cared for the most. She's been dedicated to doing that all these years, and she's continued to do so- she's grown much stronger, probably more than 20 times stronger than she used to be- and it was never for personal gain, it was for her goal of protecting the Guild." Erza explained, "Beyond that, Frea was never one to let other people worry over her or lean on anyone else for help- but that's changed too. She's much more used to letting people help her, she looks for a ice and guidance in the people around her, and she's grown used to the idea of a Guild that'll be there to support her... She was always doing things on her own, and while she could usually handle herself- it seems she's realized it pays off to let others aid you some times." Erza chuckled a little, "And not to mention the amount of patience and level-headedness she's built up over the years, she used to jump in head first and get riled so easily over the simplest things."

"What hasn't changed, she's still stubborn, still hot-headed, steadfastly loyal, easy to get along with, and she's always been someone others could talk to, rely on... She's always helped others, whether or not she meant to, she's always been able to see through problems in the lives of others and help them make sense of it. She's someone anybody can trust without question, and she's the person you could rely on to be hard, and strong against something one moment- and then gentle and kind the next." Mira smiled as the said the words, hands folded in her lap. "She's a spectacular listener, and she's very good at reaching people."

Moon blinked, before she smiled and nodded herself. "I noticed that... She got through to Cobra when she fought him, and she tends to make a fast connection with most everyone she meets... Like Sting and Rogue, they hardly knew eachother and suddenly they both seemed to warm up to Frea in an instant, trust her, care for her even."

"That doesn't surprise me." Erza smiled,

"Me either." Mira chuckled, before she smiled at Moon, her eyes lighting up in amusement. "For however good Frea is at solving the problems of others, and understanding how someone else feels- she's always been very bad at coming to terms with her own feelings."

"Also very true." Erza smirked, "In the area of her own emotions, however good she is at reading and sensing them- she rather lacks personal insight. And she's never been very good at expressing her own feelings either." Moon nodded in agreement, her thoughts flashing to the fight with Ivan...

_'Oh... Frea... Your emotion is so strong... Its a wonder nobody really knows how you really feel about things... About... Everything...'_

"You two know her really well." Moon murmured. "I envy you that... You had so much time to know Frea, I've only known her for such a short amount of time..."

"You know Frea nearly as well as we do, Moon." Mira told her easily, "Probably better than we do."

"There's a reason you and Frea seemed to click so fast. You understand her better than you know, and she certainly trusts you completely." Erza told her and Moon blinked, before smiling slightly.

"I'm sure Frea feels as strongly about you two, as you seem to care about her." Moon told them softly, earning blinks. "And I'm sure she sees you as her younger sisters, she probably always has." That earned a small flattered smiles and blushes from both.

"What's this?" Mira asked after a moment, gesturing toward the chest set between herself and Moon. That earned the eyes of everyone in the room, and Moon moved toward it.

It was old, heavy... And burned. It was blackened by the flames that must have engulfed it at some point in its life, and it must have been buried away in Frea's closet for some time, Moon had never seen it- and apparently neither had Erza nor Mira.

But why was it burned?

"I don't know, I was cleaning the closet and it fell from the top shelf." Moon explained, running a paw over the scorched surface. "There's no lock on it, but its so heavy there must be something in it."

"We probably shouldn't dig through it." Erza murmured,

"That'd be a bit a rude." Mira agreed, though they were both looking to it with innate curiosity. They clearly wanted to know what was inside of it, as did Moon- but they also didn't want to invade Frea's privacy either.

"... I don't think she'd mind." Moon said at length, catching Erza and Mira off guard a little. She wasn't saying it be used she was curious, but she honestly felt like Frea wouldn't mind if they glanced inside. Frea had been more than open about everything since she had met her, and so much so Moon had been open about her own past since knowing Frea. There was no lock on the chest, it didn't look to have been touched in ages, and for whatever odd reason- somewhere inside of her she really couldn't see Frea being bothered by the idea that anyone would look inside of it.

"Are you sure?" Mira asked.

"Go ahead."

They're attention snapped around at the sudden voice, for a minute they thought it might be Frea- but it was green eyes they found, not silver.

Mavis had appeared in the entryway of the room silently, her lips graced with a small smile as she gestured toward the chest in question.

"Moon is right, Frea certainly wouldn't mind if you took a look- what is in that chest isn't secret, in fact its just a collection of memories." Mavis explained and they blinked,

"What do you mean?" Erza asked and Mavis smiled a little more.

"Take a look, you'll understand." She faded away, and slowly, but surely, Moon opened the top and revealed it to be filled with-

_Papers?_

That's all there was, they exchanged glances, a little confused before Mira slowly picked one up off the top of the several papers there and looked it over- a look of surprise dawned on her face.

"This is... The Job Request that you both went on with Juvia." She said and Moon blinked,

"Really?"

Erza reached forward and took a few from the box, looking them over with narrowed eyes. Mira set the one she had down and pulled another one out, Moon pulled one to her and read it.

"This one's a Job to capture... 'Sun Eater'." Moon murmured, pausing a moment. "Wait... Was this the Job she met Solana on?" She murmured to herself.

"This is the Job Request she went on to Jogenen, her first mission with Gajeel and Lily." Mira murmured, "And this one... This is a list of things she wrote down just before leaving with Chase to teach him her Magic, something to organize her thoughts in and create a plan..." Mira flipped through to another page and blinked in complete shock. "This the the Flier from the first Job Frea took with Lucy." Moon blinked in shock, that was such a long time ago!

Moon glanced over toward Erza to see she was reading over a wrinkled and older looking paper, intent on the page as her eyes lit up with shock, wonder and... Something else she couldn't place.

"What is it, Erza." Mira asked, taking note of the silent red-head.

"This... This is the very first job I went on with Frea, not long after joining the Guild." Erza murmured softly, ".. It was the first job I took with anyone else from the Guild at all..."

Mira and Moon stared a moment, because that had been years and years and years ago... And Frea had kept it that long?

Mira took a few more papers out of the chest while Erza seemed to fade into her own memory a moment. Moon took another one out and found a newspaper clipping of Fairy Tail winning the Grand Magic Games.

"Oh my..." Mira murmured, smiling slightly and looking a little... Touched. She held four separate papers in her hands, all of which were old and from what Moon could see- were handwritten notes in Frea's handwriting. "She... Wrote down the exact date that Laxus, Mystogan, Erza and I were appointed S-Class... And probably wrote these on those days."

"... This is the first Mission she went on with Natsu, and with Levy... Gray and Cana... Vijeeter, Max... Loke... " Erza murmured, going through the rest of the stack she had with her.

"This is the letter calling Frea and Master to the Court Hearing they attend when she came back from the uncharted territories." Mira said in near disbelief. "... This is a flier from the Fantasia Parade that the Thunder God Tribe nearly derailed."

"... This is the Flier for the Mission when she was captured and we thought she died..." Erza breathed, and that was what the rest of it it was- the first missions she had taken with everyone in the Guild, the memorable dates, the things gone wrong, the numerous court hearings and sentences she had received, and even a few bills for property damage-mixed in with Hundreds of one of two word notes that only Frea herself would actually know what they meant... It looked as if she had been keeping every single important piece of paper since she joined the Guild.

"She's kept... All of this.. For so long..." Mira murmured, "Some of it since she first joined the Guild..."

"... She's been keeping all of her memories in this box." Erza murmured quietly. "Everything important that's ever happened to her- however insignificant it would seem to us... Its clearly meant a lot to her..."

"... Even the bad things, she's been keeping them as a reminder..." Mira breathed.

"... I never knew she cared so much about everything she's done with everyone in the Guild..." Erza mumbled,

"... This Guild has been her home." Moon said at length. "Everything and everyone she cares for has been in the Guild... Every memory, good or bad had significance... Because Frea understands what it means to lose that- to lose memories. She lost years of her life when Kasumi sealed her memories off, right?" Mira and Erza sweatdropped a little,

"She's keeping these... Because they're important to her, and she never wants to forget."

* * *

Frea let out a small sigh as she slowly opened the door to the Infirmary, the Guild nearly silent and empty behind her- the sun having set a long time ago and the moon already rising.

There were three Energy Signatures in the Guild that had not moved the entire day within the Guild- for which she wasn't necessarily surprised on the matter, but none the less- it was a little wearisome to see the three of them slumped in chairs and leaning against the wall on the floor, nearly half-asleep and looking... Well, awful.

Evergreen was slumped in a chair near the her where Laxus was, Freed and Bixlow were slouched up against the wall, their eyes closed and expressions strained. They hadn't gone home nor changed from their torn and dirty clothes since coming back to the Guild after everything with Ivan. And as it seemed... They'd hardly gotten any good amount of sleep since then and hardly left the room.

She paused a moment when she heard footsteps behind her and turned to see Mirajane approaching the room slowly, her expression soft and smile faint. Frea paused on the doorway, the door only halfway open,

"Hey, Mira." she murmured softly, attempting not to disturb the four inside the room.

"Are they still waiting?" Mira asked, glancing past Frea toward the three inside as her eyes softened and she gazed at the sympathetically.

"They're loyal... Almost to a fault." Frea replied softly, sighing a little. "It'd do them good to go home and sleep in a bed..." Mirajane nodded slightly, before glancing to Frea with a small smile that seemed to say more than it actually did. "I was going to see if I could convince them to take a night off..."

"I think that's for the best." She murmured, Frea moved away from Mira and slowly moved over toward Freed and crouched in front of him- gently shaking him to wakefulness. His eyes fluttered open wearily as he blinked rapidly, trying to focus on who was in front of him. She was faintly aware of Mirajane moving inside, coaxing both Bixlow and Evergreen awake gently.

"F... Frea...?" He mumbled and she blinked. "... Something wrong..?" He asked, a small flash of panic sweeping through his eyes as she shook her head at him.

"No, but I think its time the three of you take a bit of a break." She replied gently, he looked a bit apprehensive at the suggestion. "You need to go home, get cleaned up, sleep in an actual bed- relax." She told him, giving him and Evergreen as well as Bixlow a pointed look,

"But the boss-"

"We shouldn't leave La-"

"What if-?"

Frea raised a hand in a gesture of silence to the sudden flurry of objections being thrown her way by all three. She sighed slightly,

"No, no- I'm serious you three. You've been sitting in here too long, I understand why you have- and its very loyal of you. Laxus couldn't have better friends," Frea told them, catching them slightly off guard. "But even you all need time to pull yourselves together, you're no good to anyone exhausted. Besides, Laxus wouldn't ever let you push yourselves like this without needing to- so I'm not going to let you do it either."

They seemed a little at a loss for words in reply, glancing between eachother uncertainly, and in slight surprise at Frea who only looked to them firmly, her expression giving them no room for argument.

"... What if something were to happen, while we were gone?" Freed asked slowly,

"Or if he were to wake up?" Evergreen asked,

"Shouldn't some one stay with the boss, you know, just in case?" Bickslow piped in, Frea let out a small sigh and shook her head a little. Knowing them and his stubborn they could be... She had expected argument, but she was just as stubborn as they were- and probably more.

The dark lines under their eyes and their exhausted looks didn't help to lessen her stance on the issue, she could tell they were tired, she could feel their strain, they were barely on their feet and the worried emotions dancing off of them had not stopped- not once.

That amount of emotional and physical strain all at once mixed with the lack of sleep and the wounds inflicted by Ivan all at once could wear a person down to no end... She knew it could from experience, be used honestly she wasn't one to criticize their actions. She was no better herself, not having slept in over 24 hours, and being considerably more wounded and strained than they were.

Of course that had nothing to say of her own resilient endurance, she could take harder hits and run for much longer than most people could- though to be how at she was nearly at her limit herself. But she would ignore that for now.

"Alright... you three, go home. Go to sleep, eat something, relax- I don't want to see you back in this Guild until at least 8 hours have gone by." She told them firmly, her tone borderline commanding. "I'll stay here." She told them easily.

This earned blinks of utter shock and surprise that flashed across the faces of the Thunder God Tribe at the to the point way in which she said- she didn't even bat an eye at a suggestion they would all have assumed would never cross her mind, ever.

Frea and Laxus were not friends- they never got along and as it stood... It was very hard to think she would even consider the idea of staying here at all.

"I'll stick around and keep an eye on the idiot, and yes- I'll let you know if anything happens. Trust me, it'll be fine." Frea sighed, extending a hand to help him up. "The three of you just need to take a little time to yourselves. It'll make you feel better." She smiled faintly and Freed stared, while Evergreen and Bickslow exchanged wary glances.

Freed just looked into Frea's silver eyes a long time, eyes narrowed slightly and mind racing. She looked utterly calm, not all perturbed by any of their argument... She willingly volunteered to stay here without even the slightest hesitation.

To stay and keep watch over Laxus.

He had been wondering about this before now- when Frea first told them she would go after Ivan and get the Dragon Slayer Lacrima back. She hadn't hesitated to run off and try and save Laxus' life then either... On the contrary, she seemed genuinely concerned and angry with what had happened.

Laxus and Frea were never on good terms, no two people in the Guild had been at one another's throats more often than Frea and Laxus... And yet, Frea didn't seem concerned with the rivalry anymore. Their fighting had waned more and more just recently... It was nearly astounding.

He started to wonder if... She cared for Laxus a lot more than she ever let on.

Saying it out loud made it sound silly, but when he thought about... He knew that must be it.

Why else would she be acting this way? It wasn't because they were Guild Mates, it wasn't because it was her 'duty' to help someone in the Guild... If it had been it made no sense for her to have gotten as worked up, or seem as dedicated as she had when she went off to find Ivan- of when she asked Jynx for help.

She willingly let the ghost girl use every ounce of her power to try and save Laxus, and she agreed to it nearly immediately, without hardly thinking it over...

_Frea... I wonder if the feud you and Laxus have held on to for so long... Really had any true standing... If you still hate him like you said you did all those years ago..._

He couldn't believe it did. She really did seem to... Care for Laxus, at least in her own way.

He blinked once, because for a a very long time... Even before now... He had always thought something odd of how often Laxus seemed to... Talk about Frea and her 'annoying attitude'. As it happened, Laxus had always liked to complain about Frea- how furious she made him, any and all manner of things that were in reality quite trivial.

And then he began to see a sort of lessening of tension between Frea and Laxus- Laxus wasn't so angry anymore, he didn't seem to get as riled anymore, in fact he was calmer... And more gentle toward Frea too.

There had suddenly seemed a sort of unfathomable connection or understanding between the two of them, and he had noticed Laxus' attitude change toward Frea as of late- and vice versa.

No. Neither of them seemed to hate one another... There was some sudden sense of care and worry that came between the two, faint in all reality- but it was there. And being there had begun to erase the tension and the anger, the violence.

What it left was too people who seemed to understand one another on a deeper level than anyone could begin to imagine.

When Frea said 'it'll be fine' he trusted it would.

He trusted her, though they had never been particularly close- for somewhat obvious reasons. But with everything he previously wondered on in mind... Maybe there would be chance to grow closer to her.

Most of all, he trusted that odd, nearly hidden and unknown sense of care Frea seemed to have developed in the case of Laxus- whatever had happened between the two in the past- whatever it was they were now a days... He trusted Frea when she promised everything would be fine.

Slowly, but surely- he nodded and Frea smiled slightly, he took her hand as she pulled him to his feet and nodded once to him.

"Good choice." She smiled and he smiled slightly,

"Thank you." He murmured, she blinked. "We didn't thank you before, for everything you did for us and for Laxus... Thank you, we owe you a great debt." He said, bowing slightly and Frea just blinked,

"Yes, thank you." Evergreen murmured, her head bowing too.

"We owe you big time." Bickslow said lowly, bowing just slightly. His Tiki Dolls floated about his head lazily, mumbling, "Thank you... Thank you..."

Frea blinked in slight surprise before her cheeks were dusted with a light blush, her flusteredness for situations such as these returning nearly immediately- a specially at the formal gestures of a bow.

"It's fine... Really... It was no problem at all... You don't have to thank me..." She stammered slightly, Mira smiled a little at the scene, as the Thunder God Tribe straightened up and smiled just a little too. "... Any of you would have done the same, had the situation been reversed... Its no big deal..." She sighed, trying to force her faint blush away.

"... You're a bit too modest." Freed told her softly and she glanced away. Mira, Ever and Bickslow chuckled a little,

"Yeah, yeah... Alright enough stalling!" Frea muttered, still keeping her voice low. "All of you! Go home already, get some sleep and quit worrying! Got it?" She asked, gently herding them out of the room, where they opened the door to be met by Elfman and Lisanna, she stopped in the doorway, giving them a pointed stare. "Eight hours, remember? I'll be counting!" She warned and they smiled, nodding a little and letting out sighs, she placed her hands on her hips and let out a small huff.

_Modest? Why the hell is that even an issue? Besides, Chase, Jynx and Moon did plenty themselves!_

Frea turned back into the room only to stop in her tracks as arms wrapped about her person, catching her entirely off guard as she came to a stand still, the scent of Mira hitting her nose as she blinked rapidly.

"Uh... Mira? Is something the matter...?" She asked, slightly concerned. This hug was rather unprecedented...

"No Frea, nothing's the matter..." Mira replied softly, her hold still tight. "Just... Thank you, for everything. I couldn't ask for a better friend, and I know I never showed any gratitude when we were younger... But you helped me in so many ways... You're my family, and you were always my Family when I didn't know I needed you. Thank you." Frea. Stiffened a little, unsure of what brought about the sudden behavior... "Every memory made with you is the most precious, don't forget that." She blinked in slight shock, eyes narrowing slightly.

_Why is...?_

She pushed her questions away and returned the hug gently, her eyes closing slowly. "There is no need to thank me, Mira... I only ever did things because I cared... I wouldn't have it any other way." She replied softly and Mira pulled away, smiling at her softly, her blue eyes gleaming for a moment.

For a split second, Mira suddenly saw Frea as she was when they had been younger- the image of someone she looked up to.

"I know." Mira replied, "That's part of what makes you special... Precious. There would be no Fairy Tail without you, I couldn't imagine it any other way. And though I know you don't like accepting thanks, I'll say it again. Thank you, for everything." Mira murmured, Frea blinked but Mira was already moving away, leaving her alone in the dim room as she closed the door, her last glance back her eyes were filled with so many emotions she couldn't begin to place any of them.

The door clicked shut and she was left in the silent and dark, the only light provided by the half moon outside the window. She stood where she was a moment, her yes fixed to the door as she narrowed her eyes.

What was that even about...? She didn't understand, Mira had just sprung that on her suddenly without any reason... She had to wonder what prompted it at all...

She shook her head with a sigh and turned back to the room, her eyes moving over Laxus- who was sleeping, peacefully she might add- and out cold. Which wasn't a surprise, she just took comfort in the fact that his Energy Signature was alive and burning, and that his breathing was deep and normal.

The Spell she had helped Jynx to use had done of work in a spectacular way... She was glad of it, even if she had had to ask the one person she was at odds with for help.

She stifled a small yawn and moved to plop down in the chair pushed against the wall and very near Laxus' bed, the one Evergreen had been in, draping her legs over one arm and leaning her back up against the other, crossing her arms over her stomach with her beg resting there- heavy with the weight of the Energy Magic Book inside.

She cast a glance toward Laxus, her eyes softening slightly before she turned her attention to her bag and slowly, a little grudgingly, pulled the book out and set her bag on the floor beside her.

She had no interest in looking through it. Her mind was cluttered, and the strain of her fighting and the events of late had worn down at her- closely followed by the sting and dull ache of pain throughout her body. She couldn't shake the deep set pain that had sprung up after her small, mysterious chat with Jynx in the White Plane. And that on to the already serious wound in her side from Hilshine...

Her bath had done her good, but the pain came back- again, not surprisingly. But the sleeplessness and weariness pulling at her had been getting worse- she was in no mood to add to the clutter and the wonder by reading (or at least attempting to) this damn 'Enogora Magrea' Book... But she needed to.

In a situation dealing with things that were Ancient, Powerful... And somehow tied to her and her Magic, all the books in Fiore could probably do her no good, the one Book that may have anything- was _this_ Book.

She drew her fingers across the cover and curled them over the edge softly, beginning to pull to see if it would even open for her- as it refused to do so a day ago.

The cover opened with no resistance and the smell of musty, old, paper and years long past hit her nose.

For all her attempts at reading this book she never got any farther than a few random words here and there- of course having help from the English footnotes written here and there too.

After a few pages in the writing would always change, as of the writer was some different person. The earlier pages were the most faded, the ones in the center were easier to read but near then end... Those seemed to be the worst. They were always written messily, slanted, frantic almost... And toward the end they trailed off into incomprehensible strands of lines.

Those were the pages flecked with blood, the ones burned at the edges, the ones ripped. It was in this part of the book, she had been warned- or at least it had attempted to warn her as she guessed- about the Balance Shift.

She slowly flipped trough the pages toward the back- she'd never actually flipped all the way through, on the contrary- he book had never let her.

She passed halfway, her fingers tracking the age old ink inscription of ' _Drearand en Dargerio wel hume dogeter om fon nadare.'_

"... Light and Dark... Will... Hume dogeter om... One... Body..." She breathed lowly. For some reason this one had always bothered her, just slightly. She knew some of the phrase, and it stood alone on an otherwise empty page.

Through her flipping through the pages she didn't come across anything that could have made Moon look so frightened that day during the mess with the Infinity Clock... That had been bothering her for a long while now. Moon wouldn't talk about it either.

She shook her head and flipped a few more pages, toward the very last page she had ever been able to see, the reek of ancient blood lifting into the air as she curled her fingers underneath the page, pausing a moment, her eyes narrowing a little.

"... Alright... You damn book..." She sighed, "Jynx isn't giving me any answers... So what do you have to say about the matter...?"

The book jerked in her hands and flipped all the way to the last few pages, there the binding was littered with frayed pieces of paper as if dozens had been torn out- destroyed, _taken._

On the right hand page, the one just after the pages that had been ripped out, this page was written in hastily scrawled letters, and the entire thing was drenched in large, acrid smelling, blobs of crimson blood- there was one sentence;

_'Ve Hilarrn, Tresta, dargerio Magion... Melori drese komene... Doitere uf Dargo... Uf Dargerio Magrea... Dargerio flesti... Melori... Melor hel yortes alkues... Ve Okia wel donea ot kaal... Kaal Enogora Magrea... Melori komene... Melori konete...'_

Among these words she could make out... Little.

One, dark Mage, dark Magic, and Energy Magic of some kind was all she could recognize...

What sort of Energy Magic? And why did the writing seem to be... Frantic, scared even?

And then there was the blood. And what about those ripped out pages?

The book shifted again, the page flipped a few and she stared down at the next page- her heart seeming to leap to her throat when she looked upon what was there.

There were claw marks across the page, the talons of whatever creature seeming to be dipped in ink... And a small inscription on the bottom.

_"Ramke en Wendete."_

She immediately recognized this small phrase, in English it read 'Marked and Owned'

Marked and Owned by the creature that ran claw scores across the page... The same page that brought a sweet, achingly familiar scent with it, it wafting up from the page and hitting her nose- her heart skipping a beat, eyes softening.

She traced her fingers over the clawmarks softly, taking a deep breath to drink in the old and faded scent, but she'd know it anywhere- and her heart ached as the memories slowly filled her head.

For whatever reason, at some time... Probably long, long ago...

_...Chaitanya, you had this book... You read it... You put your make here... And now I have it._

Her hand moved away as the book flipped another page on its own and she blinked to see the all too familiar mark of a black crescent moon on the page, the same inscription in the bottom of the page as the last.

This mark she recognized without needing the scent.

_Jynx...?!_

The book shifted again, this time it slammed shut and she blinked in slight shock.

"The hell...? How was that supposed to help me...?" She muttered, "... That didn't make any sense... I can't even read half of it... You're freaking annoying, I hope you know that." She growled, "You changed to English for me once before, and you did it for Chase- can't you just translate everything into English for me? Make my life that much easier?"

She was talking to a book, that really wasn't so much of a book as it was a thing... Something that respond, had a mind of its own...

The book slammed open and flipped rapidly, almost frustratedly, toward the same place the pages seemed to have been ripped out and she blinked- the page after the missing ones burned a sudden fiery red before sinking to a deep black- upon the page was the Marked and Owned Inscription- but no symbol.

In the center, in some barbed, slanted, evil looking print was one thing.

_Mordrenetheto_

The book allowed her to look at the one word for a split moment longer, before it slammed shut again and faded in a flash of grey- disappearing from sight entirely and leaving her to sit alone in the silence of the room.

Something cold and dark hit her, somewhere to her core- something clicked, something moved into place... And still she didn't get it.

_Mordrenetheto...?_

* * *

Laxus' eyes fluttered open halfway, yes narrowed and lips pulling into a frown as he winced at the soreness over his entire body and the ache of pain.

His mind struggled to cling to wakefulness and recall what it was that had happened... When the events came flooding back his eyes snapped open fully and he glanced about the room quickly, grunting as he pushed himself to sit up, a small flare of pain shooting up from the center of his chest but nothing bad. His body felt heavy, groggy... Weak. He could feel Magic pulsing under his skin, but that was weak and uneven too- it felt as if every ounce of life and Magic in his body had been worn down to a nub.

His eyes moved about the silent, dark room where the only light granted was from the moon outside.

The Infirmary at Fairy Tail

He let out a small sigh at the familiar surroundings and let his eyes close, feeling the bandages wrapped about his chest and sweatdropping slightly.

He remembered little, nothing other than a glimpse of his father and some agonizing pain in his chest... Ivan put his hand through his chest, it felt as if his heart had been ripped out- he caught a glimpse of a glittering blue and yellow stone in the hand of his father before everything had fallen away to deep, dark, cold black.

A small flash of anger and resentment rose up inside of him. Before his thoughts flashed to the Thunder God Tribe and he sweatdropped again, unsure if they were alright or not- he would have jumped from the bed if not for the soft, quiet interruption of a voice to his left.

"Look who's back among the living."

His attention snapped around to notice someone laying in the chair pressed against the wall, very near the bed he was in. His eyes widened slightly, recognizing the voice and the form of Frea there- her silver eyes open and looking to glow slightly in the dim, her lips pulled into a faint, weary smile that betrayed the exhaustion he could see hanging over her in nearly an instant.

What shocked him was the fact she was there at all. It was clearly late... Or very early in the morning, however you looked at it. And by the way she was sitting, he could imagine she had been dozing, not having moved for a long time- which was clear by her scent hanging about the room thickly, mixed with those of Bickslow, Freed and Evergreen, which had started to fade.

Had she really been in the room a long time now? Just... Sitting with him...?

"Frea..." He mumbled, pushing the thought from his head as she nodded and moved to sit in the chair normally, raising her arms above her in a stretch- he heard her joints and shoulders pop in the quiet.

"Well, at least you can still distinguish whose talking to you- that's good." She murmured, her tone lined with slight humor. She of course expected he would be fine, but it was a small relief to see him up and alert.

"... You look like shit." He told her lowly and she blinked, sending him a shake of her head and getting to her feet slowly,

"Well you're one to talk." She answered easily, "Whose the one in the bed?" She countered and he narrowed his eyes at her, he considered the idea of answering the statement with a snarky reply or continuing to argue the point- because she was right, and he was the one in the bed- but he could easily see how tired she was, how weary, strained... Though she did a good job at hiding the fact.

"What happened?" He sighed, dropping the subject for now, as well as ignoring the question as to why she was sitting in the room at all. "Are Evergreen, Bickslow, and Freed alright? What happened with Ivan?" He asked, earning a silent stare from Frea. "How long have I been out anyway?"

"Well, you're not asking what happened to you- so I'm gonna guess you already figured Ivan took the Lacrima out of you." She murmured, he frowned a little. She shook her head slightly, sighing a little as she rubbed the back of her neck with a hand. "For starters, Chase, Moon and I were on our way back to the Guild after our Mission- when we found the four of you, unconscious, beaten... Nearly dead in your case." She told him, earning a small blink of surprise from him at the fact it was her group that had found them. "We managed to get Freed up and he explained what happened and who had come after you all, knowing you weren't gonna survive without that Lacrima back- I went after Ivan, and took it." She said in a matter of fact tone, he found himself staring.

Wait, Frea went and got the Lacrima back?

"We came back and had the Lacrima transplanted back inside of you, before coming back to the Guild. The Council went and picked up Ivan, and you've been out for about two days since then- and yes, Evergreen, Freed and Bickslow are just fine. They were the ones sitting in here before I told them to go home and sleep." She finished with a small smile, he was just looking at her in silence, trying to let it sink in.

"... Did you... Put the Lacrima...?" He asked and she blinked, before shaking her head a little and looking flustered.

"No, no- Jynx did that... I helped her, yes- but by giving her my Power, I didn't really do anything." She explained quickly, he glanced away, letting out a sigh.

"... Pathetic..." He muttered and she blinked, head tilting a little in confusion.

"Hmm?"

"My father." He muttered, an edge to his voice as she sighed herself. "I can't believe he managed to trap me like that... Damn it..."

"It wasn't your fault, Laxus." She murmured, "I wouldn't have been ready for that myself, and I wouldn't have gotten out of it either- had our situations been switched." She shook her head a little and moved over to plop down on the bed next to him in an a nonchalant manner, he moved a little to allow her room and propped a knee up himself. "Ivan should never have even tried to do that... Don't think you could have kept it from happening. You couldn't have."

His eyes moved toward her as she sat down on the bed, her legs hanging over the edge and her back slightly turned toward him. He was surprised she did that, though only slightly- what surprised him the most was what she said- _it wasn't his fault._

She sounded somewhat... Well, sympathetic. Reassuring if you'd like- and it was a little odd, he wasn't used to that from her... At all.

"At any rate, I'd say just be happy you're still alive." She went on, smirking slightly. "The Guild would be pretty damn boring without you, Gajeel and Nastu aren't the best competition." She cast him a toothy grin, "Besides, you still owe me that rematch. Can't skip out on it by dying- I'd kill ya." She chuckled and he blinked in slight shock, before he smiled slightly and shook his head at her.

"Gotta wonder why you're so intent on having the fight when your ass is gonna get kicked." He replied easily and she narrowed her eyes at him,

"My ass? Don't count on it!" She snapped back, though she didn't sound at all angry nor annoyed. She lightly hit him on the shoulder with a fist, though she didn't put any power behind it. "When the time comes it'll be you who loses, count on that!" She smirked,

"Well, don't go getting too full of yourself." He warned with a smirk of his own. She smiled in return, before his eyes finally took note of the long, deep scratch running across her cheek- cutting its way through the silver markings under her eyes. His smile faded and without even thinking about it he had reached a hand forward to draw his thumb lightly across the mark, his hand curling under her jaw and gently making her turn toward him completely, bringing her legs up onto the bed and folding them underneath her.

Frea stiffened slightly at the sudden action, immediately feeling her face heat up as her eyes rest on him, wide and sweatdropping a little as his aqua eyes traced over the scratch, his eyes narrowing and lips pulling into a frown.

"... Laxus...?" She breathed, unsure what it was that caused the sudden action, and feeling a little flustered about it too.

"Did Ivan do this?" He asked lowly, she blinked in surprise at the question. He seemed... Slightly angry.

"... Well... Yeah..." She mumbled and he took in a slow, deep breath. "... But that's probably the worst of it, he barely touched me." He slowly let his hand fall away as he met her gaze silently, for all her insight to the emotions of others, being able to feel and see them... She couldn't, just now she couldn't do it.

"Doesn't mean I like the idea the bastard hurting you or anybody else on my account." He muttered and she tilted her head slightly. Her blush didn't die down, because was she reading this right?

_I can't be..._

_It kinda seems... No... Well..._

_... Is he angry, that Ivan hurt me...?_

_No way, there is no way!_

"Are you ok?" He asked suddenly, breaking her from her thoughts. This made her blush a little more and she glanced away, ok this was getting way too weird, _is it just me or does it sound like the Lightning Idiot actually cares?!_

"... Yeah, I'm fine." She murmured, "Just a few scratches, that's about it."

She cringed, a flare of pain making its way up from the wound in her side with no warning at all- _no precedence._ She bit down on her tongue to keep herself from hissing, but Laxus noticed it immediately, eyes narrowing.

_Damn it... why does it keep doing that?!_

His hands moved down toward her waist when he noticed the bandages there, he gently moved her shirt a little to see them and she could tell he wasn't happy. His hands rest on her hips a little as her face went completely red, she lowered it to let her bangs hide her expression.

_Why is... Why do I feel so nervous...?! And what the hell... Is he even doing...?!_

_Why is he acting so freaking weird...?!_

"Frea..." He muttered. "What was that about a few scratches? You idiot." He growled, still not looking up at her face- she wondered if he realized what he was doing, or if he was too absorbed in his own sudden, supposed anger at Ivan to take note of his actions completely.

"... Ah... Actually, I kinda... Did that to myself..." She replied slowly, he blinked, glancing up to see he head lowered and shadow having passed over her face. "Ivan didn't do that..." She mumbled,

"What do you mean you did it to yourself?" He asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Its... A long story..." She mumbled and he huffed slightly, "Uhm... Laxus? What... Are you doing...?" Frea stammered, her head tilting up so she met his eyes slowly, he noticed the faint dust of pink across her cheeks as she glanced to him nervously. He blinked, a little unsure what she meant... Before he noticed where his hands still were, on her waist. And them he remembered drawing his thumb across her cheek, holding her face in his hand...

His face went bright red as the realization of what he was doing hit him, and he quickly drew his hands back toward himself.

"... S-sorry..." He said quickly, she let out a breath, trying to calm herself down and kill the blush she knew she had. _Damn he really was acting weird... Maybe getting that Lacrima torn out of him must have screwed with his head to..._

_So why am I feeling like this?! Gahh quit it already!_

"... About that long story? What do you mean you did that to yourself...?" He asked, clearly trying to change the subject- she gladly took him up on that idea, even if the story was long and... Well, awful, tedious, complicated.

"Moon, Chase and I, we went to a small town named Hilshine, to try and rid the place of some Dark Wizards and some kid of Dark Magic that had been poisoning the land for an S-Class Assignment." She started slowly, "We arrived there just in time to crash a fight that Sting and Rouge had started with the Mages that were invading." He raised an eyebrow at this,

"Those SaberTooth idiots were there?" He asked and she nodded,

"The Mayor of Hilshine mistakenly sent the Request to both Fairy Tail and SaberTooth, we arrived at the same time- and decided to work the job together." She explained, "The townspeople hadn't much information to go on- they hadn't any clue as to why the Wizards invading their town were there, or why everything had begun to die around them- the trees, grass, plants, everything. There was some sort of Dark Magic seeping into the Land, poisoning everything- we started to look through an old graveyard the townspeople considered scared- which was the only place in all of Hilshine that wasn't dying... And then all hell broke loose." She sighed slightly at the thought,

"The Wizards started pummeling Hilshine with some serious Magic Attacks... I managed to activate a Protective Barrier that had been built into the graveyard, before moving to help the townspeople inside of the barrier. Some Dark Wizards moved in at the same time and we had our hands full with them, while also fending off the attacks coming down from the sky."

"Seems fairly normal." He broke in and she nodded a little,

"Yes, it would have been... If the Thing that had forced me to open the Tomb in Nvindorr hadn't showed up." She told him lowly, earning a look of shock from him. "I had realized it was there shortly upon arriving at Hilshine, but we decided to go on with the Mission anyway. And while we were fighting, I guess it took the form of one one of the hundreds of Wizards it was controlling." She explained, "It tore its hand through my side.. I tried to block it but couldn't manage it..." She winced a little at the memory,

Laxus winced a little too, though she didn't notice it. He winced because that sounded an awful lot like Ivan ripping the Lacrima from his chest... And though he remembered little after that, he remembered the pain very clearly. His chest ached still.

"... So the Thing from Nvindorr, whatever it is- it did that to you?" He asked and she sweatdropped, pausing a minute before glancing away.

"Sort of..." She mumbled and he blinked, "... It... Well, it was talking to me... In the middle of all the fighting, it started talking to me. It was pissed, because when I activated the Protection Spell around the cemetery, I blocked of from getting inside and to what it wanted."

"What did it want?" He asked evenly,

"Hilshine is like Nvindorr- its holding some sort of Ancient Power inside of it- and that Thing wanted it. It can't get to it now though, and I'm still not entirely sure why it wants that Power... Or even what these Ancient Magics are in all reality." He seemed to go into thought on the matter, his eyes never left we though but he did fall silent a moment... She trailed away and let her eyes fall to her lap.

"... It also wanted me." She murmured, "It tried to kill us... And then it said it wasn't my time to die- like it wanted something from me in the future, for something..." She didn't notice but he stiffened a little at the words, his eyes narrowing a little. "... I don't know why, but it was pretty clear I was wrapped up in all of this, now I know for sure... I just don't know why." She shook her head a little and sighed. "... But away from that, since it was pissed, and it needed me alive- it didn't seem to care about anybody else... And seeing as how the attempt at killing us narrowly failed-"

"Narrowly?" He interrupted, she sweatdropped a little and let her eyes close,

"..... It's... well, we were about to be killed- and then we were... moved out of the way, by something...no idea what it was, or even why... it just... happened." She mumbled, shaking her head at herself and her uncertainty.

"How close?" He asked and she blinked, glancing up to him. He rolled his eyes a little at the confused look he received, "How close did you lot get close to getting killed?"

"...mmmm....." She hummed, trying to figure out why it was he wanted to know? She shook the question from her head and rubbed the back of her neck with a hand. "Very close..... just about, almost killed- give or take a second or two." She glanced away a minute, before looking back to see he was simply looking at her with a neutral, yet slightly unhappy and... Well, miffed expression.

When she had mentioned it earlier to the group at the table- she had received shocked gasps and glares from lost everyone- because she had failed to mention it before moving into everything else... She supposed she understood that, but it wasn't as if they had been killed- just almost.

But at the moment, Laxus didn't blow up or snap at her for it- he just looked angry, but not at her.

He let out a small, agitated sigh and shook his head- his eyes closing a little as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"... This Thing needs to be stopped. Before it can actually manage to kill anyone." He muttered lowly and she blinked- for what she didn't know, and what he was going to say before deciding better of it was-

_This means war._

It pissed him off that anything would try to murder anyone he knew- even if it was Frea, her cat- that annoying student of hers and the two SaberTooth dumbasses...

"If it really got that close to killing you, and manage to do that-" he gestured toward the bandages about her torso. "- then this Thing needs to be wiped out before any more damage can be done, it isn't safe for anybody anymore." He muttered lowly, "Anything that messes with anyone in Fairy Tail is an enemy, and we need to stop it. We can't just let the damn Thing go around doing what it wants." He said firmly and Frea's eyes widened a little.

This was one of those times that Laxus' true side actually emerged, if only for a little. This was the part of him that truly cared for the Guild and those in it- the side that would do anything to keep the Guild safe and destroy any enemies that may come after it, even if he was an insufferable, annoying bastard at times- and no matter what he personally felt about the members.

But she was shocked too- because for the second time... It sounded like he cared, in his own way...

_Stop that!_

"... I don't disagree with you." She said at length, looking away a little, trying very hard to keep her sudden flustered emotions in check. "... But I think that's a lot easier said than done... As it stands, I have no idea what it is, why it wants me or these Ancient Powers at all... And I certainly have no way of fixing it... Or defeating it..." She let her voice fall away, and sweatdropped a little.

There was that thought popping into her head again...

_I can't beat it..._

"We'll figure it out." Her eyes snapped up at the surety in his voice, his eyes locked with hers- calm and firm.

_How can he... How can everybody be so optimistic about this anyway...?_

Everyone she had talked to about all of this... They all seemed to sure it would be ok, they sounded so sure that the Guild would find a way out of this issue- that everything was gonna be ok. They were optimistic, utterly optimistic...

She wished she shared the optimism, in all reality... But she understood the situation on a deeper level than they did, she was sure.

None the less... It lightened her mood, even if only a little- to see everyone have so much faith in a good outcome.

"Whatever we face, whatever comes- we always get through it. This isn't anything different. We're gonna crush this Thing, we'll win." He told her firmly and she blinked, "You keep forgetting that, _idiot._ " She felt a flare of indignation rise inside of her at the name, and frowned a little.

_And there's the Laxus I'm used to..._

"You forget one very important thing." She mumbled, "This Thing- it can control people. It doesn't matter who it is, how powerful, how many- it has full control. I can't keep it at from taking me over, nobody can." He crossed his arms over his chest and she shook her head, her eyes closing, letting out a sigh. "That's what I meant when I said I did it to myself." She muttered, finally drawing the conversation back to the actual topic. "It tried... It tried taking control of me again, during the battle- it was going to make me kill everybody, just out of spite." Laxus narrowed his eyes.

"I couldn't do that... So I did the only thing I could think of to throw it off- whenever it takes over, I can't feel anything... So I _felt_ something." She brushed her fingers against her side a little, her eyes still closed as she sweatdropped at the memory. "This had mostly closed... I reopened the wound to drive the Thing away- made myself feel the pain so I could retake control. That's what happened." She opened her eyes to glance away toward the floor.

Laxus just gazed at her steadily for a long while, hardly moving, completely silent. He understood, probably better than anyone- that Frea never wanted to hurt anyone she knew, not anyone she cared for, not anyone in the Guild... No one. That had been with her for as long as he had known her, and the promise not to harm anyone still stuck with her today- to the point she would do something insane or stupid to avoid it.

He couldn't imagine working himself up to rip his own fingers trough and already serious wound and reopen it... But he also couldn't imagine being forced to murder people he knew and cared for either.

But to stop herself, to resist being controlled like that? It was much more than feeling pain- Frea's promise to never hurt anyone had done more to help her resist control than even she realized, he was sure.

That wasn't what stuck out to him though. It was how... Well, for a word- hopeless- that she sounded just then, though she hid it well. She seemed like she had given up already... Like she really couldn't find a solution, and she didn't seem to think things would turn out alright.

That was a shock- Frea was one of the most optimistic people he had ever known, and to see her so hopeless and not so... Well, it was unnerving.

It was also a little annoying and frustrating to boot.

"How many times am I gonna have to get something through that thick head of yours, woman?" He muttered with a sigh, she glanced up to him with narrowed eyes.

"Excuse me?" She growled lowly, quite unhappy with the rudeness of the comment.

"Whatever the hell is going through your head about all this- whether it is that's making you doubt how things are gonna end with all of this- forget about it." He said firmly, catching her completely off guard. "You may not be able to stop what's happening, but you sure as hell can quit being so damn negative about it. You've always had this thing for leaving the Guild out because you don't wanna risk anybody else- and you're doing it now, you're not willing to accept the fact that's everybody here is going to stand next to you and face this head on with you. You're gonna have to learn that you can't keep everyone from getting hurt all the time, and you sure as hell can't shoulder everything your damn self- that will get you killed- and nobody in the Guild is going to the let you go off alone." He gave her a firm look and she simply looked back, "We will figure out how to kick this Things ass, you're just not willing to really look at every option- because you don't want the options that put somebody other than yourself in the line of fire. You're out of luck in that- so deal with it."

Frea sweatdropped slightly, blinking once. He was so serious about all he was saying... It was odd to see him so hard set on anything of this nature, and it caught her off guard.

"You can't be the only one who gets put in the line of fire- and you won't be. You just need to get that through your thick damn head, and start looking for ways to beat this Thing with the Guild at your side- that's the only way we're gonna win." He told her lowly, his arms crossing over his chest and eyes hard.

They held eachother's gazes for a very long time as he finished, Frea didn't say anything in return and he didn't add anything else. He didn't need to- everything he said was what he could see... And it was all very true.

She didn't like letting others out themselves in harms way for her- and she wasn't going to let anybody do so with this. She already knew that much- she was going to heal one in this fight, and no amount of reassurance from anyone in the guild or actions that any key else could take would change the fact- she is alone, and the only one meant to fight this Thing.

_Jynx said as much... I realize that much... Nobody else else gets it._

She couldn't expect them to though, the Guild had a long standing motto of fighting for and with one another in everything- they protected eachother. If one member is attacked, everybody in the Guild is wounded as a whole- no matter what.

She understood that, respected that- but she usually only followed it halfway. She'd willingly leap into the fray if one of her Guild-Mates was hurt- but she was reluctant to let anybody else do the same for her.

But against this, against something so big, and so dangerous- she was alone in it, she knew it, and she was going to keep it that way.

Even with everyone in the Guild... There is no way to beat this Thing...

. _.. So why let everyone get hurt?_

But how was she supposed to explain it to anybody else? She couldn't... That's why she'd agreed with Chase and Moon before on this same subject- why she didn't argue with everyone at the table.

She was alone, no matter what anyone did- and without a way to win.

Its not a wonder she was negative about it.

"... I understand that, Laxus." She sighed slowly, her voice low as she let her eyes close. "I know what the Guild will do, I know everyone will fight with me... And I realize I am being a bit of a... Downer." She shook her head a little, "... I'm trying to be optimistic, it's just hard- even if I know I'm going to have back up. I don't know how to win, or where to start in trying to find a way. Nobody does." She opened her eyes to look at him, in his neutral gaze. "... But, I hear you. I really do." She managed a small, weary smile. "It'd be hard not to hear you- this is one of the few times you've managed to say something relatively smart."

He scowled at that, unhappy with the comment- but easily able to see that it was an attempt to bring them away from the topic, and a way for Frea to avoid actually admitting to what he said at all.

He looked her over, this time a bit more slowly... And realized how utterly exhausted, tired and strained she looked. She didn't seem to have hardly any energy left, like she was drained of Magic and vigor entirely- strained and stressed under the weight of everything going on- and for the first time, things were really hitting her hard.

This time was different, everything she'd been through- she always stood strong against it, never wavered or faltered... And now she's cracking under the pressure for the first time... Well, ever. From what he had seen.

It made him believe things were a lot worse than what they seemed- and convinced him Frea knew more than she let on.

"Humph... Shut it, woman." He growled lowly and she smiled slightly.

"But its true." She chuckled, "Why can't you act this smart all the time?"

"Why do you have to act like an idiot all the time?" He countered and she let out a small, half-hearted huff at that.

"Harsh." She mumbled, "I'm not an idiot all the time, just sometimes..." He blinked in shock at the lack of... Well, argument. She didn't even snap at him, in fact... She agreed, even if only slightly!

Frea rest her chin in her hand as she propped her elbow up on her knee, head tilted to the side and eyes closed. She moved to lean back against the metal footboard at the end of the bed with her back.

"... At any rate, Master'll be happy you're up- and that goes for Freed, Bickslow and Evergreen too- of course, when they get back." She said softly, "I think I'm supposed to warn you against using Magic though- Porlyusic's orders." She said with a small smirk and he frowned slightly. "And I think its best you know- Jynx and I are having a bit of a... Go, we're not on the best terms right now- because she's not going to answer questions and explain what's happening, even though she knows more than she's let on." He blinked in shock at this, "Master and I think she'll keep helping when she can, in her own way- but we're not really inclined to trust her at the moment."

"How do you know she's hiding things?"

"She admitted it." She answered simply, her tone suggesting she'd like to drop the subject. "But besides all that... There really isn't anything else you should know. I think that covers it." He glanced away and let his eyes close as they fell into silence, trying to let the things exchanged sink in.

"... You wouldn't have happened to have ever heard of something called 'Mordrenetheto', would you?" Her sudden question earned his eyes as his head snapped toward her, only to see she wasn't looking at him and her eyes were still closed.

He blinked, narrowing his eyes a little- recognizing the strange accent. "Is that something in the Dragon Language?" He asked and she nodded,

"Yeah... I just have no clue what it means." She admitted, he blinked once, wondering why it was brought up at all...?

"No, never heard it before." He answered and she nodded her head slightly, it didn't surprise her se just figured she'd ask anyway- on the off chance he might.

"Figures..." She sighed,

"Why do you wanna know?"

"I found it in a book I was looking through, I was curious..."

"That old book you're always carrying around?" He asked, noticing her bag next to the chair she had been in before- and having often times seen it in her possession.

"That's the one." She said with a small sigh. "... Fucking nuisance since I just can't read it..."

"And why is that?"

"It's entirely in the Dragon Language..." She muttered lowly, shaking her head a little. "... I know more than most people... But I am still having a very hard time piecing any of it together..." She trailed off completely and he looked away, his eyes landing on her bag near the chair she had been in, eyes narrowed.

He'd never thought to pry into the strange book she always seemed to have with her- in all honesty he hadn't ever really cared. But to hear it was written in that ancient language that had been lost and rare up until recently? That caught his interest.

"What do you think you're going to find in it?" He asked after a while, looking back to her to see she wasn't even listening to him, her body had relaxed and her head tilted a little to the left... He blinked in surprise, as he heard her breathing suddenly deeper than it had been.

_She... fell asleep...?_

She moved back into wakefulness at the sound of his voice with a slight jump of surprise, and blinked her eyes open a few times to try and rid the grogginess from her mind, letting out a slightly unhappy sigh and pinching the bridge of her nose. "... Sorry... I didn't mean to doze off..." She mumbled,

He let out a small sigh and shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back against the headboard. "How long has it been since you got any sleep?" He grumbled and she rubbed the back of her neck with a hand, sweatdropping slightly as she smiled a little flusterdly.

"...mmmm... I think its been a little over 48 hours at this point..." She replied lowly, his eyes widened a bit.

"You're kidding." He said and she shook her head, "What the hell, woman? Then why are you still here? You should have gone home." He told her, his voice a borderline growl. How stupid was that? He realized she must have been fighting pretty hard, running around worrying about everything happening- and all on no sleep.

 _That's why she looks so exhausted.._. He let out a slightly annoyed huff.

"... I don't try and stay up this long for the fun of it." She replied slowly, "... Fact is, I just couldn't sleep after everything that happened... Besides," she waved a hand at him and the room with a small sigh, "Someone had to keep an eye on you- and seeing as how everyone else needed rest- who better than me?" She shook her head a bit, "Freed, Evergreen and Bixlow weren't going to leave if there wasn't somebody here, I think they needed sleep more than I did." She glanced up to him,

"And I don't mind sitting here with you anyway."

He looked away from her, and couldn't help the small, very faint blush from dusting his cheeks in the next instant. He wasn't ever sure why that happened, why he felt suddenly flustered by that one sentence... He wondered if she realized what it was she just said.

She _shouldn't_ enjoy sitting here, running in no sleep- in the same room as he was, the one person she despised more than half the time. She should hate it- and yet she didn't mind it at all, and she meant it when she said that.

So why does that make him feel so unbearably nervous? He didn't get it damn it..!

"I wasn't worried you wouldn't be alright." She said suddenly, catching him off guard as he glanced back to see her smiling slightly with her eyes closed and hands clasped together in her lap. "So I wouldn't be sitting her brooding about it, I knew that when I agreed to stay. I trusted Jynx when she said she'd help Implant the Lacrima back in you, I knew she was telling the truth when she said you'd be alright... I could tell for myself, just after it was done. I knew you'd be fine, even after all of it- you always are, you're resilient if nothing else..." She chuckled a little under her breath, her eyes opening slightly to look down at her hands.

_Even if I knew he'd be fine... Even when Jynx said so, when Porlyusica said it... When I felt his Energy Signature grow stronger, to back to normal... I knew he'd be alright and still I... I had to...  
_

She wasn't used to feeling like this, not this sort of emotion- this was something foreign to her and she didn't understand it nearly at all.

"... You know, Laxus... I know I said I hate you, hundreds of times when we were younger... We were always fighting and we were awful to one another... And I thought I really did hate you. I held on to that, we kept believing that for such a long time... We were both a pair of jack-asses and I don't think we knew why were that way." She said softly, "I asked Gildarts to let you back in the Guild, I stepped in when Rified was about to kill you- when Hades was going to hit you with another Explosion Bullet, I fought with Ivan, and I'm willing to sit here with you all because of one thing- that despite everything..."

"I don't hate you. I can't, because even though you really piss me off, and you can be one hell of an ass... You are still a Part of my Family, and I'd do anything to help and protect anyone in the Guild. That includes everybody... Natsu, Gray, Gajeel, Erza, Freed, Bixlow, Evergreen, Aisha... Everyone, and it includes you. So don't be surprised I'm here, or that I'd fight to help you stay alive. That's what Family is for."

She glanced up at him, her lips pulling into a soft smile, as she faced him and the utterly shocked look on his face- and the blush that had deepened too as he sweatdropped a little.

This was the first time she'd ever let herself show any sort of deeper feeling- she was always reserved and refrained from letting others get to the core of what she felt- part of that was because she was bad with emotions.

For wherever reason, maybe it was the lack of sleep making her mind a bit fuzzy, or maybe she just felt like saying it. Any other time, she'd probably never say anything like this aloud- and certainly not to him, but it was sort of like being caught up in some strange, unfamiliar sort of moment, she wasn't going to keep herself from saying this at least... And she was saying this now and didn't try to stop herself even though she knew she was blushing too- though not nearly as much as he was.

She smiled a little more and tilted her head to the side, her hands still clasped in her lap and the moonlight from outside casting down on the both of them- her hair shinning in the cool light and nearly every shred of exhaustion hanging off of her seemed to fade before his very eyes, instead she seemed like a beacon of calm, peaceful bliss- the light dust of a blush that appeared in her cheeks did nothing but make her seem... More like a side of herself he had never seen before.

"And I'm glad you're ok."

* * *

 

_Was this happening? Or was he asleep?_

His jaw dropped a little as he stiffened, eyes remained transfixed in her smiling face as the moonlight shimmered off her hair softly.

This wasn't anything like the Frea he knew... Not the bull-headed, short-tempered, fiery woman who could easily kick his ass through a few walls if she wanted. The woman who was always picking fights with the guys in the Hall- the one who jumped in head first, the dangerous, extremely powerful Mage he had come to know.

It was true same Frea who called him names and snapped his head off- the one who never, ever... Said anything as remotely nice nor sincerely genuine to him- as those words were just now.

She meant it when she said she was happy he was fine, and that didn't make any sense to him- she'd never been concerned with his safety, and to hear her say that- and everything before it? About not hating him, that he as her Family and she'd protect him not matter what...?!

He didn't understand why this side of her suddenly showed up now- this side of her he had never seen before... A side that was kind and gentle toward him, something she had seldom ever been.

_Where was this side of Frea hiding all this time...? That I've never seen it...?_

Worst of all- he hadn't any idea how to respond to that. He hated how his body reacted on its own- the lurch of his heart, the heat in his face. This had happened few times before- and everytime it did he didn't know why it happened at all.

_It was always with Frea too... How does she do that?! What the hell?!_

And the way she smiled at him that way- so gentle and happy... The way the moonlight was coming in, her posture, all of it... His blush got worse and he fought to get rid of it, cursing himself in his mind.

_God damn it!_

"... You're definitely running on nothing... You're so tired you're talking nonesense..." He grumbled, forcing his blush away as hers remained a moment longer, and she smiled again.

"... Maybe a little." She agreed, she was handling it a lot better than he was... Though that's as because he was right- she was too tired to get worked up over it like he was.

"That's what I thought. Go to sleep before you spout something you'll regret." He muttered firmly, his blush going away. She nodded a bit, gesturing her hand toward him with a smile as he paused, before rolling his eyes and sweatdropping a little.

He gave her one of the two pillows behind his back and tossed it to her, moving over a bit to let her have one end of the bed- he the other. He felt heat rise in his cheeks at the thought of sleeping in the same bed with her but that went away quickly as she adjusted and crossed her arms over her chest- her eyes closing.

He figured she wasn't going to leave- she'd probably promised his team she'd stick around and she wouldn't go back on that promise... Even though it made him a little nervous that she'd be in the same bed as him- and it would have made her flustered too had she not been as exhausted as she was- she probably didn't have the energy to get up anyway- he could tell she was having a hard time staying awake, she'd dozed off once already.

He leaned back again and crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes fixed to her as she leaned back to and propped one knew up halfway, her hands resting on her stomach and eyes closing.

"... Sorry about the rambling... My head really isn't that clear at the moment..." She mumbled lowly, eyes falling closed.

"Clearly." He muttered, "Tch... Might as well drop it and go to sleep, it's not worth the trouble of worrying over. It's fine." He grumbled and she smiled a bit.

"... Well... Alright... then..." She sighed, he glanced to her, eyes narrowed as he listened for her breathing to deepen and for her to finally relax all the way and fall asleep.

He let out a small sigh after awhile, crushing the surge if unwanted and unfamiliar emotions that had stuffed up suddenly- he didn't want to feel that, he didn't even understand if and he wasn't going to think too much into it... Or what she said... At least not entirely.

He and Frea were very alike when it came to dealing with emotions unfamiliar with them... And they were very had at handling change. This change... The change between the both of them- from fighting all the time, getting on one another's nerves constantly... To being hair to have a decent conversation, to fighting together, the lessening of tension between them... Neither one of them knew how to handle that, or even hardly how to come to terms with anything new that popped up.

_What the hell is going on anyway? Why are we suddenly able to stand one another all the sudden anyway? I don't get it..._

He frowned a little when he thought back to his actions earlier- when he grabbed her waist and held her face... the sudden surge of anger that had flared inside of him at the thought that Ivan had hurt her in anyway. He wasn't entirely sure why it made him that angry... he knew a part of it was he hated people getting hurt on his account... but for some reason- thinking Frea got hurt helping him? It was different... and he had been so angry and concerned with it he hadn't even thought twice about his actions, about holding her waist or giving into physical contact they would never, ever do under any situation... even sleeping in the same bed.

Though it made him nervous, he didn't mind- and she clearly didn't either. Give or take 15 years or so ago... they wouldn't be caught dead in the same room together, ever.

_I really don't get it... none of this.. I don't get her... or myself, for that matter..._

He let himself relax as he let his head fall back and his eyes close, his arms still crossed over his chest. His body still ached and exhaustion clung to him, but he wouldn't be going to sleep for awhile- and instead opted to simply listening to Frea's soft, deep breathing as she slept at the other end of the bed. he let out a small sigh and let his eyes fall closed, the thoughts and information swirling in his mind to no end... but one thing stuck out among the rest, and he couldn't ignore it.

"I don't hate you either... Frea..."


	46. Where We Are Now

**Chapter 46**

**Where We Are Now**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

"You alright?"

Chase's eyes moved over toward the voice from where he was, leaning against the bar counter, his eyes closed and mind wandering... Wandering about the events passed, the danger seen... On what was coming.

He had noticed it, though never put much thought into it- that there was a sort of tension in the air nowadays. As if things all around them were beginning to change... The Energy around him was moving more than usual, the Land was starting to feel different under his feet- the air was growing heavier, thicker...

_Is this what it feels like- just before the storm? Before everything begins to go down hill... And the true danger comes?_

A part of him wondered if Frea felt it... He knew she did. If he could, she'd probably have been feeling it long before he took notice- she was more sensitive to everything than he was after all.

His attention turned toward the one who had asked the question- his eyes immediately landing on Aisha who had made her way toward him- upon seeing him alone at the bar in Guild as it began to wind down. Frea had disappeared not long after the small conversation at the table, with Cana, Natsu, Gray, Gajeel... And everyone else who had been listening in. His attention was faintly fixed on his Old Mentor's Energy Signature moving about- but he knew better than to hover, despite his concern- Frea hated being hovered over under any circumstance... And a part of him figured she was going to convince the Thunder God Tribe to leave- they had been in the Guild all day, and through last night.

He let out a small sigh as his blue eyes met her purple gaze and he nodded a bit, "Yeah... I'm alright. Just thinking." Aisha gave him a neutral stare before sitting down on the stool beside him,

"Brooding." She corrected, earning a blink from him. "Its easy to tell when you're bothered about something... And when you're stressed. The things going on with the Screw-up are worrying you." She told him coolly, he glanced away with a small sigh and sweatdropped slightly.

It was a little uncanny how sensitive and perceptive Aisha was... He figured she could rival an Energy Mage at times.

"Fine, _brooding_ \- but just a little." He replied lowly and she smirked slightly. "Of course I'm worried about it... You have no idea just how insanely powerful that Thing was... Or how close we came to getting killed against it." A shiver ran down his spine as he sweatdropped at the memory,

It was _choking._.. He'd never felt anything so powerful before, it was power that felt like it could consume him entirely, destroy him with one blow... Enough power to fit inside of three entire planets over- probably more.

He let out a sigh and let his eyes close, leaning forward as he rest his elbows on his knees and folded his hands together, resting his chin against them.

"It took us down in seconds..." He mumbled, sweatdropping a little more. "We couldn't even move or block against it... It was like we were swallowed whole, with nowhere to go... Everything was pitch black... I've never felt something so powerful... So... _Evil..."_

Aisha's eyes widened a little as he trailed off, having seen the small shudder that ran though his body and she could hear the sudden worry creep into his voice- even slight hints of fear. His entire body tensed and she could suddenly imagine the wounds he had received- of which were still not healed, she could tell though he came across as being fine.

She glanced away, letting her eyes close as they fell into silence a moment.

She'd never mentioned it out loud... But she did remember a little after Frea opened the Tomb in Nvindorr. It wasn't much... Nothing more than patchy clusters of memory- but that was all there needed to be.

She'd never felt my thing so powerful. It was choking, suffocating... To be even near that power that had been sealed away in Nvindorr. It was as if her entire body had been completely consumed in its strength, she felt numb, helpless...

If this Thing going after the Energy Dragon Slayer was even half as powerful as the Magic that had nearly been released that day... She _could_ imagine it.

Her eyes moved sideways toward the hall that lead past the bar- eyes narrowed.

She wondered back to that sense of feeling she had felt earlier... When Frea had accepted the help of the Guild in the oncoming Danger.

Energy Mages were sensitive to changes in everything... The air, the earth, Magic... And yet an Energy Dragon Slayer?

Try sensitive times 50. Probably more...

There was no doubt in her mind- seeing as how Chase was acting now, how stressed he was about it all- how worried... If Chase understood the full scope and danger of what was coming, the unbearable power... Frea understood it better than anyone, and she had started realizing things about it to.

Chase was running along on a thin string with it... For the Screw-Up, that string had snapped.

_"Thanks, I know I can count on you all." She smirked,_

_She watched Frea closely, her smile, that smirk, the tone of her voice... The way she seemed to agree with everyone so quickly... It was almost... Unnatural. And she wasn't sure she believed it herself..._

_Frea seemed to agree and appreciate the pledged help from everyone else, accepting their help in the upcoming danger... But for whatever reason, Aisha couldn't shake the feeling that her words and that smile she wore were empty and hollow._

_As if Frea didn't seem to she could really count on the Guild itself... And it wasn't because she doubted their strength or their loyalty_ , _no..._

_Its as if she... She's already made up her mind, about who is going to end up fighting in the end..._

_Aisha's eyes widened slightly as the thought hit her and she understood why she didn't believe what Frea said. What it was the Energy Dragon Slayer thought on the matter, but didn't say aloud._

_She truly believes she'll be alone in this fight..._

Aisha glanced back toward Chase and away from the back of the Guild- everybody assumed Frea was willing to work with the Guild... Accept their help, and yet- _she wasn't._

For whatever reason the Screw-Up somehow knew that when everything came to a head- she was going to be alone. She'd fight alone, and nothing was going to change that.

It was just a wonder how everyone else could be fooled by the fake, forced smile and thanks for help. To her it was easy to see... Yet Frea fooled everybody else.

_They trust her a little too much... They can't see it when she's lying..._

That had been made true before, as it happened- she had heard of the time Frea had kept her 'dying' a second time a secret all those years ago. No one noticed, no one questioned... And then the lie would have followed her into death.

She didn't care about Frea, if she wanted to lie- to keep herself from speaking what was really on her mind- then fine.

But it pissed her off to know Chase was being lied to.

In the end, whatever may happen... Her lie would come to be known, and if things were going the way Aisha felt they were- Chase was going to get hurt. It made a flame burn inside of her to think that one lie on the Screw-Up's part could and would cause him any pain.

It was uncanny and unprecedented... But of the two people in the world she cared for, at any level- he was one of them and that had surprised her. Considering his relationship with the one person she could not stand- it made no sense that she would care for him as much as she does- and yet she did.

They're time working together on the jobs that the Old Man sent them on, the time spent training together in their free-time, it had all given them time to get to know one another better and lessen any tension there may have been.

He was easy to get along with, he was mellow and calm and she liked that about him. He was also loyal and gentle by nature, two things else she admired- though she would never say it out loud.

After so long of being on her own, to meet him and become friends- that had been a nice change.

She'd do nearly anything to help protect him, and that burned brighter when she thought about what was coming- her heart ached a little to see him so worried and strained right now.

With a small sigh, she nudged him a little and his eyes moved up toward her and the neutral expression she wore.

"Come on." She murmured, getting to her feet and motioning for him to do the same. He blinked once, looking a little confused. She sighed again, "No use brooding about something you can't change, keep doing it and you're going to make yourself sick." She told him softly yet firmly. "Let's take a walk."

He hesitated a moment, as if he wasn't sure he wanted to... Before he sighed himself and got to his feet, rolling his shoulders a little so they cracked.

"You probably wouldn't let me out of it even if I tried to say no." He murmured,

"Damn right." She replied and he smiled a little.

"Figured." He chuckled, shooting her a small smile before beginning to walk toward the front doors of the Guild, Aisha at his shoulder. While he didn't say it, the prospect of a walk- time away from the Guild and a chance to clear his head and unwind actually sounded perfect at this moment, and he was grateful she had suggested it.

_It really is uncanny... How well she is able to tell my mood... And know what to do about it..._

He smiled a little bit more as they headed out the front doors as into the cool night air without a word. He glanced sideways to see her silver hair shine and glisten in the light of the moon outside, bringing a glowing sense to her person that made her seem nearly ethereal... And more beautiful in a way.

_We became so close in such a short amount of time, we partner up on jobs often, we work well together too..._

They walked through the darkened streets slowly, enjoying the fresh air as he glanced to Aisha.

_We just sort of clicked, even despite what happened with the Balance Shift and what not._

Master Makarov had given them both the assignment of looking into the prison break-outs of Oracion Seis and Ivan alike- as well as looking in on the criminals as much as they could to try and figure out what they were up to. The information they managed to collect was invaluable- and though in the case of Oracion Seis they had failed to warn the Guild before the Infinity clock fiasco... They had been keeping close eye on Ivan, until he disappeared from the grid entirely.

Though in terms of warning they had somewhat failed... The information they managed was much more than anyone else could have. And even the Magic Council itself.

With Aisha's past as an Independent Mage and an Information Broker- she had dozens upon dozens of contacts both above and below the law, many people keeping tabs on others, on illegal activity, Dark Mages and Guilds... There were lines stretching from Aisha all over Fiore.

If she wanted to know something, she found out about it. She had a knack for it, it was amazing really- and she was a Powerful Mage to add.

The retrieval of such information wasn't instantaneous though, a lot of it required legwork and traveling to different locations to meet up with different contacts. They had done so together, always in eachothers company... And though Aisha was rough and bad-tempered on the outside (and most of the time with other people) he had come to see a different side of her he was certain nobody had ever witnessed- not even her sister.

It was no hard thing to guess that Aisha had suffered in her life- not just with the destruction of her homes or being separated from her sister... There was something else that had happened, probably not long after that- that years of working alone, in the shadows, and among the most infected sections of the world- had turned her into who she was. Cold, distant, wary... She didn't trust people, she didn't interact with them.

A part of him felt she didn't really know how to, she had been neglected that... And it would take a long time to get over. He was hoping to make it easier, and he felt he was making progress- he had broken the wall Aisha built up around her for the most part, and he saw smidgen a of the person underneath it all.

Aisha was a kind person, though she didn't let others know. She was kind, loyal, and funny if she let herself go a little... And she cared, in her own, odd detached way. She rather lacked people skills- that had been immediately clear.

She was also haunted, shadows of her past would sometimes make their way to the surface, pain and sadness glistened in her eyes and sparked off of her as she left herself open and started thinking about everything that had happened to her again. Honestly, he hated seeing her like that.

She hid all her pain, sadness, and her true self behind that wall- she kept herself distant and channeled it into anger and cold rage. She came off as being someone no one wanted to talk to, or even liked- all in effort to keep herself from getting hurt again.

* * *

 

_"What is up with you?"_

_Chase's eyes moved from the band of hunched men in the corner of the bar to the neutral stare of the silver-haired Cosmic Soul sitting across from him. He tilted his head slightly, blinking at the question._

_"Hmm?"_

_"I don't understand you." She muttered lowly, expression pulling into a slight frown. She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms about her chest, leaving her drink untouched on the table. The tavern was dimly lit and smelled of liqueur about them- of all the old, hunched, and tightly wrapped persons in the space about them- he and Aisha stuck out a little, though they did nothing to draw attention to themselves._

_To blend in the both of them sported dark colored cloaks that hung about their persons loosely, Aisha's was tied to hide the Fairy Tail Guild Mark on her chest, while he had switched his regular attire for a long sleeves shirt- also to hide the Guild Mark on his shoulder._

_"Why are you here? Why are you so nonchalant about all of this? So damned relaxed... Grrr... You're pissing me off." She snapped lowly, quietly, her anger and frustration bubbling quickly._

_"Master asked us both to do this mission." He reminded quietly, softly- seemingly unperturbed by her sudden anger._

_"What the hell does that matter?! So what if the Old Man told you- it doesn't mean you should be happy about working with me! You should be pissed, instead you're just- just sitting there!"_

_"And why should I be angry?" He asked evenly,_

_"You know damn well why!"_

_Chase let out a sigh, sweatdropping slightly as he leaned back in his chair. "I understand you and Teach aren't on good terms, but I don't hold that sort of feeling toward you, Aisha." He replied, she stiffened. "I have no reason to, even if you fought with Teach and hurt her- she hurt you too. That was your business, I don't hold a grudge- I never really have been one to do that." He shook his head a little. "You're not a bad person Aisha, underneath that angry and cold demeanor you put off you're just like anybody else. That's what I see- someone whose been hurt and suffered, but is still working hard to stay upright."_

_"You act angry because you don't want to face your deepest emotions, but they are there- the real you is there, I can sense it just under the surface." He smiled slightly, his eyes closing. "When Master asked me to come with you I readily agreed- I wasn't forced to come. I'm happy to work with you, it gives me time to start to get to know you better."_

_There was a long while of silence, for all of which he felt her emotions sparking continually between shock, frustration, anger, confusion and a slight sense of relief he thought. She hadn't any clue how to react to that- because as she said- she didn't get it._

_His willingness and want to get to know her wasn't something she was used to- she was used to staying clear of other people as being on we own. To actually have someone willing to get closer and to understand her wasn't something she had experienced since she was much, much younger- probably since she and her sister had been separated._

_Everything he said was the truth though, he really didn't mind being here with her or working with her. He held no grudge for what happened during the Balance Shift, things were crazy and that would warrant fighting and injuries any day. It wasn't Aisha's fault the Balance had shifted anyway- in that regard it was mostly Frea's fault._

_"... You... You're..." She muttered after awhile, her eyes resting on the table in front of her- glinting with several different emotions. He opened his eyes to glance up at her, a small smile still on his lips. "...Tch... Forget it." She muttered, grabbing her mug angrily and downing it in one go. She slammed it back on the table as her purple gaze locked to the bar-man._

_"Get me another one." She growled, Chase blinked once- before smiling and taking a small sip of his own._

_There was a small spark of happiness that bounced off of her, and he could see she relaxed- though she was stubborn about it. He chuckled slightly,_

_"This mission is going to be interesting..."_

* * *

 

After that- she had let herself go a little more, opened up enough to actually have a normal conversation with him- nothing too deep of personal, no- but it had been something.

It was more than he could have expected and as they spent more time together he had come to her as she really was- and that person was loyal and very likable in deed.

"Aisha." He murmured, her purple eyes moved toward him and she blinked in question.

"Yeah?"

"What would you say to becoming permanent Partners?" He asked, earning a look of shock from her. "We've been working jobs since you joined, and training with one another too- we work well together and get along, wouldn't it make sense to just call one another Partners from here on out?" He explained and she glanced away, her face hidden from his as she tilted it from him.

She tried her best to keep her emotions in check- knowing full well he could feel them of they got out of hand.

It was a bit of an unexpected question, and to be fairly honest... Up until this point she just assumed they were Partners anyway.

After everything they had been doing with one another she just figured they had already agreed to be Partners without needing to ask... _I suppose not._

"Won't the Screw-Up be pissed if you decide to partner up with me instead of her?" She asked, her voice low as she glanced at the ground.

"... You and Teach don't like one another, I get that. And that clashes with the my own feelings toward her and she toward me... But there is... Hmmm... Well I guess its an unspoken agreement between the both of us." He murmured, earning her eyes as she glanced up to see him glancing up at the sky, arms hooked behind his head.

"Teach and I will always get along, nothing is going to change that- we'll always be close, she is my old Mentor after all... And like an older sister to me. Both of us have at least one person that we care for, but the other can't stand..." Aisha's eyes narrowed a little,

He clearly meant Frea and her dislike for Aisha herself... And vise versa, but who was it the Screw-Up cared for that Chase couldn't stand?

Her eyes widened a little when it clicked in her head who it was, and then she realized what had been said.

_"Both of us have at least one person that we care for."_

_Did that mean...?_

"I care about Teach, but I care about you too. She knows that- she knows better than to try and fight my decisions, and I know better than to fight with hers." He murmured softly, "That's what we've agreed on without really agreeing to it... Even if we don't like the choices the other makes, we respect it, and don't interfere nor fight about it. We won't let it bother us or her in the way of the relationship we have- we leave each to their own. We both have the right to choose who and what we want to protect... And we both have the right to stick to it without worrying about what the other may do." He sighed slightly, before glancing toward her with a smile.

"She may not like you, or the fact that I'm choosing you as my Partner- but I know she won't argue or fight over it. I'm allowed to make my own decisions, and so is she." He smiled a little more as she simply settled him with a semi-neutral stare.

Chase and Frea seemed to understand one another more than she assumed they did... Because this had never occurred to her. Frea was protective of the Guild, and more so of those she cared for the most- that included Chase.

At one point the idea that Frea didn't like the amount of time she spent with Chase had occurred to her- but that had only amused her, it had felt like she was spiting the Energy Dragon Slayer somehow.

But it had never occurred to her that Frea would try to stop it, and she never had- she'd never even argued with it... She just let it happen, she stayed away.

And that was because she and Chase had this unspoken agreement? To let the other choose as they wanted and not to interfere with the other's wishes? Even if they didn't agree?

That... Shocked her... And yet deep down, there was an unwanted sense of... Respect toward the Screw-Up she didn't want.

What caught her most, was hearing him say that he cared for her out loud- and though she didn't react much on the outside, her heart sped up and she could feel a wash of flustered emotions she wasn't used to start rising. This was the second time she had felt so... Nervous... And both times it had been around him.

"So? What do you say?" He asked, smiling softly and in a way that made her ask if he knew how nervous she was and if he was playing with her a little.

He was a very nice person, kind, laid back... But even he liked to tease.

She let out a huff and crossed her arms over her chest, turning away from a little- they had come to a pause in the center of Magnolia, shops lined them on all sides, closed up while a Tavern on one side of the square was still lit with light and music, the sound of laughter and mugs clinking together. In the very center stood a fountain, water springing up into the air and glistening in the moonlight softly.

An angry scowl appeared across her face as she turned away from him, eyes closed.

"You idiot." She muttered, catching him slightly off guard at the coldness that crept into her tone just then. "Why did you even have to ask?" She grumbled, before he smiled a bit and nodded to her.

"I suppose I didn't need to." He sighed lightly, "All the same- its good to hear it, out in the open..." He paused a little and moved to her shoulder, her eyes remained closed as he glanced to her- his eyes softening a little.

"... Partner."

* * *

 

_Laxus's eyes locked with hers, they were barely two inches apart, her nose barely touching his, just faintly grazing it. Her hair brushed against his softly as their foreheads nearly pressed against one another, as her arms moved up to hook behind his neck tightly._

_His fangs bit down on the end of the stick of surgery food, just as her own fangs bit down on the other end of the Pocky Stick, her eyes never leaving him, his never leaving hers._

_He could feel her breath on his face as she leaned in a bit more- biting off another inch of the food between them, bringing them closer._

_There was no precedence, she had walked in with the food in her mouth- without a thought he had pulled up in front of her, and she took over. Her arms pulled him closer and his lips twitched in a small, unnoticeable smirk, before he bit down on the food himself._

_He felt his heart beat faster, his body heat up, a tingle run through him as they stood together, locked onto one another. He didn't pull away, as he would have done normally... He was content with this, intrigued almost- but he wouldn't smirk to let her know he liked what was happening, he'd never admit that- and he didn't understand it._

_He'd never felt white this way... Not this strong a feeling... Where it would have normally earned a fosters and nervous response from himself, and from her too- they wouldn't never stay this close to one and her like this, they'd never be sharing the food in such a way... She'd never have let him, and he would never have tried._

_And yet they were here, this was happening- and he didn't turn away from the sudden flux of emotion dancing up inside of him so suddenly. His body tingled where she held him, his heart beat furiously, everything was moving by in slowness... They never looked away from one another. They just gazed into one another's eyes in complete, locked silence- she didn't give any hint to what she was feeling, apart from the blush dusting her face that he knew was across his own. This sort of feeling had never happened with any other woman before, not one he was with... with her it was somehow different...  
_

_Her face moved closer as she bit down on the food some more, shortening the small distant between them significantly as she slowly leaned in more and more- her lips drawing closer to his with every second, and still she did not look away. His hands moved up to hold her was it as he pulled her body in a little closer, drinking in her scent- so light and sweet all at once, the smell of mountains and air mixed with a sweet tinge all at once that made his heart ache just a little. He'd never smelled anything quite so good..._

_He allowed a small smirk to grow on his lips as the Pocky Stick grew so short their lips were about to brush, barely a hairs width between them-_

**_SMACK_ **

* * *

 

Laxus jerked awake as something slammed into his face unexpectedly, sitting up in an instant and heart leaping at the sudden jerk from the dream.

The pillow that had been thrown into his face fell into his lap and he blinked several times, having a very hard time coming to terms with what was going on- and where he was.

His face felt like it was on fire and his heart was pounding, one would have thought he had been pulled from a nightmare- but that wasn't quite it.

Sunlight was pouring in through the window, illuminating the Fairy Tail Infirmary and making the bright white sheets seem all the brighter. He quickly remembered being in the room- and realized he had hadn't been alone either, and the thought of who had been in the room with his sent an unwanted flash of nervousness through him as few remnants of the dream clung to his mind, why he felt so damn flustered.

_What the hell was that?! That dream?! The fuck?!_

He couldn't imagine having any sort of dream like that, ever- and certainly not about _her!_

_What the hell?! What is wrong with me?! Why do I feel so damn nervous?!_

"Have a bad dream?" His eyes shot toward the voice, his eyes meeting Frea's silver ones as she stood not far from the bed, arms raised above her head in a stretch. She tilted her head a little, quirking an eyebrow. "Or was it a good one?" She asked and he felt his heart jump and felt his already hot face burn brighter, he had to look away and try his best to keep himself in check.

The comment did nothing to help damn it... His thoughts swam with the memory of the dream... How close they were... The stick of food bit down between them... How close their lips...

He felt like steam was coming off of him in waves and bit down on the inside of his cheek, trying to crush the unwanted emotion, the flustered sensation.

The memory of that scent... So light and sweet... Something, unlike most of the dream- _that_ was actually _real._ He still smelled it, the room was filled with it, all because she was here.

He'd never given much thought into it... But Frea's scent... It was pleasant...

_Quit it damn it!_

"Tch... What's it matter?" He managed in a small, throaty growl, his face turned away from her in indignation. Frea blinked at him, head tilting slightly and quite unsure why it was he was acting this way... The nervous and flustered emotions dancing off of him was a little confusing, that's what caught her attention first- and them she noticed how stiff and red his face was.

"... Well... Either way, I figured it'd be best if I woke you up. Bad or good dream aside." She mumbled, shaking her head- not looking to question him at the moment. He huffed in reply and turned a half glare on her,

"You threw the damn pillow at my face." He muttered and she smirked, looking away.

"There is nothing telling me how nice I should be about waking you up." She replied easily, "Besides, it was the perfect opportunity- can't blame me for taking it." She smirked and he huffed a little hotly, his complexion slowly becoming less red as he calmed down a bit.

Her head tilted toward the door a little as her attention moved away from him for a moment.

Laxus took in a silent sigh and banished the very odd and somewhat unwanted dream from his mind as best he could- before noticing her attention wasn't on him anymore and blinking. He adjusted and pulled his knee up toward him, tossing the pillow she had thrown at him to the bottom of the bed and running a hand trough his hair- faintly recalling the fact that they had slept in the same bed together...

_Maybe that's... A reason that dream..._

He grumbled to himself and shook his head, "How long have you been up?" He asked,

"Not long." She answered, her eyes still fixed to the door a moment. "The Guilds just getting started, people are starting to file in- slowly." She smiled slightly, before glancing back toward him, then letting out a sigh and rubbing the back of her neck slowly. "... Maybe I should go home..."

"You think?" He replied lowly, "You're gonna end up making yourself sick if you keep hanging around the Guild, especially without getting sleep." He muttered, she blinked and opened her mouth to reply but he cut her off. "I don't care if you managed sleep last night, you still look like shit- go home." He told her firmly, "You're gonna be no good going against anything let alone this Thing coming for you if you run yourself into the damn ground."

She blinked in slight surprise, her was tilting slightly at the sudden... Conviction in his voice.

"I'm sorry, was that concern?" She asked softly, before she could stop herself. He gave her a huff and a glare, as if the question pissed him off.

"Call it what you like- I am right. If you don't start taking care of yourself, instead of worrying over other people- you're gonna crash. You need to be at full capacity to go head to head with this Thing coming after you, and whoever the hell knows what else." He grumbled lowly, "No use wearing yourself out for no reason."

Frea glanced away from him, her eyes closing as she let them fall into silence a moment or two.

He did make sense, of course- he was right. She wouldn't be any good to anyone if she wasn't up to full capacity, and she sure as hell wouldn't be much a fight for this Thing when it came if she was like she was now... Tired, exhausted, strained.

 _Wounded too..._ She thought, her mind flashing to the night prior when Laxus had placed his hands...

Her face felt a little hot and she stopped thinking about that.

In any sense, what he was saying was practical... But she figured he was scolding her for something a little more than practicality... And her cheeks heated up a little more.

Her few hours of sleep she had managed had been rather pleasant, she felt better than she had but she was still running on fumes, she probably couldn't keep herself up and moving for very long before needing to sleep again.

She let out a sigh and nodded once, her eyes opening as she glanced toward him slowly.

"You're right... I suppose..." She mumbled,

"Of course I am."

"... But I wasn't wearing myself out for no reason." She told him quietly, moving away toward the door. He blinked in slight confusion and she smiled slightly.

No... She hadn't been able to sleep, she'd been too wound up to do so. And then there was Freed, Bickslow and Evergreen... She hadn't wanted them to make themselves sick sitting here too long, either... But even then, there was another reason she had stayed.

She realized it last night... Last night, thinking on it now, she said a lot of things she would normally never dream of saying at all...

_Even if I knew he'd be fine... Even when Jynx said so, when Porlyusica said it... When I felt his Energy Signature grow stronger, to back to normal... I knew he'd be alright and still I..._

_I stayed, because I was waiting to see he was alright..._

She looked away from him and sighed slightly, _there was a lo_ t _I said... I wonder how much thought he'll think into it? I hope he doesn't... I wouldn't ever mean to say so much... And yet I just did._

_Kinda like I needed to say all of it... Hmm._

Laxus' eyes remained fixed to her as she stood in front of the door- his own mind suddenly filled with the words that had passed between them the night prior.

_"I'm glad you're ok."_

His heart beat a little more at that memory, and he bit the inside of his cheek again in slight frustration.

Something had happened last night, something had changed... They had always been so tense around one another, and yet last night there hadn't been any tenseness at all... In fact they had both been acting a little odd around one another, for nearly no apparent reason.

_What is going on with us? I don't get it..._

_What changed?_

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" He grumbled,

She shook her head at his question and smiled, "Doesn't matter." She replied easily, her hand resting on the door handle. She smirked at him, her eyes suddenly glinting as she looked to him. "Try not to get tackled too hard."

He blinked, not sure what she meant-?

She opened the door and nearly immediately, the sound of running feet reached his ears and he sweatdropped.

Freed, Evergreen and Bickslow came sprinting inside- their faces lighting up with relief at seeing him awake and up, they came piling in and rushed toward him- tears in their eyes and grinning widely.

"Boss!"

"You're awake!"

He stiffened and recoiled, "Wait a minu-!"

They piled on top of him, knocking the air from him immediately and making a full ache spread through his body. Frea paused at the door, glancing back with a smile- before she walked out and put her hands in her pockets, letting out a small breath.

She made her way down the hallway and paused when she met Mira at the end of it, blinking a few times at the small smile that the white-haired Mage wore. It was one of those smiles that said Mira knew something, something a bit more than she was saying... She sweatdropped a little.

"Hey Mira, what's up?"

Mira smiled and rest her hand on her cheek, her head tilting a little as she gave her an amused smirk.

"You can keep denying how you feel Frea, but you'll have to come to terms with it sooner or later." She said sweetly and Frea blinked.

"... What...?"

"Its not very hard to see you care, even though you don't seem to know how to handle it." Mira told her with a small chuckle. "But I think you got a little closer to understanding last night, hmm?"

Frea stiffened a little, _could Mira...?_

She looked away with a small blush and huffed a little.

"So you saw us...?" She grumbled and Mira only laughed lightly.

"It was quite adorable." She grinned,

Frea felt her face grow a little more red, "I was just tired, there was nothing to it." She muttered,

"There's more than one bed in there, Frea." Mira told her softly and Frea closed her eyes.

"Tch... Shut it." She muttered and Mira chuckled. "Nothing happened, just drop it."

"Oh but something definitely did, whether or not you'd admit it." Mira smiled, "It may have been big or small, but something happened." Frea sighed and looked away,

"Its not what you're thinking." She muttered. "We just talked."

"Of course." Mira smiled, seemingly relenting though Frea knew she didn't agree. Mira always seems so interested in everything... _She's always been like that._

"Whatever." She muttered hotly, "Is Moon here?"

"No, I think she's still at Fairy Hills." Mira answered, Frea sighed and nodded.

"Alright... Then I'm heading home." She murmured, Mira stepped aside to let her pass.

"Sleep well, Frea."

* * *

 

Frea made her way through the hall of Fairy Hills at a rapid pace, sweatdropping slightly as her eyes remained fixed ahead- nose twitching a little.

_Why the hell does it smell like something's burning?_

She rounded the corner into the hallway her room was in and went directly toward her door, her bag in hand and eyes glinting in confusion.

She opened the door quickly and jumped inside, gaze sweeping about the room quickly.

She stopped dead, head tilted slightly at the fact that it was clean. Completely, and totally clean... _What the hell?_

Her desk had been tidied up, papers stacked, books piled. Her dresser drawers were closed, the bed was made- her clothes weren't strewn about the floor. The curtains were open and sunlight filtered in to light up the usually darkened room. She stepped inside and peered into the bathroom, the counter was clear.

She sweatdropped a little more and moved toward her closet.

_Holy... Shit._

What had once been a hell hole of clothes and other items was now a clean, usable closet. Her cloak and her jackets were even hung up, and you could see the floor.

She slowly set her bag down in the chair at her desk, ignoring the presence of the Energy Magic book on the desktop as she turned toward the one part of her home she had never set foot inside- where the scent of something burning was coming from.

"Moon...?" She murmured, stepping past the archway and into the kitchen/living area space.

She stopped in the entryway, blinking a few times as she spotted her Exceed Partner floating in front of the stove, her usual hoodie had been replaced with an apron- of which was covered in white powder along with her cheek and the top of her head. In one paw was a spatula while the other was held out, there were five different Magic Circles floating around her.

One was holding a plate stacked with pancakes (of which, many were burnt- thus the smell of burning) and another one holding a plate of toast (that looked fantastically toasted). Another one was showering bits of Magic into the sink, plates and a scrubber moving on their own as they worked to clean the dirty dishes and utensils. Before Moon there was a pan she was using to make pancakes, and on the other end of the stove a Separate Magic Circle was levitating a spatula and flipping bacon continually. The last Magic Circle was balancing a plate of the bacon and a the bowl full of batter.

Moon was sweatdropping heavily, looking a little frantic. She flipped the pancake sizzling in the pan and cursed under her breath as it turned up a very dark brown. Frea's eyes moved away from Moon toward the counter, where flour and ingredients were strewn about, and spilled in the case of the flour. Her gaze moved toward the living area and the coffee table set beside the couch, where the table was filled with cups and plates, syrup, forks...

"Why is cooking pancakes so damn hard?!" Moon snapped, depositing the newest pancake on the stack. "I can cook toast and bacon, but pancakes are asking too damned much!?"

Frea blinked, sweatdropping slightly. She had never set foot in this past of her home, she had no use for it- she didn't like cooking and her bed and desk were enough to keep her content. She had never seen Moon make anything either... They always ate at the Guild Hall or somewhere in the town.

_She cleaned... And now she's cooking..._

"Screw pancakes!" Moon snapped to herself, Frea who had been smiling- suddenly burst out laughing against her will.

Moon jumped and whipped about, eyes wide- her Magic imploded and the Magic Circles disappeared. Frea stiffened and moved her hand forward, what little Magic she had left flared in an instant as she created enough Magic Circles of her own to catch the things that fell.

She sighed slightly, still smiling and continuing to chuckle as Moon just stared- startled.

"Frea...?" Moon breathed, before she shook her head and regained her bearings. "Frea?! What the hell, are you trying to make me drop everything!?" She only continued to laugh as Moon gave her a glare, "Quit it!"

Frea took a breath and leaned against the frame of the entryway, trying to calm herself down- still smiling as she glanced back over toward Moon, eyes shining with too many emotions for the Exceed to read- but she looked... Well, _happy._

"S-sorry." Frea chuckled, stammering as she tried to stifle a laugh. "Its just... You look so silly! You are covered in flour and the fact that you're so worked up-!" She started laughing again and Moon blinked. "... I just wasn't expecting... You to be... Cooking! I've never seen you cook before, and you're just...!" Frea shook her head and rest her hands on top of her head, Moon tilted hers. She wasn't sure why... Why she found it so funny at all.

She didn't find anything she was doing as amusing- even in the slightest. And yet Frea thought it funny to an extreme-

"- you're adorable, you know that?" Frea grinned, managing to quit in her laughing a moment. Moon stiffened, slightly taken aback by the comment. She hadn't heard Frea ever call her that before- it was a little unnerving and seemed out of character for the Energy Dragon Slayer.

She would have mentioned this- but stopped herself, because she realized it had been a long time since she had seen such a bright, cheerful smile on Frea's face- or even heard her laugh so genuinely. Everything had been so dark and serious lately the Energy Dragon Slayer hadn't really given herself time to relax and let go- and her mood hadn't ever been this light for a very, very long while.

She shook her head but smiled a little, it was better to see Frea happy than to scold her- so she held her tongue.

"Well, I don't know about that- but I figured we should at least use this kitchen once." Moon murmured, slowly focusing her Magic so Frea's could fade- securely holing the plates and starting the dish washing and bacon up again. "I have never seen you step foot in this part of the room you know?"

Frea smiled a little and shrugged, "I don't cook, the food at the Guild is just fine." She replied easily, before tilting her head back a little. "What made you decide to clean though?" Moon huffed a little.

"It was an utter mess."

"I suppose it was..." Frea relented, she walked inside and smirked. "The pancake?" She said in a slightly sing-song voice and Moon blinked, before jumping and scooping the nearly blackened pancake from the pan.

"Damn it!"

Frea chuckled and moved over toward the living area, slowly settling down cross legged on the floor in front of the coffee table and letting out a sigh. She leaned back against the couch and let her eyes close as she heard Moon turn the stove off, grumbling under her breath about the pancakes still and making her smile all the more.

"I believe the term is nesting...?" She sighed to herself, it was great to see Moon settling in like this... It made her happy.

"Did you say something?" Moon called.

"Nope." She called back, her eyes opening to see Moon shuffling around in the kitchen a moment.

Her eyes shot open and she cringed, her hand shooting down toward the injury on her side as it suddenly flared in a brief wave of agony- she bit down on her tongue to keep herself from hissing, sweatdropping at the throbbing. It faded, though very slowly and she took in a small breath as she leaned over, eyes closing.

_What the hell...?! Why does it keep... Doing that damn it...?!_

She took in a deep breath and straightened up again, her hand falling away from the wound as she shook her head- maybe it was just a worse injury than she expected- and was warranted to hurt.

It was random though...

Moon floated in with the plates of bacon, toast and pancakes, she'd smudged the flour on her cheek but hadn't managed to get rid of it. The flour on the top of we head however, still remained a bright splotch of white in her grey fur.

She set the plates down with a sigh, "The pancakes are kinda burnt... But everything else should be fine." She mumbled and Frea smiled, ignoring the throbbing in her side.

"Everything looks wonderful, Moon." She smiled, as the Exceed sat down on the end of the table. "Thanks for cooking. I was starving."

"Figured you would be." Moon murmured softly, setting some toast on the plate in front of her as Frea moved to grab some food of her own. "You haven't eaten since we got back to Magnolia, have you?" She asked and Frea paused, sweatdropping a little.

"I guess I haven't..." She mumbled and Moon shook her head.

"... Why am I not surprised...?" She mumbled, nibbling on her toast as Frea poured some syrup on two of the less burnt pancakes. "I wish you'd take better care of yourself..."

"At least I've got you," Frea murmured, Moon looked up in surprise. "You're always keeping an eye on me," the Energy Dragon Slayer smiled and Moon just stared. "I'll always be fine with you here, Moon. I haven't really said it before, but thank you- for everything. I couldn't ask for a better Partner."

Moon blushed slightly and looked away, but she smiled too. "I feel the same way." She murmured, "You're the one person after everything that's happened to me, that I've been able to trust and care for this much... You're always by my side, you're always there- I should be the one thanking you."

Frea gave her a toothy smile, "It's my pleasure." She replied brightly and Moon smiled back. Frea took a bite of her pancakes as Moon just watched a moment,

"Has Laxus woken up yet?" Moon asked, biting into another piece of toast.

"Yep- lasf nighf." Frea mumbled around her food. Moon blinked, nodding a little.

"I suppose I shouldn't have been worried." She murmured, "He's just as strong as you at any rate." Frea nodded slightly, still chewing.

"Imf stronfer." She smirked slightly and Moon chuckled. Personally, she figured that Frea and Laxus were pretty even in that regard, but she wasn't going to argue- so she bit into her toast again.

Her thoughts flashed with the box she had found in the closet, and she glanced back up to Frea- who was chewing another bite.

"Frea... I saw you... " she mumbled around her food slowly.

Frea coughed as she inhaled slightly, looking suddenly flustered and sputtering a little- Moon's eyes went wide at the blush that spread across her face.

"W-what?! Do you and Mira just spy on me for fun?!" She snapped, managing to swallow her food, looking unhappy and blushing furiously. "Nothing happened between us! Drop it, alright?!"

"... your...box...?" She finished slowly, head tilted and very confused. Frea stopped dead, blinking once. "What the hell did you think I meant?"

Frea's eyes went wide as she dropped her head, her bangs overshadowing her ace as she let out an aggravated growl at herself.

_Damn it... I overreacted... Shiiiiitttt!_

"Between you and who exactly?" Moon pressed, Frea hissed and Moon smirked. "Guess I'll just ask Mirajane then..." She said and Frea's fists clenched.

"... Tch... Damn it, don't you dare!" Frea snapped, looking back up to her. "She doesn't have a clue what she's talking about." She growled and Moon smirked.

"So what happened?"

Frea looked away, still blushing furiously and feeling as if her face was on fire- she hadn't a clue why her body reacted like that, and she hated herself for jumping to the conclusion about what it was Moon was talking about.

"... Tch... I stayed at the Guild last night... Keeping an eye on Laxus for Freed and the others..." She started slowly, her tone betraying her flustered and unhappy feelings. "... The Lightning Idiot woke up, we talked... And sort of... Slept in the ... same bed... When we were done... Mira saw us before we woke up..."

"Frea!" Moon exclaimed, smiling in a cheeky way and clapping her paws together. Frea looked away with a scowl, "That's so sweet!"

"Shut up! Nothing happened! We were both just tired, that's it! You and Mira are reading too much into it!" Frea snapped back but Moon didn't stop smiling about it.

"Sure, sure." Moon smirked, Frea looked away again, a vein ticking on her forehead.

Moon leaned back a little, eyes closing as she smiled softly. It was clear that Frea and Laxus cared for one another a bit more than just being Guild-Mates- she and Mira had both realized this and were waiting for the two of them to admit it to one another- though that didn't seem like it would happen anytime soon.

Maybe it was girly, but she thought it was cute- just imagining it made her smile and she couldn't help but feel happy for her Partner.

_Frea deserves to be happy... And somebody to care for more than me or the Guild..._

But neither she nor Laxus seemed to be able to come to terms with their emotions... in fact, she figured nobdoy besides Mira or herself even saw what it was they could see between Frea and Laxus at all... The most she had seen of it was when Frea fought with Ivan. Her feelings had been so pure and steadfast... But nobody besides Ivan or I will ever know about that fight, or hear what it was she said, see how angry she was.

"What do you mean you saw my 'box'?" Frea muttered, clearing trying to change the subject. Moon's attention snapped toward Frea and away from her thoughts at the question, her eyes met Frea's silver ones as she looked back to her- still blushing slightly but looking to have calmed down a little bit.

"Hmm?" She hummed, before blinking a little and nodding. "Ah, right- the one in your closet." She explained quickly, rubbing behind an ear a little. "It fell on me when I was cleaning- I'm sorry I looked in it... But I figured you wouldn't mind..." Mavis thought she wouldn't either...

"I don't mind you looked in it." Frea said quietly. "It isn't secret or anything." She grabbed a glass full of orange juice. "What about it?"

"Well, I just never knew you cared about keeping that sort of stuff." She said slowly, "Do you keep every Job Assignment you take for the first time with someone?"

"Yes." She answered easily, not all perturbed or bothered- she didn't think it odd to do so in any way. "Every mission I go on with someone for the first time, every important date, every time I was called into the Council- every event that has happened, at the Guild, in the Guild, to it... Everything." She took a sip of her drink. "I keep it all."

"As a reminder." Moon murmured, not really a question though-

"I suppose you could call it that." Frea replied.

"Your memories." Moon said softly. "So you don't ever forget."

_Everything and everyone she cares for has been in the Guild... Every memory, good or bad had significance... Because Frea understands what it means to lose that- to lose memories. She lost years of her life when Kasumi sealed her memories off... She's keeping these... Because they're important to her, and she never wants to forget..._

It was a whole new side to the Energy Dragon Slayer she had never seen before, almost as new as the side she had seen emerge in Frea in the battle with Ivan. Outwardly, it wouldn't ever seem like Frea could or would be interested or concerned with the things that happen with her for very long after they happen- but in reality, she was very concerned with all of it.

"Hmmm... Yeah, I guess that's it." Frea murmured, "You know me pretty well, Moon." She smiled slightly.

"I guess I do." She replied with a smile of her own. _Erza and Mira thought as much too..._

_... Frea knows more about me than anybody else, but still she doesn't know all of it._

Moon brushed the bandages running along her arms a little, eyes falling to the table as Frea continued to eat. She had told Frea about Kyo, about being prisoner to a Dark Guild- being tormented and hurt. She knew that Copy-Cat Magic and the knowledge she held on Runes was thanks to Kyo... But she only knows the gist of it. Moon had never went into any more detail than the bare surface of her past- for obvious reasons, it was painful to remember.

But then she supposed she knew little about Frea's past too. The Guild knew very little- the things she had learned of Frea's past had been a collection of the murmurings and memories of the Guild- but there was things missing. Such as Frea and Kasumi- she knew that the Energy Dragon Slayer had been captured and seriously hurt by the woman, with so many other vile actions... But what had really happened, nobody knew.

It was painful to think about for Frea too.

But she had been thinking about it for awhile now... Maybe she would start talking about her past some more, try filling in some of the details- open up. It might help ease the pain of the memories for her, maybe it was worth a try.

 _Not today... No,_ she could tell Frea was exhausted, she was strained and probably had too much on her mind, she wouldn't want to bother her- stress her more. She had enough to think about right now.

 _But some time... I will start telling her more, she deserves to know more... I trust her to know more..._ She smiled a little at that thought.

Frea let out a happy sigh as she finished off her food and Moon did the same, a smile spread across her face as she leaned against the couch with her back, arms crossing over her chest. "That was fantastic..." She sighed,

"If you say so."

"I know so!" Frea replied easily, smirking. "You're cooking rivals Mira's!" Moon smiled slightly and shook her head,

"I think you were just starving, and that made everything taste better." She replied,

"That wasn't it." Frea smiled, "But go ahead and believe that if you want." The Energy Dragon Slayer gave her a smile as Moon blushed slightly, recognizing the compliment. Frea raised her arms above her in a stretch, yawning. "I don't know about you, but I am beat... How about I help you clean this up and we go to bed?" She suggested and Moon smiled, climbing to her paws.

"You can go, I can clean it up." She replied and Frea paused, before shaking her head and getting to her feet-picking a few things up.

"Nope. Not happening." She smiled, earning a surprised look from Moon. "You did all that work making it- the least I can do is help clean it up." She explained in a tone that left no room for argument, Moon sighed slightly but relented anyway.

"Alright then... If you're sure..." She mumbled,

"Of course." Frea replied, heading into the kitchen. Moon picked a few things up herself and smiled softly, Frea was acting a little off... She was being very kind at the moment, and very easy-going. Her demeanor didn't let anyone know that there was something going on, that she was tired or stressed- she hid it well. It was nice to see Frea so upbeat after everything, she hated to see her Partner too worried of stressed about anything.

She smiled to herself as she followed Frea into the kitchen, she supposed whatever it was Frea talked about with Laxus may have helped better her mood a little... Or maybe it was seeing him up and ok that did it.

 _Either one is possible..._ She chuckled to herself a little at that.

She and Frea worked to clean everything up and put various things away, Frea scooped her out of the air and gently rubbed the spots of flour sticking to her fur before letting her go- smiling softly to herself as she did so.

They moved into the room and Frea didn't take anytime in moving over toward the bed and plopping down on top of it, her face buried in her pillow as she let out a sigh. Moon shook her head a little and took the apron off- replacing her usual jacket.

"I'm exhausted..." Frea mumbled.

"Anyone would be." Moon murmured softly, "You haven't really given yourself a lot of time to really rest since coming back to the Guild."

"I couldn't sleep..." Frea explained, drawing her arms under the pillow and resting her chin in it. "... Too much to think about..." Moon sweatdropped slightly and nodded,

"That is true..." She sighed. "I wish you didn't have to worry about all of this..."

"... It's not that bad... I can handle it. Don't worry." Frea replied easily, Moon glanced toward her- a sudden feeling of uncertainty hitting her.

She didn't want to doubt that- that Frea could handle all of it... But she knew that this time was different. Frea was starting to crack under all the pressure, she was being worn down to the nub and beginning to break.

"... I know you can." She replied, eyes closing. "Doesn't mean I don't worry... And it doesn't mean I don't wish you didn't have to handle all of this."

"I understand that." Frea replied easily, lowly- nearly drowsily. Her eyes moved toward Moon, "You wanna sleep?"

Moon paused a moment, Frea had pulled the curtains closed to block the afternoon sunlight- it was the afternoon. Moon wasn't tired in any sense of the word, and she wasn't sure she could sleep even if she tried. Frea on the other hand was dead on her feet and becoming drowsier by the moment...

She smiled a little, "I'd love to- but I couldn't sleep even if I tried. Its still only the middle of the day." She reminded, "I'll stay up a bit, and join you in a few hours or so." She gave the Energy Dragon Slayer a small smile and a pointed look, "But you had better get some sleep, you need it- a lot."

Frea just blinked once, her eyes already glassy and betraying her exhaustion. She sighed and rolled on to her back,

"No argument there..." She sighed and Moon smiled. "... Night..."

"'Night, Frea." Moon murmured in return, staying silent and still for a few moments- before her ears twitched to hear Frea's breathing drop into low even breaths nearly immediately, and she was out completely. She doubted Frea would wake up for a long time- if what happened after the Dragon Fight in Crocus was any indication to how she would handle the strain this time around. Moon leaned her cheek in her paw and smiled to herself,

 _She'll probably sleep for days..._ Her eyes rest on her sleeping Partner in silence a moment. _She needs it..._

Her eyes trailed toward the door a minute.

When she had been watching Frea fight with Ivan... She honestly couldn't think of any other time when she had seen the Energy Dragon Slayer so driven, so rage filled, and angry... Her Magic alone had been stifling, completely fueled by the emotions burning inside of her.

She had even shredded every single paper doll Ivan threw at her without moving a muscle- her Magic Pressure had been just that powerful.

And all of the power was spurred from her emotion... More emotion than she had ever seen in Frea all at one time- and most surprisingly, over someone she claimed to 'hate'.

Though she admitted she didn't hate the Lightning Dragon Slayer any more- and even mentioned she probably never really had.

She sighed slightly, before shaking her head and slowly making her way out of the room quietly.

* * *

 

Laxus let out an aggravated sigh as Freed, Bickslow and Evergreen made their way from the room reluctantly- being herded out by the Strauss Siblings.

Their moods had improved drastically- they were smiling again and less on edge... But they were also very clingy, and to be relatively honest it was starting to piss him off.

Mirajane seemed to have noticed that- which is probably why she came in with her siblings and herded them away, leaving him some peace and quiet.

The Old Man had come in earlier, unsurprisingly- and though things between them had become better, they were a little too proud to give into the gushy- 'I was worried, I'm glad you're ok' routine. Why had come up was a small conversation about his father- who was back in the Prison at the Magic Council, with extra security this time around. Apparently when he had been picked up he was still unconscious, it would seem Frea had really done a number on him...

Laxus closed his eyes a minute,

_"I apologize, I had never believed Ivan would attempt something so rash." Makarov murmured, arms hooked behind his back, eyes closed. "At one point Ivan had indeed threatened to take that Lacrima out of you, but I never put much standing in the claim... I didn't think he could do such a thing to you." His voice trailed off a minute and Laxus sweatdropped slightly, arms crossed over his chest._

_For whatever Ivan had done... All his mistakes, he was still Makarov's son, and he had always held out on some small dodgem of hope that the man would come back, turn away from the dark..._

_He supposed, and realized sometime ago that was why Laxus and Master had butted heads often- in his own way the Old Man had always been trying to keep him out of the dark, trying to help him stay on the right path- and that had often felt over eating and caused conflict._

_The Old Man- in some way, had always been looking to keep Laxus from turning out as Ivan had... To keep his failure with his own son from becoming the same failure with his grandson._

_He had nearly done exactly what Ivan had, he'd nearly gone down that wrong path and may have never come back, if Makarov hadn't expelled him from the Guild._

_"... You're still holding out for him." He replied lowly, earning a small steady gaze from the Old Man. "Nobody can blame you for that... What happened isn't your fault. And its not as if I didn't work out anyway."_

"Shitty pops..." He muttered under his breath.

Thinking on it though, everything had worked out- and he had Frea and that Ghost Girl to thank for that...

He huffed slightly, his thoughts flashing to the dream and he felt his heart skip a beat.

"Well you certainly look better."

His head snapped around at the voice, he hadn't heard not seen anybody come in- but suddenly the scent of Frea with that of her cat hit his nose, and his eyes landed on Moon as the Exceed glanced up at him from next to the bed.

"You..." He muttered, letting out a sigh. "... You and Frea here to bug me?" He muttered,

Moon shook her head and lightly hopped up onto the her at his feet, taking a seat on the foot-rail as she looked to him. "Not at all. Frea isn't even here, I'm on my own."

"Where is she?" He muttered,

"At home, sleeping." Moon replied easily and he huffed, folding his arms over his chest. He wasn't sure why she was here or for what reason- but he didn't care either.

"Finally." He muttered, "Idiot was running herself into the ground.."

Moon's lips pulled into a slight smirk as her eyes glinted with emotion he couldn't place, he blinked though- not sure why she was looking at him like that.

"What?" He snapped slowly, and she shook her head.

"Nothing in particular." She purred, though inwardly she was sure she caught a flash of concern and caring for Frea in him when he said that- that she was running herself into the ground. It helped to make her more sure about what she had come here to do,

He glared and gave her a huff, "Then what the hell do you want?" He growled. Moon smiled slightly and clasped her paws together in her lap, eyes closing a moment.

"As I'm sure, Frea told you what happened with Ivan?" She murmured and he blinked,

"Yeah? So?"

"I'm assuming what she told you was nothing more than the basic idea- the important parts, yes... But I doubt she told you everything." Moon murmured, and he stiffened slightly. Moon opened her eyes to gaze at him steadily, "Nothing bad, I assure you... And maybe not even something that most people need to hear... But I think at least, you should know." His eyes narrowed slightly, and Moon smiled a bit. "If left up to Frea, only two people in this world beside herself would ever know what she did, and what was said- but I think that you at least, deserve to hear what she said. What you do with it, and about it- that's up to you. I just plan to pass on the information."

He blinked once, what Frea said? What happened?

And why him?

"... What does it have to do with me?" He asked lowly,

"You mean, besides Frea having fought with _your_ father to take back the Lacrima inside of _your_ body- in order to save _your_ life?" Moon replied instantly, her eyes glittering in slight amusement, he just frowned a little. "All of that is true- but the fight she held against Ivan, it was a little more than just a fight. You'll see what I mean." She replied evenly,

"See?" He muttered,

"I realize you've resisted my Memory Magic Replays before now- that was your choice." Moon replied evenly, "But I think just retelling everything won't really give the full effect- I think you need to see it." She gestured toward him with a paw, "In short, I'm asking you to let me show you the fight between Frea and Ivan." He frowned a little reluctantly, "Please?" She pressed gently,

For a moment, he just looked at her. He didn't quite get what it was she wanted to show him- Frea said something? What could be so important that Moon would come here directly to make sure he knew about whatever it was Frea had said and done?

As far as he was concerned, knowing Frea gave his shitty father a good beating was enough- the finer details never bothered him, and yet for Moon... She felt they did?

And it had something to do with him? Besides the obvious?

And he had to see what happened? Moon wouldn't just tell him, he had to actually witness it in a sense?

His mind flashed with what she had been acting like last night- the sudden flux in her usual behavior around him, the things she said that were just out of the ordinary... And them be thought if his own reactions.

Could the way Frea was acting last night... Be related to whatever it was she did fighting Ivan..?

He let out a small sigh and shook his head slightly, "Fine, just show me so we can get it over with." He muttered lowly and Moon smiled a little more.

"... I do hope, one of you starts to piece things together..." She mumbled under her breath, nearly low enough Laxus couldn't hear it as she let her Magic begin to flow- but he caught the words and blinked, sweatdropping slightly and confused.

_What the hell did that mean...?_

The familiar walls of the Infirmary faded as the floor dropped away, giving way to dark and rocky terrain below them- he allowed Moon's Magic to invade his mind now where other times he had resisted it.

Just below him he could see Moon holding on to Frea who had just let her Magic Drop, and his haggard looking father below them. The sight of the man earned a slightly angry glare, as he crossed his arms over his chest and settled to watch- the Moon from the present times was next to him, her paws over her chest and eyes glinting slightly- for now he ignored her.

_"Eh? I hadn't expected any pursuers so soon- and certainly not you!" Ivan called up to Frea, sneering a little in his displeasure at finding her there. "It's been awhile Shade Demon- or what is it everyone calls you these days? Frea?" He growled. Laxus stiffened involuntarily at his father calling her by that name, sweatdropping slightly at the memory of himself calling her that on many occasion... He had only done it because of his father... And it was stupid._

Doing that... He had been an ass to her about that, and looking back on it now- she hadn't deserved that. Not that he'd ever admit it out loud...

_"...Anyway, I know I've been a jerk to you for a long time now... and I just wanted to say, I'm sorry.."_

He blinked a few times, suddenly recalling the apology just as he was about to leave Magnolia the night of the Fantasia Parade... As he was excommunicated from the Guild. That had been so long ago, he nearly forgot... A part of him wondered if Frea remembered him doing that...

He pushed the thoughts away, returning to the scene before him. His eyes locked on to Frea to see her fists clench at the name, her face pulling into a scowl of disgust and anger.

Of course he knew that Ivan had never treated Frea very well when she was younger, he always sneered at her and berated her for her 'Demon Status', it was something he now regrettably shared with his father- of the few things. And of the few people in the Guild who ever referred to her in such a way- His Father had done it most frequently and now it only seemed to make her exceptionally angry- which wasn't a surprise.

_"I suppose this is fitting- a debt to be repaid for your interference at the Grand Magic Games is still owed." Ivan snickered, earning a dark glare from Frea in return. The memory made Laxus frown a little more,_

_Truly a shitty father..._

_Ivan smiled and pulled his hand from the pocket it had been in- where he held a smooth, glittering blue and yellow Lacrima up to her- Laxus felt a small twinge in his chest at the sight._

_"Is this what you're looking for, eh, Shade Demon?" Ivan asked, eyes glittering in malice as Frea bared her fangs at him a little. "Priceless this thing is, it was a bit of work to get it back- even with those Runes and the extraction Spell- I still had to get my hands dirty ripping it out."_

Laxus winced at the small, blurry memory- of what little he did recall- he remembered the pain of Ivan shoving his hand through his chest, and suddenly a flare of pain shot through his being. Moon beside him winced a little too, sweatdropping.

_Frea's face suddenly went dark as her eyes began to burn with a furious cold fire- her fists clenched and her fangs ground down on each other in the utter anger that suddenly turned to full on rage. Laxus blinked in shock, she looked... Exceptionally angry..._

_"You little..!" Frea hissed lowly, her body starting to shake in rage. Rage._

Even though senses like feeling would be lost in such replays of Memory like this- he easily felt the same flux of pure, raw power that flared up from Frea- power driven by pure, undeniable anger. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen a glare so dark on Frea's face...

_Frea was... Angry... And angry at what? With Ivan, and for what he could only peg as anger toward the man for hurting... Laxus..._

_It was the same feeling as when he had been angry with Ivan for hurting Frea..._

_That anger toward his father... It was because... Of what he did to me...?_

_"Drop me." Frea growled the order lowly, Moon in the memory paused a single moment, before letting out a silent sigh and complying. Though she seemed reluctant, Laxus blinked in slight surprise. Drop her in mid-air..?_

_The moment she let go of the Energy Dragon Slayer, silver erupted about her and the feeling of raw Power hit him- just Moon's own memory of the feel of it caught him off guard, and he sweatdropped._

_"Did I make you angry, Shade Demon?" Ivan laughed as Frea dropped through the air in a blaze of silver light. Angry? Rage-filled more like... "What was it? The fact that I stole the Lacrima? Or maybe it was the way I tore it straight out of the useless boy's chest?"_

_Laxus growled a little at that, but by now his focus was on the sheer amount of power he could see Frea was letting loose all of a sudden. It was massive, and that look on her face... Her eyes were literally burning in anger. Her Magic was too._

_"Ivan you bastard!" Frea yelled, suddenly flipping in air as she swung her arms down toward him- he had erected a sudden flurry of Paper Dolls to stream out toward her- they all shredded and burned before they could even get close to Frea, and Ivan's eyes went wide along with his._

He recalled seeing the top of that move over the city in a focus for a split second, it had been one hell of a move then... But it clearly wasn't as powerful this time around, it was still stiflingly potent.

_Frea's Magic swirled into a massive stream of pure silver that curled over Frea's head as she flipped in air above Ivan- the Magic following her movement as she swung down at him and the Arc tore trough the air toward Ivan at incredible speed-_

_Frea's first move against Ivan..._

_"Dragon Slayer Secret Art: LightStream Arc!"_

_Ivan's eyes went wide in utter shock at the amount of Magic streaming down toward him- His expression suddenly changed- he realized he had underestimated her and he was about to pay for that mistake. He thought he was up against the same person from all those years ago..._ But she had changed, she had changed a lot- and Laxus himself had realized that some time ago, and still he had been considerably shocked at the time.

That shock was nearly as big as it was then as it was now, he had never seen Frea so angry she jumped into a fight with such a powerful move all at once... And especially not on his part!

_Everything was engulfed in dazzling light as a resounding boom shook the air and everything around it to the core- the ground shook violently as it caved in and cracked- slabs of land being uplifted and rubble flying everywhere as Frea's Magic made contact with the site where Ivan was._

Knowing about what had happened to Frea just before this, in Hilshine and against that thing- she had been wounded, had spent most of her power, and was probably exhausted- to see this, he knew she wasn't just simply angry, she was the sort of angry where she didn't care how much of the little Magic Energy she must of had at the time was wasted in her fighting.

_Is... This what Moon meant when she said he had to... See it...?_

* * *

 

_"Malunafrey..."_

_Frea whipped about in the swirling, stifling dark encasing her on all sides- a deep wall pressing in on her entire being, making it hard to breath and nearly impossible to move._

_The dark rammed into her body hard enough to crack ribs, bruising on contact, driving the breath from her body instantly._

_She tried to use magic to block the blows- only to have her heart stop- she couldn't use Magic at all, no Magic Power pulsed underneath her skin, no energy... Nothing. She felt cold and empty inside._

_My Magic... Its completely gone!_

_She was knocked over on to her back with a painful thud, the wound in her side seared with sudden pain and she gasped._

_Why the hell... Its like I don't... Have Magic at all... Its not there..._

_"Malunafrey..." Her eyes snapped open to the dark, sweatdropping heavily as she sat up slowly, holding her side gingerly. "... You're causing a lot of trouble you know... Quite the pain..."_

_She hissed, jaw clenching. She got to her feet slowly, tensing against the waves of power swirling about her constantly._

_"... You sealed Salengoreath... And now even in that graveyard you have defied me..." The voice went on in a low, spine chilling hiss that she was becoming all too familiar with. "... If I didn't need you alive, I'd have killed you by now..." She growled under her breath. Why did It want her alive?!_

_"... Maybe this is how its supposed to go, hmmm?" The voice chuckled, "... Everything that's meant to happen... It was never very clear... I wonder..."_

_"What the hell are you?!" She snapped furiously, only to be thrown back as another wave of power rammed into her, she skidded backwards with a shout of pain._

_"... In due time, Malunafrey." The voice hissed. "Why rush things? You already know the outcome, so why run toward it?"_

_Frea hissed, shaking as she pushed herself up- a small wave of cold crashing on top of her._

_"Why race toward your death?"_

* * *

Laxus remained in complete silence as Moon's Magic faded, and all the way up until she had left him in the room alone- her parting words and smile cast at him from over her shoulder.

 _"Like I said, Laxus... You do what you want with all of that. I just thought you deserved to know."_ She murmured, before walking out and leaving him.

He didn't move, he didn't even say anything, he just looked straight ahead- eyes narrowed, arms crossed over his chest- mind racing.

_"... Yes, I hated him back then. We made each other so angry, he was awful to me, and I wasn't much better to him." Frea replied lowly, her eyes still closed. "We were always fighting, always on each other for some thing... And there wasn't even a reason for being the way were were- we just were. We were stupid, foolish kids. In some ways- we're still that way. But now a days- for all our arguing, irritation- for everything that happened between us in the past- the fact is,I don't hate him. I don't think I ever really could truly hate him."_

_"What's stupid is I never realized it until years later. Its taken years for us to get to the uneasy relationship we have now- and its much better than we used to be... Though we still get on eachother's nerves sometimes. He's still my Family, no matter his flaws, no matter how angry we make one another- and I fight for my Family. I protect them no matter what- something you don't seem to grasp, Ivan."_

His eyes narrowed slightly, back to the time he had asked her why she had convinced Gildarts to let him back in the Guild... her answer was nearly the same....

_Frea let out a heavy sigh and turned to look at him, "I don't hate you." She replied and he blinked at her answer. "We just find it hard to get along sometimes, you're my Guild-mate, I could never really hate you, idiot." She murmured._

_Is that what it was...? What she said?_

_Did we ever really.. hate one another....? Or were we just..... stupid back then..?_

_He looked back on it, and he couldn't find a reason for how they treated one another....._

_And what about now? That 'uneasy relationship' they had between the two of them?_

He wouldn't consider them to be close with one another, or on good terms.... But it was getting better. And still, nothing was shared between the two of them, their conversations were never in depth nor any level of personal.... They wouldn't ever tell one another anything that simple acquaintances wouldn't, and yet... Moon had showed him that, let him hear all of that....

_"He's your_ _son_ _Ivan! Does that really mean so little to you?! He's your Family, your blood- does his life really mean so little to you?! How could you even think about killing your own flesh and blood?!"_

_"My son is_ _worthless_ _, he always has been! The only thing worth anything is that Lacrima!" Ivan snapped back, Paper Dolls streaming around him on all sides and starting to circle Frea rapidly- coming closer. Her Magic rose up around her, spinning to meet the advancing dolls and destroying many of them- but not all. They started to glow a sickly purple color and she stiffened, knowing they were about to blow- she needed to get out but they have enclosed about her in a spherical shape._

_"His life isn't worth anything! It means nothing!"_

_Frea's face darkened in that instant, her face twisted into one of pure rage and hatred toward Ivan. Her Magic nearly tripled in a split second, all of its own accord as she and the Dolls about her were suddenly engulfed in a dazzlingly bright silver dome of spinning Magic that shook the air itself with thunderous booms, stirring up heavy wind and sending rubble flying._

_Ivan was pushed back by the sheer force of the backlash coming off so much power all at once, eyes going wide at how much power seemed to explode off of her. It was more power than either Laxus or Ivan had seem from her all at once- and it was all power fueled by what it was he was feeling in that instant...._

_"HIS LIFE IS NOT WORTH NOTHING!"_

_Frea suddenly erupted from the spheres of Magic and dust at top speed, her fangs bared and her eyes burning with undeniable rage- she appeared in front of Ivan in moments, he hadn't time to react as she swung a silver encased fist out toward him._

_"All life has meaning! All life is precious!" She snapped, her fist making contact with his cheek with so much force she knocked a few teeth loose and immediately bruised his face- he flew back through the air and smashed into the ground hard enough to wear a trench through it, before she flipped over and got back to his feet._

_But Frea was on top of him again, her body moving faster than it may have ever had before- and all of it fueled by sheer anger._

_"Laxus is_ _not_ _worthless, his life sure as hell isn't meaningless or not worth anything!" Frea brought her leg around as Ivan raised his arms to block the next blow- expecting it to be another punch._

_Her leg made contact with his torso, the impact causing a wave of pure force to ring out about them as her ears caught on to the unmistakable sound of ribs cracking- he was sent sideways for a long ways._

_"Its unthinkable to even Imagine his own father could be so twisted and hate filled that you would even think about taking that Lacrima out of him! Don't you realize doing that is going to kill him?! I don't care how insane you are, how dark, how evil- he's your son and you've just tried to_ _kill_ _him Ivan! You must realize somewhere inside of you, that doing that is truly and utterly wrong!" She yelled furiously, taking a moment in her movements- it was enough he managed to retaliate- sending hundreds of larger Paper Dolls out toward her, all of them glowing purple- all of them explosive._

_It only made her more furious..... Her anger was rage, and it kept burning stronger by the minute._

Anger and Rage.... Because of what Ivan was saying.... What he did...

_The hundreds of explosive dolls coming toward her suddenly turned into thousands- all of them packing every last bit of strength Ivan had, every destructive shred of his Magic he could manage-_

_"You fucking... Bastard... How... How dare you..." She hissed, her Magic faded from around her entirely as she stood where she was, fists clenched at her sides and body shaking in anger. Every second the thousands of Explosive Paper Dolls drew nearer, and she didn't make a single move- her eyes shut, completely still._

_Just as the Paper Dolls were about to make contact, Frea's head snapped up as she looked right at Ivan, passed the attack streaming toward her, silver eyes glittering in_ _soul-tearing rage._

_"HOW DARE YOU EVEN TALK ABOUT HIM LIKE THAT?!"_

_There was a sudden influx- a shift, a vibration in the air as time seemed to slow down for a split second- the Paper Dolls halted in their tracks and every single one suddenly glowed a soft silver color, before they fell away into glittering pieces._

_Every single one_

He was nearly transfixed by the hoard of glittering Magic falling to the ground- all of those Dolls, destroyed in _half a second_... Frea's Magic hadn't even been visible.... It was almost as if her Magic had poured itself into the very air itself at such an intensity a single look had been enough to shred the Dolls on a minuscule level- enough to shred them without even moving a single muscle.

She had never been so angry, not from what he had seen- a part of him was shocked, astounded.... And still something inside of him suddenly started inside him, some sort of twinge... some feeling he didn't quite understand.

_"How_ _dare_ _you say such things?! How_ _dare_ _you try to hurt him, kill him?!" Frea shouted, Ivan stood motionless- now suddenly looking frightened after his Dolls were destroyed without a single move from her- and the feel of raw power ramming into him continued to rise, to grow stronger. "Everything you said- you are dead fucking_ _wrong!_ _Laxus is_ _not_ _worthless, he's_ _not_ _useless, he's_ _not_ _a waste of space, he isn't weak- he's one of the strongest people I have ever met, and hell- he's been through so much with_ _you_ _alone, its a wonder why he ever put up with your shit! Or why he was loyal to you for so long!" Her voice rose coldly, cutting at the air as her Magic started to show itself again- and the glittering pieces of Magic falling through the air between her and Ivan began to swirl into small streams around her._

_"He was loyal to you because Family_ _means_ _something to him- where it clearly means nothing to you! He loved you, and he trusted you- and you don't even deserve a damn thing from him! Laxus is a better person that you ever were, his life means more than yours ever will, he is stronger than you-_ _better than you!_ _Its a shame so much of his time and life was wasted on you- when he was just being your son! His time wasn't worth being wasted on you!"_

Had Frea really seen it that way? The reason he had remained so loyal to Ivan when he was younger?

Did she really.... Think he was better..?

_After everything I ever did to her.....?_

_"And now you're wasting my time. I want that Lacrima back, Ivan- and I'm getting it even if I have to beat you to a bloody pulp. Attacking my Family is the worst mistake you've ever made."_

Her eyes burned with such fire and rage, she was angry enough to end him. _Kill him.._.

He never realized... that Frea felt this way.... She thought this way about him, she believed this....

He never knew.... Her emotion could be that strong..... about.... _Me...._

_"Laxus deserved a better Father than you."_

He let his eyes fall closed and a sigh escape his lips. This.... It was nearly too much to take in, too much to think about.... And all of it... he just didn't know what to think of it at all..... How was he supposed to even process that...?

What was he supposed to do with that? Think?

.... Feel..?

_"You know, Laxus."_

His eyes opened, narrowed to slits and sweatdropping slightly.

* * *

_Moon paused, standing on the edge of the bed just after she let the memory fade entirely. "I'm sure Frea told you that she and Jynx are at considerable odds at the moment?" She asked, he only nodded at her slightly. She smiled a little, "When she got the Lacrima back, we went straight to where you were. Frea knew she couldn't Implant it back inside you, and she realized that we didn't have time to mull over any ideas on the subject." Moon explained, "She knew that Jynx could help, and despite what she feels about Jynx at the moment, she asked her to help anyway." Moon's smile grew a little more as he blinked in slight surprise at her. "When Jynx told Frea she didn't have enough Power on her own to do anything- Frea didn't hesitate a single moment. She agreed instantly to let Jynx use every ounce of her Magic Power in order to make sure you lived."_

_Moon hopped down from the bed and paused,_

_"I think.... For both you and Frea, you've never been the sort of people to show how you truly feel by taking about it, saying it....." She murmured softly, "... Which is why, she wouldn't ever repeat anything she said to Ivan, back to you, or anybody else..... it was one of those rare occasions I think, it's something that's changed.... She did something she wouldn't normally do, by saying all of that. But even then- at the end of all of it, something about her stayed the same." She sighed a little, and smiled just a bit more. "Frea's always showed her true feelings through her actions- so at the end of it, when she didn't hesitate," She smirked slightly,_

_"I think actions can speak just as loud as words- louder with the both of you."_

* * *

He let out a small growl, for whatever reason.... Moon reminded him of Mirajane, the type that stuck their nose in things... but at the same time, wasn't trying to be overly nosey nor irritating about it.... Like they had some form of good intention.

What did she want him to do, now that she showed him that?

Was he supposed to do anything...? Was.....

What was he supposed to think, let alone do, damn it?!

He lout out an aggravated sigh and let himself fall against the pillow behind his back, arms crossed and pressed against his forehead. It was too much all at once, he didn't know how to feel, how to react.... That small twinge inside of him was foreign and he didn't understand that either. Should he do anything? Or should he leave it alone...?

His arms fell to his chest, grazing the bandages slightly as he stared at the ceiling.

He wasn't going to think about it too much- he wasn't going to let himself get distracted by all of that, he never let himself get sidetracked and he sure as hell wasn't somebody to brood over 'emotions' and the like- especially the things he didn't understand at all. To do so was to waste time- and he wasn't going to.

He wasn't planning to do a damn thing, he didn't have any reason to. For now, he was just gonna forget about all of it- push it to the back of his mind as best he could and not worry over it at all.

Whether or not that was his true resolution, he still couldn't just ignore all of it- though he did try.

It was just..... a lot to take in.....

With an annoyed huff, he just blinked once.

".... Actions... speak louder than words... hmm....?"

* * *

 

"... You still up, Moon...?"

Moon's ears twitched at the sound of Frea's voice in the dim, her eyes slowing moving across the room to meet he slightly glowing gaze of Frea from where she had rolled over in bed to glance her way.

Frea- unbeknownst to Moon- had been simply staring out of the window beside her bed for a few hours now, having pulled the curtains open to let in the moonlight and starshine outside as day fell away into night.

It had been an unpleasant jerk from her sleep, that Things voice.... The waves of Power pounding into her body, making her ache.... The agonizing sting that sprung up from the wound in her side had been the thing that had her wake up- panting and dripping in sweat, heart racing..... it was a nightmare, of the few she ever had.

The feeling of having lost her Magic had her heart racing, her skin crawling- she had felt so empty that way, so cold.... Hollow..... she shivered slightly at the thought.

'... _..Malunafrey...'_

That name, what that Thing kept calling her.... It was leaving a small, faint ringing sound in her ears now- as something deep inside of her stirred at it- like she should know the name... understand it somehow....

_"... Maybe it has some sort of importance we don't know about?"_

That seemed likely.... She just wished she could figure it out..... it had to be important, otherwise that Thing wouldn't keep calling her that.

She had been very aware of Moon coming back up toward Fairy Hills, she could feel her Partner's Energy Signature growing closer- and had heard her come into the room quietly. Her eyes met Moon's pale blue ones, all tenseness she held on to from the dream hidden expertly- she wouldn't worry Moon over it, and she wasn't going to.

"I thought you'd still be asleep." Moon murmured softly, Frea blinked, letting out a sigh.

"... yeah..... I was just thinking is all." She replied easily, Moon tilted her head a little, before jumping up onto the bed lightly, taking a seat beside her as Frea lift her head and rest her cheek in her hand softly.

"About what?" Moon asked, eyebrow quirking as she gave Frea a small, quick look-over- trying to determine if something was wrong.....

"After a few days, or even a week or so- we should go on a job." Frea replied and Moon blinked in shock.

"Really?" She asked, "So soon? Shouldn't we be focused on what to do next about that Thing?" She asked and Frea let her eyes close a moment.

"I realize that seems important- and it is..... but we have no leads, and It'd be nice to have a break in between." She replied, looking to Moon steadily. "We have no idea where to start- whether we try looking for more sites like Hilshine and Nvindorr, or trying to find more information on whatever it is that Thing is really." She explained, Moon sweatdropped slightly- knowing it was true. They had nowhere to start..... "I'm not very good at the 'sitting on my hands' thing. I can't sit around brooding about it, I have to keep moving or I might go insane. From here on out, we'll have to face things as they come- but why should we have to quit doing what we normally do?" Frea asked, "We need to keep working, that's what we do. Going on a job or two will keep our minds clear, and keep us from stressing too much." Moon gave her a reluctant look and Frea smiled slightly.

"I know you don't agree with the 'no apparent plan' thing, but you know I'll go insane sitting around doing nothing. It's not in me to keep still too long." She murmured, and Moon sighed. "So what do you say? It doesn't have to be a big job either- something small, close to the town. And easy too, if you want." She promised and Moon just gazed at her levelly a minute.

Frea had a point, she wasn't good at sitting still- that time spent healing had been maddening for the Energy Dragon Slayer. She couldn't keep herself content, and was always agitated when she wasn't moving or working- she was a busy-body, and part of that she liked- the other she hated.

No, she did not like the idea of Frea jumping back into working and fighting so soon after everything that had happened the last few days. There had been a clear threat made against her, and she was in danger- she was also not doing very well.

Frea was good at hiding it, but it was clear that she was starting to crack under all the pressure coming down on her head so suddenly. For possibly the first time, she was actually scared of what was coming- and Moon was too.

She wasn't sure Frea should try pushing herself so fast, she wanted time for Frea to pull her thoughts and feelings back into place.... And a week, she wasn't sure that would do it.

A part of her felt that Frea wanting to take a job was less about not being able to sit still for very long, and more about putting her mind on something other than that Thing entirely. In a way, she was ignoring it and moving away from it as best she could.... And maybe that would help her calm down and pull herself together.....

_".... Keep us from stressing too much."_

She hoped that would be the case..... Moon let out a low, long sigh and scratched an ear.

"Fine." She mumbled, Frea's eyes glinted a little. "But only after at least a week- and only something small, easy, and close by. No hard missions, no traveling too far. We still need to be on our guard- but I do see your point." She relented, "Maybe focusing on something else will be good."

"Sounds perfect." Frea smiled, though wearily. Moon's eyes narrowed in sympathy at how exhausted Frea still seemed to be.

"We should go to sleep though." Moon murmured, and Frea nodded. "I'm tired, and so are you."

"Not denying that.." Frea mumbled. They settled down together, and Moon let her eyes fall closed.

They snapped open when Frea's arms wrapped about her person and brought her to her chest, hugging her tightly as Frea rolled over toward the window. She blinked in shock, though they always slept in the same bed- they usually slept side by side, Frea hardly ever held on to her and hugged her like this... a small twinge of concern flared up in her core a moment.

She would have asked if something was wrong, but Frea's breathing had already eased, and even without seeing her face- she knew the Energy Dragon Slayer was already asleep... so she let herself relax and her eyes closed.

_It seems like I'm always worried about Frea... understandably..... but I wonder.... When should I truly be worried...?_

A part of her wanted to believe that she was being overbearing and Frea was handling things like she usually did- considerably well. Because the Energy Dragon Slayer was so good at hiding what she truly felt, sometimes it was hard to know when something was actually wrong. She could be overreacting and Frea might actually be alright.....

_.... But I don't think she really is... at least not now....._

She sighed again, maybe a job would help after all.... Those, when they didn't involve ancient Powers or that Thing, jobs usually did pick up Frea's mood quite a bit. Going on this job..... it might just make her happier, help her..... make things a little less bad.

She smiled a little, _maybe I'm a little overbearing when it comes to Frea... but maybe that's ok... she needs someone to be overbearing for her._

* * *

 

_"Malunafrey..."_

_She was slammed into the ground again, her Magic gone, nothing, empty._

_".... Are you trying to ignore me now?" The voice hissed, she growled._

_"Just tell me who, or what the hell you are!" She snapped coldly toward the dark._

_How the hell does it even get inside my head like this?! Nothing should be able to do that! Nothing!_

_"... It's not time for you to know that, Malunafrey... there is a time and place for everything." The voice replied easily. "Even now, I may not be looking to make my next move just yet- but that doesn't mean something else will not come to pass before then. Everything happens, happens because that was what was decided upon, that one thing or another will come to pass at a certain time, and to a certain person, place, or even group- nation, country......" She stiffened, eyes wide at the words. That sounded... why did that sound a lot like....?!_

_'While I do not know why, of by whom it was decided, or even the instance in which it was set to come about- but you, Energy Dragon- tied to you is something great, large, and incomprehensible. Something dire, a current of events that ties into your life, for now, and from you, you will be plagued by an ancient force that even I do not know. It has been decided that you should be involved in this coming catastrophe, of which I am beginning to believe is much more than any of us can imagine, more than we could ever dream, things will happen, things will change- and yet through it all- it will be you. You cannot escape it. You swore to defeat this Ancient Evil, as you should- but had you not it would not matter. I believe you are the one meant to combat it, you are the only one who can- you were the one chosen to.'_

_That Fate and Destiny crap Jynx told her about? And now that Thing... it was buying into that too?!_

_Even more than before, though she didn't want to- she believed in that, that there were things that were meant to happen no matter what you did to avoid them..... just like what Jynx said about the Guild- about the things and the people that would come to be there, long before any of them had arrived, or even been born....._

_".... Hehe.... You've heard this before though, have you not..?"_

_She was smashed into with another wave of pure force, this time hard enough she couldn't help yelling at the pain. Agony swept through her being and the shadows were ripped away on the ring of dark laughter all around her._

_".... I do look forward... to our next meeting... Malunafrey...."_

* * *

 

".... Are you two sure..?" Mira asked, glancing between the both of Moon and Frea as she held the Request form in her hands. Moon sweatdropped slightly but Frea simply smirked a little, both of them dressed in their Mission attire and Frea with her bag strapped to her back- looking all ready to go.

It had been a week and three days since they had decided they would do a job, instead of waiting for answers to fall in their laps. As predicted, Frea had slept for the larger part of it- but even then it was mostly interrupted by the now frequent, and very infuriating talks with that Thing when it decided to pop into her head for the hell of it. After the first couple of days they had ceased, but none the less..... she wasn't enthused.

As the dreams became less frequent, she did manage to recover- at least for the most part. There remained a dull ache from when Jynx had brought her into the White Plane, and they wound on her side still flared in pain at random moments- but her Magic had returned, and she had managed to rid herself of her sleeplessness. In all reality, she was very much looking forward to working a new job- it would help her wind down a bit and relax, and she always did like the challenge.

After a day or so she had spoken with Laxus, Porlyusica had given him clearance to leave the Guild- though she was still fairly certain he wasn't allowed to work any jobs.

_Sucks for him._

He hadn't been around the Guild much though, but in reality- she hadn't either. And since that night she had stayed at the Guild, they hadn't spoken to one another either- and all that they talked about had slowly faded to the back of her mind now- which she was sure had happened for the Lightning-for-Brains as well.

"Of course. Just because things have gotten crazy doesn't mean I have to halt my everyday life." Frea replied, "Besides, I am up to full capacity- and really need a job to keep me busy. This one is a breeze, and it's only an hour away from Magnolia. We'll be completely fine!"

"Even so.... I'm not sure I like the idea." Mira murmured, though she stamped the Request in approval anyway- smiling slightly despite herself. "But you do seem full of energy, and I trust that you'll be fine." She was an S-Class for a reason after all, and Frea had proven time and time again she could handle quite a bit. In all reality- it was a relief to see her looking so excited and care free over something, it was no fun seeing her tense and uneasy- it often made the people in the Guild feel the same way.

Besides, she very well knew Frea was one to go stir crazy rather quickly- it was best for her to keep moving.

"Be careful, will you?" Mira said and they both nodded.

"You got it." They said in unison, they both turned away but Mira blinked in surprise-

"Oh, Frea! Wait a moment!" She called quickly, halting their movement. Frea turned back, blinking questioningly.

"Hmm?"

"I'd just thought I'd let you know, since you two are they only ones who haven't seen it yet." Mira said, pulling a book from behind the desk and smiling slightly, looking a little uneasy. Frea and Moon moved back toward the counter a bit, "Chase chose a formal partner a few days ago, I thought you'd like to know..." She opened the book to the most recent page and gestured down toward it slowly.

Moon's ears perked at the mention of a formal Partner, her eyes briefly noticing Frea's name on the top of the second to most recent page with her own name beside it. But a formal Partner for Chase? Who would he have...?

".... He chose Aisha." Mira said slowly, smiling a little uneasily as Frea's eyes scanned the paper and noticed her former student's name next to the Moonlight Mage's own. Moon sweatdropped, glancing toward Frea quickly- expecting a scowl or something at the news.

Frea's expression didn't change in the slightest, she simply shrugged a little and looked back up- seeming unperturbed by the information. "Alright then, thanks for letting me know, Mira." She said evenly, turning away- "We'll see you in a few hours, bye!" She waved behind her, leaving a very stunned Mira and Moon behind a moment.

They had expected some sort of disgust with the news, an angry comment, and annoyed huff- something. And yet Frea didn't even seem to care!

"Oh my..." Mira murmured, blinking a few times in shock. Moon shook herself a little and sprouted wings, taking off after her Partner but not before sharing a confused look with Mira. Did they miss something?

Moon caught up to Frea's shoulder as they exited the Guild Hall, glancing toward her Partner curiously. "Frea?" She asked after a moment.

"Yeah?" Frea replied, blinking.

"Well.... Its just that.... I thought you'd be mad, about Chase choosing Aisha as his Partner...." She said slowly and Frea shook her head,

"Not really, he's allowed to choose whoever he wants. I'm not in control of him." Frea murmured, "Even if it is that bitchy Moonlight Mage.... It's still his choice." An edge made its way into Frea's voice a moment, but other than that- she was calm about it. Moon simply stared, not quite understanding it....?

Frea smirked slightly, "Besides, there is no way in hell I'm gonna let Aisha ruin my good mood about taking a job in any way!" She smiled, "And I'm certainly not gonna think about it either, what's done is done!" She said brightly, and Moon sweatdropped a little.

She didn't understand it.... Not with Aisha and Frea being somewhat mortal enemies, and Chase being so important to the Energy Dragon Slayer..... maybe it really was Frea not wanting to ruin her excite over their Job... but then again, maybe it was something else- something she really didn't get.

With a sigh and a shake of her head she dropped the subject, her thoughts moving to the task at hand and the smiling Frea beside her. For a minute, all doubts about taking a job seemed to melt away.

_This will be good for us... I'm sure of it._

But even then, for some reason- she couldn't shake a small, cold weight at the bottom of her stomach.... It must be nerves about everything else going on.....

She clenched a paw, she had to believe they would get through this- and she would. With Frea leading the charge in a way... they were sure to find some way to overcome any odd that came at them- that was just how much faith she had in the Energy Dragon Slayer. A faith, despite her worrying and concern- a faith that never wavered, at all.

Things will work out.


	47. Y-you Know Him....?

**Chapter 47**

**Y-You Know Him...?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

_... She had to believe they would get through this- and she would. With Frea leading the charge in a way... they were sure to find some way to overcome any odd that came at them- that was just how much faith she had in the Energy Dragon Slayer. A faith, despite her worrying and concern- a faith that never wavered, at all._

_Things will work out._

* * *

 

The sky grew a milky grey in the early hours of the morning, long before the sun would make it over the horizon and from behind the tops of the surrounding forests. Magnolia sat in silence, no one out of their beds, the chill morning air nipping at the dew covered grass and buildings, moisture glittering off the streets in the low lights.

Everything was silent. Not even the birds had woken yet, not the people, not the Guild.

"Calm down... Calm down... We're going Toro..."

A middle aged woman stumbled from her apartment, about her wrist the end of the leach attached to the collar of her dog as it jumped from the open door. The woman yawned widely, tears pricking at her eyes as she tried to wake herself up- shivering at the cold air that met her outside her warm home.

Her dog pulled at the leash eagerly, pulling the woman with it as she let out a sigh.

"Its too early for you and me... What's got you so worked up so early in the morning anyway?" She asked of her dog, not expecting an answer of course- but it was better than the silence of the still sleeping Magnolia. Her eyes moved up toward the sky and she sweatdropped a little at the dreary grey cloud cover above, "Its not even dawn... And already it looks like its gonna rain..." She sighed, stumbling a little as her dog pulled at the leash again.

Her attention snapped back to him and she sweatdropped more, now being reluctantly dragged behind the eager creature as it moved quickly up the street. "Toro... Heel... Heel..! Slow down!" She said quickly, her voice low as to avoid waking her neighbors. The dog didn't hear the order as she continued to stumble behind him, shaking her head at the enthusiasm so early in the morning- she had no energy to argue and allowed herself to follow the dog farther into town.

Toro didn't let up, and only continued to jerk at the leash the entire way through- only when they had grown several blocks away from their home did the woman force the dog to stop, pulling backward on the leash hard and sweatdropping as the creature resisted.

"This is far enough! Lets go back, Toro! Come on!" She told him firmly but softly, the dog lurched against the rope and let out a few high pitched barks in protest- she winced at the noise in the silent city.

"Shhh! No, no don't do that! Come on Toro, that's enough!" She snapped, thrusting hard as she turned in her heel with the dog in tow- back toward home.

She stumbled backward and nearly fell as the leash jerked, _hard_ \- and it was torn from her hand as Toro took off down the street at full sprint.

She struggled to stay on her feet as she turned, "Toro!" She called quickly, the tip of the dogs tail disappearing around the corner as she immediately gave chase.

She whipped about the corner, gaining on the dog only slightly as she kept up her running- the dog never ceased in his sprinting as he headed farther into the town- much farther away than they would ever normally go.

"Toro!" She called again, panting as the dog came to a halt in front of the local Wizards Guild, the dogs barking pricking at the silent air almost painfully- she waved her hands a little, "Quiet! Quiet! Please, quite with the barking!" She tried to get the dog to quite down as she bent over and picked the leash up- it was very odd for the creature to behave like this...

"Toro, what is the matter with you?" She muttered, the barking not having ceased as the dog jerked against the leash a little more- as if it was trying to get closer to the hall, its barking frantic, almost... Almost alarmed. Her eyes slowly moved from the dog to the Hall itself-

Her scream of utter fright rung out above the barking and traveled across the chill morning air- moving throughout the town and tearing people nearby from their beds as the silence was destroyed. Many popped their ears from windows, others jumped out doors as her scream reached their ears, eyes wide and panicked,

"What the hell?!"

"What's going on?"

"Who was that?!"

The woman's hands shot up to cover her mouth as her body went rigid, eyes wide and body trembling as she faced the scene before her, her voice rose up on the air louder than ever-

"Someone! Get the Fairy Tail Guild Master! _Quickly!"_

* * *

 

The band of Natsu, Chase, Erza, Gray, Happy and Lucy made their way through the town swiftly, sprinting toward the Guild Hall- the sky a dreary almost ominous gray over their heads with the promise of rain. The town was in an uproar around them, people moving about frantically- many of them moving in the direction they had been running.

The looks of horror on the faces of those who had been moving away from the Guild Hall had the group running faster- Natsu had heard the scream of the woman easily with his heightened hearing, and had taken off running immediately.

The group had come together as they made their way toward the Guild, all becoming gripped by a dark sinking feeling.

They hadn't a clue what was going on, of the murmured words they managed to catch none of it gave any clue as to what had happened exactly- but they knew it wasn't good.

Chase sweatdropped a little, eyes fixed ahead as he cast his senses out ahead of them- trying to see if he could determine what was happening at all.

Many of the Members of the Guild were already there, including Master Makarov- as well as a number of the townspeople from what he could guess.

To his surprise, he picked up on the flare of Frea's Energy Signature ahead- lacking the calmly pulsing waves of Magic that seemed to always radiate from her. He blinked in shock, she and Moon hadn't been gone on their Job more than a few days- _they shouldn't be back yet at all..._

... He couldn't find Moon's Energy Signature ahead and he felt a deep sense of foreboding drop into the pits of his stomach.

There was something dark and cold... Something powerful mixed in with Frea's Energy Signature, something that shouldn't be there- his heart lurched a little and they pushed on faster.

"What's going on?" Happy mumbled in his flying, "Everyone seems... Scared." He mumbled, watching the looks on the people they were sprinting past.

"I don't know buddy." Natsu replied lowly, eyes narrowed. "Whoever that lady was that started yelling, all she said was for somebody to get Gramps, and fast.."

"The Master?" Erza mumbled,

"What would they need the Old Man for?" Gray muttered,

"I don't know... But he's already at the Guild Hall." Chase murmured, the sinking feeling inside of him growing deeper as the waves of Negative Emotion started to hit him as they drew closer to the hall.

Something was very, _very_ wrong...

The group sped around the last corner and made their way through the crowd of townspeople in the front of the hall- who all remained outside the gate and wall.

Breaking free from the crowd of onlookers and coming through the gate toward the steps to the front door, they all came to a dead stop.

Lucy's hands shot up to cover her mouth and the gasp that escaped her lips, everyone else looked up in complete and utter shock at what faced them- the grim faced and worried looks on the faces of the other Members about them as they looked toward the hall in deathly silence.

"Oh my... God..." Lucy stammered, small tears brimming in her eyes against her will.

"What the hell...?" Gray stammered,

"N-no way..." Natsu breathed, sweatdropping heavily.

"Teach..!" Chase breathed, eyes wide and barely audible as a deep cold lump fell into the pits of his core, his breath driven from him, body going still, blood freezing.

Scarlet glittered in the dim light of the morning, off the sticky liquid spilled on the stone steps, trails of it smeared into lettering.

**_'She's Ours'_ **

* * *

_Three days earlier-_

"Back already?"

Several members of the Guild called out toward the duo of Frea and Moon as they made their way inside of the Guild Hall- looking a bit exasperated in Moon's case but fantastically upbeat in the case of Frea.

They had just finished their sixth small job in the last few days since starting out again- taking it easy and slow as Moon had Frea promise to do. Every mission was extremely simple, they took no more than a few hours or half a day- and all of them were no match for Frea's strength nor enthusiasm.

"Of course!" Frea smirked, answering the question brightly. It was an understatement to say her mood had improved somewhat. "You really think a herd of Vulcan is any match for me?" She asked, earning smiles and sweatdrops from most of the members- Macao especially- who remembered the trouble he had with one, where Natsu had to come save him.

"Of course not..." Many of them mumbled a little, smiling to themselves. Moon shook her head a little but followed Frea back over toward the Request Board.

"Really taking another one?" Mira asked, drawing up beside the two of them as Frea paused. She smiled a bit but in her eyes there was a small bit of concern.

Moon blinked at the look but otherwise didn't ask about it- because she understood that look. It was something she felt too- Frea was avoiding the issue at hand in a way... But they were going along with it for now.

Better to let her enjoy herself instead of have her worrying herself to death.

"Yep." Frea replied easily. "This time something a little longer... A little harder..." She peered at the board a little closer. Mira and Moon exchanged small looks and Frea paused a moment.

It was easy to feel the uneasiness spark off the both of Moon and Mira from where they were just a little behind her. She let out a silent sigh and straightened up.

"I'm not pushing it away." She said softly, earning surprised looks from Mira and Moon as she glanced toward them. "Believe it or not- working jobs helps me pull my thoughts together better than sitting around the Guild or at home." She smiled slightly, "I know it seems like I'm avoiding it all- but I'm not, I'm just sorting through it all in my own way."

Moon and Mira just looked at her for a moment, surprised by the sudden words.

It had never occurred to them that Frea was mulling things over in anyway- they had just jumped to the conclusion she was ignoring everything... But she wasn't? She was thinking things over on her own time and in her own way...

A very surprising way at that...?

The Energy Dragon Slayer smiled slightly, "I actually have more of a plan on what to do about that Thing than I did..." She paused as Moon have her a skeptical look.

"How much of a plan?" Moon mumbled and Frea sweatdropped.

"... Not much, but its a start." Frea chuckled nervously and Moon sighed.

"... It _is_ a start... At any rate..." Moon mumbled and Mira nodded slightly. "... As long as you aren't ignoring it completely, Frea- we can't complain. We just don't want you to turn a blind eye on it." She explained and Frea nodded.

"I'm not, promise." She smiled slightly, it would be hard to ignore it- in reality everything revolving that Thing and everything happening with it swirled around her mind constantly without end.

But what she said was true- through the jobs and the small fighting she had begun to piece things forget her and organize her thoughts more and more. It wasn't a huge jumbled mess of fragments and words anymore... Though it was still a mess, she was able to think over all of it for longer periods of time without getting overly frustrated with it.

In terms of what the next step would be... She wasn't sure she could find another sight like Nvindorr and Hilshine. She had never known they existed before all of this started happening, she couldn't even feel any of that supposed Ancient Power until either it was released, or she was in some certain spot. She had no way of finding any more sites... And hadn't a clue how many there were.

_'Four Pillars meant to hold the base, a Fifth that threatens to break the Form. Balance of Four, the Creation of One. Force of Destruction, the Product of Four.'_

Jynx's riddle of an answer was something she had thought over hundreds upon hundreds of times.

Was it supposed to mean there were four? Or five?

So instead she focused on what she did know- there were at least two of them. And from what that Thing had said thus far- she may run into another one, in some way, and some time...

_The next time I face it... What will happen...?_

That was something she wondered on most.

It wanted something of her, something with her...

... And it thought she would die... At the end of all this...

She shook that thought away, for what she figured and guessed- she would handle things as as came. That was what she was used to, rolling with things as they came along.

It was something... That was clearly inevitable at this point. She didn't like fate or destiny... But things were happening and she really had no way to stop them, no way at all.

She was going to face it- do her damnedest, fight her hardest- do everything and anything she needed to do. She would stand and fight.

_When it comes, I will stand tall._

That was her plan... Almost in its entirety.

"So. What will it be then?" Mira said, and Frea smiled back. She turned back toward the board and scanned it a little more, Moon pulled up just next to her.

Master Makarov sat on the top of the bar counter silently, mug in hand and eyes closed- listening in to the small conversation sprung up between Frea, Mirajane and Moon.

It had been clear to him that Frea had started moving quickly after the events involving the most recent S-Class assignment and what happened with his grandson. At first glance- he thought as Moon and Mira did- she was looking for something to keep her mind off the impending danger, she was trying to ignore it...

And yet he realized immediately that was not it at all.

It had become clear to him that Frea processed things in a different manner than most people normally would. Where many would need to take time and sit down to sort through their thoughts and problems, Frea was the sort of person that needed to keep moving in order to think on anything clearly.

It was something she and Natsu shared, both of them were always able to think things through more clearly when in the heat of battle than they were at any other time. It made it easy for the both of them to move on and came in handy when working on the fly- another thing the both of them were very, very good at doing.

Jump in first, think in a moments time, don't dwell... It had always worked for both Frea and Natsu in the past.

He sighed slightly, making a mental note to have another talk with Frea at some later date- once he gave her a bit more time to think of what her next step would be. He needed to be on the same page as the Energy Dragon Slayer with everything going on, he needed to be clear on her plans and movements so he could help in anyway he needed to or was necessary.

But for now- he trusted her to think it over and decide on what was next.

Frea's eyes landed on a single piece of paper before her and she reached forward to grab it, it was another small one- but it was farther and required some travel. It was a simple request to clear a merchant road of monsters blocking the way, and it lead right through a forest she had seldom been to- but a big one at that. She knew that many different sorts of Magical creatures and animals lived in those, deep, large, thick woods, and wasn't surprised the road through needed clearing- it did every once in awhile.

The forest in particular was far off and dealing with the job, and the traveling back and forth would take at least week or so.

_More time to keep thinking things over._

She smiled a little and turned to Mira, holding the paper up- but not before glancing toward Moon to earn a nod of approval from her Partner.

"We'd like this one, please." She said brightly, Mira took the request with a nod and walked off to get it stamped before heading back over.

"On to another one already, huh Teach?"

Frea and Moon's attention turned toward Chase as he stopped beside them, his hands in his pockets. He had moved away from Aisha a moment, who was currently in a conversation with Lisanna.

"Gotta keep moving." Frea shrugged,

"Yeah- I know how impatient you can be." He smirked slightly and she smirked back. "How long will this one take?" He asked,

"Should be a week or so." Frea replied and he nodded,

"Have you and Aisha gone on any missions yet, now that you're officially permanent Partners?" Moon asked, earning Chase's gaze.

"So you heard about that huh?" He murmured and she nodded, Frea turned away as Mira came back up and handed her the Request form back. He sighed a little and rubbed the back of his neck, "No... Not yet. We're gonna go on one in a few days probably, for now we're just taking it easy." His eyes trailed back to said MoonLight Mage,

He didn't say it out loud- but he _had_ suggested going on a job the day of agreeing to become permanent Partners with Aisha... And she had promptly refused. At first he wasn't sure why she had done such a thing, but he figured it out- it had been something along the lines of forcing him to stay in town a few days and finish healing from everything that happened in Hilshine, and to recover the Magic he had spent helping the Lightning-for-Brains. Aisha wouldn't let him jump into a Job so soon... In her own way it was showing she cared, and he appreciated it.. Though he wouldn't say so out loud.

A part of him figured he didn't need to.

"Frea!"

Both Moon and Chase looked away when they heard the name shouted from across the Hall. Their eyes immediately landed on Natsu who had burst into the hall, slamming a clenched fist into the palm of his hand and grinning toothily. His eyes locked on to the person who's name he had called, clearing bursting with Energy.

Frea glanced away from Mira and toward him, eyes glinting a moment.

"Hmm?"

"Quit with the jobs already! I wanna fight!" He called to her loudly, Frea paused a moment, before a smirk spread across her face and she folded the request in her hands- placing it in a pocket.

"Sure Natsu, if you wanna get your ask beat that much- I'll happily oblige." She said back, earning a challenging glare from the Pinkette. Silver erupted about her fists and fire erupted about his, "Come at me then, Pyro." She growled,

The hall erupted in the clash of red and silver, soon joined in by streak other members as a full on brawl erupted in the Hall.

Chase smiled slightly, "... I don't know why I'm even worried... Especially if she still has the energy to brawl with Natsu..." He said almost to himself, earning a small nod from Moon. "None the less..." Moon's eyes turned away from the sudden fighting toward him, "The both of you, be careful, ok?" He murmured and she nodded.

"Yeah, of course." She replied and he headed back toward Aisha and Lisanna. She sighed slightly and hopped up on the nearest table, crossing her paws over her chest and content to wait for Frea to quit with her brawling before heading off.

"Moon."

"Hmm?" She hummed, turning around toward the voice, her eyes landing on Lily as he walked up toward her. She smiled slightly, "Hey, Lily." She purred slightly as he hopped up into the table next to her, she hadn't noticed either he nor Gajeel in the hall before now- looking past him, Gajeel was engaged in the brawl Natsu had started, being promptly tossed across the floor from a hit from Frea.

"She is full of energy I see." Lily smiled, gesturing toward Frea.

"So is Gajeel." She countered softly, smirking a bit. Lily nodded,

"Surprising though, considering the amount of jobs you two have been doing the last few days." He replied, "Are you taking another one?"

"Yes, this ones farther away so it'll take a week or so." She explained, "Hopefully it'll help wind Frea down a little from the hype to do so many jobs..."

"... How is she doing, by the way?" He asked and she sighed,

"... I don't really know... She says she's dealing with things in her own way, thinking them through..." She sighed and he blinked,

"But?"

"... Well... I think Frea doesn't really know how she feels. She showed she was having a hard time coming to terms with it before we ever made it back to Magnolia, and since then she's been doing everything but moving to tackle the issue at hand." Moon explained lowly, "... She seems to be having a better time handling all of it now... But even still, I have the feeling that inwardly- she's not quite as calm and carefree as she seems... Though that's all a guess."

Lily nodded slightly, tapping a paw to his chin as his eyes closed and he seemed to go into thought a moment.

"... Frea has always been... Very hard to figure out, to read. You expect one thing but its something entirely different with her, part of that is because her feelings are always so hidden- its confusing." He murmured and Moon nodded in agreement. "But I think that is something you share with her."

Moon's head snapped his way in slight surprise at the words, finding him looking toward her steadily with a small smile on his lips.

"What do you mean...?" She asked slowly,

"You tend to act one way, though you feel another." He replied easily, "Its always been very hard to understand what it was you're really feeling- you're good at hiding your deepest emotions and I have always thought that perhaps that was because you... Had some reason to hide them." He said softly, earning a blink from Moon as her heart sped up a moment.

Some reason to hide her feelings... Could Lily have guessed... About her past...?!

"... Wha...?"

"... I've noticed it a few times before now, when you think no one is looking or you're alone, you seem sad... Troubled. Like you're remembering things that you don't want to, things that hurt." He said softly, for a moment she swore his eyes flicked to the bandages about her arms and legs.

Hardly anyone had questioned those- surprisingly. She had expected someone to ask, but everyone had seemed to pass it over and ignore it- maybe they thought they shouldn't ask, and she had always been glad they hadn't.

But because no one asked, that didn't mean that they didn't wonder- and she could tell Lily had.

She glanced away, sweatdropping slightly.

"... Things that keep you from showing your true emotions, from letting yourself show what you are actually feeling." He murmured, "I don't mean to pry or make you uncomfortable, Moon... I'd just like you to know that you can talk to me, if ever you want or need to." She looked back toward him slowly, as he smiled a little. "You're smart enough to know holding on to things too long doesn't help anything."

She sighed, eyes closing a moment. She wasn't ready to face that... It wasn't that she didn't trust Lily or anything... She just hadn't even been able to tell _Frea_ hardly anything, and Frea was her Partner. She wasn't ready to talk about it with Lily on any level... And she hadn't realized he had seemingly payed so close attention to her.

It was never her intention to seem sad or troubled at any time, even when she was. She didn't like seeming that way, but he had apparently noticed it... She never thought he cared enough to take notice.

"Are you alright?" He asked and she blinked, glancing toward him. He smiled a little, "You don't have to explain anything- its just a question." He purred, and she quirked an eyebrow. "Most people tend to ask if Frea's alright- but many of them seem to forget to ask if you're doing alright." He explained, and despite herself- she blushed a little.

"... Lily..." She mumbled, he just smiled slightly.

"Don't wear yourself out worrying over Frea and whatever else that may be on your mind." He told her, "It's very admirable how loyal you are to her- she couldn't have a better Partner. But don't forget to look after yourself." He warned, smirking slightly. "If you don't- I'll have to, and I think you're too stubborn to let me do that."

She blushed a bit more, but chuckled anyway at his somewhat clear attempt to cheer her up.

Despite reservations she had held for the tom upon learning he was from Extalia- and her lack of like for a Kingdom that had sent her away and dumped her alone in the world- Lily was... Likable. She trusted him, she liked him- got along with him.

They didn't hardly ever talk too much, he wasn't one to hold long conversations- which was something he and Gajeel shared. Most of the words exchanged between the two of them had been simple phrases, small comments, one or two words at times- but it was never tense after the very beginning. Just being in a group, or even sitting in silence was perfectly fine and content for the both of them.

But it was because they didn't share much between them that she had never thought he would take so much notice in her- especially enough to have noticed her deeply hidden pain and sadness to any extent...

He was so laid back and firm most of the time, and for a moment she considered him a little hard to read- even more so than Frea. Because she had never seen him this way before- so reassuring and caring almost... Not at this level anyway.

But a part of her really appreciated it, and she smiled at him, nodding her head a little.

"Yes, I'm alright." She replied softly, maybe... Some time... She might try and talk to Lily too...

He nodded, "Good to hear." He smirked. "Just remember, I will listen if you ever need me to." She smiled a little more,

"Thank you, Lily." She murmured, "You're a very good friend, I'm glad we met."

"As am I." He smirked, "Both you and Frea, be careful on your mission- alright?" He said and she nodded, "When you come back, perhaps we could have a small battle?" He asked and Moon blinked. "I've wanted to get a look at that Copy Cat Magic I've heard so much about." Moon paused, before smirking a little.

"Sure. But you'll lose." She smirked and he smirked back,

"So sure about that?" He asked easily, and she crossed her paws over her chest- her tail flicking him across the nose lightly.

"You said it yourself- I'm stubborn. There isn't any way I'll let you win too easily!" She assured and he chuckled, as she started laughing to herself as well.

"I look forward to it."

* * *

 

"... So, what were you and Lily having so much fun talking about?" Frea said lightly, lips pulled into a faint smirk as she glanced sideways at Moon- who sat on her shoulder.

The two of them were walking along a well trodden path through a neighboring forest- the forest they had taken the Assignment to clear the road for. It had been two days since leaving Magnolia- and the Guild Hall in considerable disarray- Master hadn't been enthused about the destruction that had been caused.

Though, with the payout from Hilshine- paying for the damage wasn't an issue.

The job had been considerably easy as of yet- a few Vulcan and the odd appearance of a Wyvern had been all they had to deal with thus far. Nothing serious nor any considerable amount of trouble, though Frea was sure the monster/creature sightings would increase the further in they went.

Moon blinked a few times, a little surprised and confused. That had been two days ago, and Frea now only decided to ask about it?

"We were just talking." She replied. "It wasn't anything special..."

"You sure looked like you were having a good time." Frea smiled and Moon gave her a neutral stare.

"I'm surprised you managed to notice- with all the destruction you were causing." She muttered and Frea chuckled.

"Well- I do pay attention more than you think I do." Frea replied easily, suddenly reminding Moon of Lily- and how he had been paying much more attention than she thought he had...

"... He wants to have a battle with me, when we get back." Moon murmured, her eyes moving to look ahead.

"Ah, really?" Frea smirked, "My money's on you- Moon. Lily's strong but I've gone up against that Copy Cat Magic of yours, it isn't anything to underestimate." She told her and Moon sighed silently.

"If I wanted to, I could probably just knock him out with my Memory Magic." She murmured, and Frea shrugged.

"True, you are good at that..." She relented, "Though, I really wouldn't know."

Moon paused, glancing sideways toward Frea.

That was true- no Mind Related Magic worked on the Energy Dragon Slayer as far as she could see. She couldn't get close to Frea's mind, and Frea couldn't be spoken to telepathically either. Since the day she had met her- Frea's mind had always been closed off, she could never even get close enough to try and pry at whatever lock it was that kept her out- the block was too strong, even for Moon.

When she had asked Frea about why it was that way, she had only gotten half an answer- 'There's a good reason no one can get inside my head'.

What did that even mean?

She shook her head a little, deciding not to pry.

"Well- I won't. I'll make it a fair fight," she murmured, before she paused again. "... He also asked how I was doing, actually." She added in lowly.

"Why wouldn't he?" Frea asked back, earning a surprised blink from Moon. Frea just gazed at her levelly, "Why so unsure? It shouldn't be a surprise Lily wonders how you are- you are friends aren't you?"

Moon nodded, "Well... Yeah." She smiled slightly.

"Then don't act so surprised about it." Frea smiled, "Lily cares for you, and you care for him. Its natural to be worried or concerned about one another."

"... I suppose... That's right..." Moon mumbled, blushing faintly. For whatever reason, she suddenly got the feeling that Frea noticed things a bit more than anyone would have guessed...

What was it she had heard Frea say before? _'I know more than you think I do'_?

They fell into a bit of content silence as they continued forward, Frea's ears focused on every little sound around them- the slightest hint of anything moving toward them- nose twitching in case she managed to catch anything off. Her senses cast out as far as they could without pushing it- alert and ready for anything that may come their way.

None the less... Her mind still swirled with thoughts pertaining to much more than their current mission.

What would she do if, by some chance- she did manage to find another site like those of Hilshine and Nvindorr? It had been luck and chance she was able to activate the barrier in Hilshine- and had only been able to seal Salengoreath again with the help of Jynx- who she wasn't planning to speak to let alone work with any time in the future.

If there was another power, an Ancient Magic of the magnitude of Salengoreath, and whatever had been hidden in Hilshine... What if she couldn't keep that Thing from getting at it? It was already so powerful... She couldn't imagine what would happen if it did manage to take hold of such Power...

She shook her head slightly, glancing upward through small gaps in the trees and toward the deep indigo sky- the cool scent of nightfall hitting her nose as the day came to an end slowly.

"Frea." Moon murmured,

"Hmm?"

"After... After all of this mess gets sorted out, would you mind... If we had a talk... About... Well, me..?" Moon mumbled and Frea blinked, glancing sideways at her Partner. Moon wasn't looking her way though, instead she was looking at her paws. "... I haven't told you everything about what happened before meeting you... And I wouldn't want to put more things on your mind than you already have..."

"You can tell me whatever you like, whenever you like- Moon." She cut her off gently, "I'll never be too busy to listen to anything you have to say- don't worry about how much is on my mind or adding to it. I'm more than happy to lend an ear, to just sit down and listen. You can tell me now, or tomorrow, a week from now- whatever. Whenever you want. Don't worry about it." She said with a small smile, and Moon smiled faintly, looking a little hesitant yet relieved at the same time.

"Thank you... Frea, I really do appreciate that." Moon replied,

"Of course."

"... And I will tell you, soon... Sometime soon..." Moon murmured and Frea nodded in understanding,

"Well- why not start now, Kitty, what do you say?"

Frea stopped dead, both her and Moon tensing up at the sudden voice- Moon grew deathly still, trembling as her eyes stretched wide and she seemed to shrink in on herself.

There was a single moment of Magic flashing- a single moment where from the corner of her eye, she spotted jagged red and black light in what seemed like lightning flashed from the sky- a single moment in which two Energy Signatures weren't there, and then they suddenly were.

One completely foreign, the other infuriatingly familiar.

What caught her immediate attention was the blood curdling fear that came off of Moon in immense waves, she could scent the fear coming off of her Partner, nearly feeling the cold that had fallen over her.

Moon was _horrified._ And she had no clue as to why.

Frea turned toward the voice, fists clenching at her sides as her silver gaze locked onto a man she had promised to kill the next time she saw him.

His lips pulled into a grin as he spotted her, his chin covered in a thin beard now and face aged by the last seven or so years since she had seen him. He raised one of his scarred arms and gave her a small, very nonchalant wave that only infuriated her more- his purple gaze glinting darkly under his black hair, longer now and still messy as it was the first time.

His black trench coat was open to leave his bare chest open to the air- the Guild Mark next to the 'x' scar on his chest was no longer that of Grimoire Heart- but instead a ragged skull split down the middle by a shadowy bolt of electricity. He placed one hand to lean against the trunk of the tree he was standing in,

The man on the other side of the trunk of the same tree was unfamiliar to her. He stood silently with his arms over his chest, eyes a dull orange color that were icy despite the usually warm color. His hair was long and covered his eyes halfway, fading from a deep brown to crimson near the ends. He was wrapped up in a long cloak with the hood up, what was left of his attire and his features was blocked by the cloak.

"Well well- who would have guessed you would be the one who took in our lost bit of trash, Shade Demon." The first man to have spoken hissed lowly, still grinning.

"You bastard." Frea hissed. Moon's fearful gaze momentarily switched from the man, toward Frea, her entire frame shaking uncontrollably, beads of sweat dripping down her forehead.

"... F... F-Frea...? .. Y-you know... H-him...?" Moon stammered, earning a sideways glance from Frea. Her silver eyes met Moon's horrified gaze,

She blinked, Moon... Knew him too... She was afraid... She...

Her eyes widened in shock, the thoughts clicking together in her head rapidly as her face suddenly darkened with cold, brutal hatred and her Magic started bubbling. Her silver gaze switched back to the man, who grinned upon seeing she had figured it out.

"And it all comes together." He chuckled darkly, "I had hoped we would meet again some day, Shade Demon. There is a debt to be repaid- and now I see you have our missing slave." He smiled, clapping his hands together- the noise made Moon flinch. "Two birds with one stone." He laughed, "Did you get bored of your Old Pet? That boy from the Island?" He asked, before mocking a gasp of surprise. "Or maybe he's dead?" Frea bared her fangs as a low, animalistic growl rose from her throat.

" _You._.. You're the one who hurt her, who kept Moon a prisoner..." Frea hissed lowly, silver eyes burning. "You did all of that... You sick bastard... All of those things you did... To Moon... To her friend... To everyone..." Her fists clenched harder as silver started to wrap about them. He just smiled, Frea took a step toward him, entire being suddenly bathed in powerful fury and deep seated hatred that was nearly choking.

**_"I'm gonna kill you, Tomaru!"_ **

He shook his head and waved a finger at her in an almost scolding way- unperturbed by her anger and only seemingly amused by it.

"Now, now- not too fast." He told her. "I had come here looking for my property- finding you is an added bonus however." He told her, "I would love to talk, but I think we've exhausted all topics between the two of us, haven't we?" He smirked. "I'll be taking the cat back, if I have to kill you to do it- then I will happily do so. You still have retribution to pay for the death of my old partner, and more so for all that happened on Tenrou." His gaze moved to Moon, who shrunk away, looking ready to feint.

Frea stiffened, "There is no way in hell I'm letting you have Moon." She snapped firmly, her body turning to move Moon slightly away from Tomaru almost protectively, Moon's paws had moved slowly toward Frea, resting on her neck as if she was holding on for dear life. "I'll _never_ let you take her back. She isn't anyone's property."

Tomaru bent down, his arms resting on his knees as he looked down at the two of them, his devilish grin never fading.

"Its been seven years, Shade Demon." Tomaru told her, "Seven years, and since you came back- it would seem you have grown strong, much stronger than I or anyone could have ever anticipated, Kasumi included." Frea visibly stiffened at the more or less 'taboo' name. "I love the idea of killing you, and am very excited to see how far your power has actually come. I will be taking my dear Kitty back with me-" he said, his tone that of a promise. His head tilted as a shadow passed over his face and his features became twisted and maniac.

"Seven years- and I am not the same person either." He chuckled. "I am the master of The Dark Guild; Death Bolt. Second Largest Guild in the Baram Alliance, and now- the one who is going to destroy you." He growled, "Killing you will be a fine first punishment for my slave there- the first punishment of many to come."

Frea's Magic Pressure increased tenfold at the threat, ramming into Moon with such force she thought she might fall over- though that may have been the sickening horror gripping her.

Everything was crashing down on her head, all of it, every bad thing, every painful lash, every blow, every cruel memory... A figure of her deepest nightmares was standing not five feet from her. She was frozen, she could hardly breath, and she couldn't look away either.

And Frea knew him.

Frea knew him... Master Tomaru... And his old Partner had been the very person to cause Frea so much pain in her life...

Tomaru was here to take her back, to make her a else to his will once more- and to do so he was looking to kill Frea.

The tears had started brimming in her eyes despite herself, she started shaking and she couldn't stop.

_Tomaru was going to take her back._

_He's going to kill Frea._

"You're not touching her." Frea snapped back coldly, her tone flinty and firm as the surest steel. Moon's eyes snapped away from the vision of her nightmare to her Partner, seeing the steadfast and unmovable expression on her face.

"If you even dare try and take her, I will make sure not a shred of you is left to bury." Frea hissed, the pure venom in her voice taking Moon aback. A small flicker of hope flared inside of her- Frea wouldn't give her up... She wouldn't... Frea was the most powerful Wizard Moon had ever met... She could beat Tomaru.

Then that flare of hope was nearly consumed in doubt and darkness. Her years in Death Bolt had made one thing very, very clear.

_Even the strongest Wizards can lose to pure evil- to dark, malicious intent._

She was suddenly afraid for not just her own life, but Frea's as well. Very afraid.

_We have to run..._

"I'd love to see you try." Tomaru chuckled,

"Moon." Frea murmured softly, her eyes never leaving Tomaru. Moon's eyes had shut against her will, her paws grasping Frea's shoulder for dear life. She opened them and glanced toward the Energy Dragon Slayer with terrified, tear filled eyes.

Despite the hatred and the rage Frea was clearly feeling, she suddenly looked very, very calm.

"I will not let him take you." Frea told her softly, firmly. "You're never going back to that Guild, I won't let him win." She said and Moon blinked, for a split second she felt a little better.

_Frea..._

"Moon is my Partner and a Member of Fairy Tail." Frea growled, straightening up. "You will not have her, I won't let you and if you decide to try and take her- I will destroy you."

Tomaru's grin spread wide at her words, a cold spear seemed to strike Moon in the core at the sight of it.

"Seven years is a long time, Shade Demon."

* * *

Scarlet liquid painted the grass, trees splintered and the first nearly destroyed.

Blood stained everything, the ground time up, the area seemingly a battlefield.

* * *

Flesh ripped and a yell of pain was stifled by the hand that smacked down over the mouth of the one about to make the noise.

The dark, malignant grin shine in the shadow of the deeply silent and daunting night around them. The grin widened and stopped down, hissing in a sickly sweet voice.

"Suffering is the best, and most effective punishment. Better for those who follow the light path- shadow will always win. Something you still don't understand... Hehe..."

A river of crimson fell and littered stone, flowing slowly in the silvery moonlight with a sickening sound of muscle, skin and bone being shredded.

* * *

The sound of bodies thumping and thrashing about filled the area, bones cracking, skin breaking, sobs and yells of pain...

A terrified, core-shilling scream ripped through the air, breaking the deathly silence.

_"FREA!"_

* * *

_Something was very, very wrong..._

_Scarlet glittered in the morning sun off the sticky liquid spilled on the stone steps, trails of it smeared into lettering..._

**_'She's Ours'_ **

_Frea's_ blood was littering the steps of the Fairy Tail Guild Hall, streams of it moving down the door, the two words written in it.

She was _crucified,_ hands chained above her head, wrists dark and bloody from the bruising of the metal, the end of the binds wrapped to a long metal pole thrust into the building.

She was pinned by a long stone sword piercing through the skin, muscle and bone of her right shoulder- going all the way _through_ the heavy wooden door of the Guild Hall.

Her skin was cut and bruised all over, her clothes tattered and covered in dirt and blood. Her hair fell in loose strands about her lowered head, hiding her face from view.

Painted over top of her Fairy Tail Guild Mark was a skull split by a bit of lightning- this also painted in her blood.

Chase stood in complete stillness. Eyes wide in shock and horror at the sight of his Old Mentor in such a state. He couldn't move, and for awhile he didn't dare breath.

Master and Mirajane were that the forefront with Gajeel, Lily, Gildarts, Wendy and Laxus nearby. Lily was holding on to Gajeel as he floated up toward the chains, his arm transforming into a sword and expression dark and unreadable- thoughts of him doing this to a certain Script-Mage and her team suddenly invading his mind.

Laki had produced a raised platform of wood that could be used to get closer, Wendy was on top of it with Carla close at hand- Laxus beside her, expression neutral.

Gildarts, Master and Mira were by the platform, all expressions tense and sweatdropping. The Guild behind them remained in horrified silence- this image, of Frea- one of the Guilds S-Class, one of their Family Members- crucified to the front door of the Guild, beaten, bloody, wounded... this would never leave their minds.

It wasn't something any of them would have ever imagined would happen- they hardly beleived their eyes.

It was truly, and utterly awful...

"What the hell happened?!" Natsu found his voice, rushing right up to Master Makarov, looking slightly panicked.

"Is she ok?" Gray asked immediately, his eyes fixed to Frea.

"Is she even breathing...?" Lucy stammered.

"She's alive, but unconscious." Gildarts replied lowly.

"We don't know why or how this happened." Master muttered, his tone somewhere between worry and pure anger. "Or by who. But this will not go unchallenged." Natsu's fist clenched, looking to agree completely.

"... That message..." Erza said softly, her eyes trailing over the blood scrawled message. "... Who do they..?"

"They have Moon..." Mira replied gravely, her eyes moving slowly toward Erza. Erza's eyes widened in alarm, "She was with Frea... And she's missing..."

"But who... Who would have done this...?" Erza stammered slightly, sweatdropping heavily.

"We don't know." Mira murmured, "But that symbol on her arm... It seems familiar..."

"Moon's been captured...?" Happy stammered, looking horrified.

"... She's in danger then..." Lucy mumbled, looking tense.

"If Moon's gone we have to get her back." Natsu growled, "And make the bastard who did this to Frea pay."

"We'll have to find them first though." Gray muttered, though he looked just as determined for pay back as Natsu did.

Slightly set apart from the group of Fairy Tail Members, who were now grumbling in agreeance with Natsu and Gray, just in the slight shadow of the wall surrounding the Guild- stood Aisha, purple gaze narrowed.

"Its Death Bolt..." Aisha mumbled under her breath, eyes trained to said mark painted on Frea's shoulder, from where she stood off to the side, arms crossed over her chest. "... 2nd seat Guild in the Baram Alliance..."

"... Have you come into contact with them before?"

There was a pale shimmer of grey and orange beside Aisha as Solana passed through her Gate on her own, seemingly having heard Aisha muttering to herself. Solana had apparently been aware something was wrong the minute Lucy got here, and now her green eyes were narrowed in shock and concern as she gazed toward the crucified Frea- she never believed she would see Frea in such a state, _ever._

Aisha glanced her sister's way a small moment, before her eyes moved back to the crowd.

"No, just heard some information on them, illegal activity here and there... A lot of fuss from the Council too... I wouldn't ever want to meet any of them." Aisha explained lowly, sweatdropping a little as Solana glanced back toward her, noticing the tenseness on her younger siblings face- the slight inkling of... Was that fear?

"What do you mean...?"

"They're an Assassin Guild." Aisha muttered lowly, "They're known for the lives they take, the killing contracts, and they have a reputation for finishing the job..." She trailed off, Solana stiffened at the news. "... They didn't finish her though... Wonder is why...?" To Frea? No the job wasn't done... but it was close enough...

Solana's eyes slowly traced where Aisha was looking, only to find that her sister was gazing at Chase- who still had not moved. Even from their position it was easy to see how stricken he was... How shocked and a little afraid he was. To see the person who trained him, someone he cared for like that... She couldn't imagine it, how he really felt.

"But why take Moon?" Solana murmured, "Frea wouldn't have let anyone get away with that easily... But _Moon_...?"

Gajeel paused, his arm an inch above the chains bound to Frea's wrists and wrapped about the steel for sticking from the stone building, eyes glinting slightly as he glanced down to where Wendy and Laxus were.

Laxus glanced upward, moving toward Frea deftly and gently placing his hands on her waist, ready to steady her once the chains were cut- if she even did shift at all with that sword sticking through her shoulder. She wasn't hardly moving, and her breathing was shallow and slow- no mention of awareness or wakefulness could be seen from her, she was completely out- which wasn't a shock the state she was in.

Why he was the one up here trying to help get her down was a mystery, any of the other guys in the Guild could have- but he and the Iron Freak were the first ones to step up once Frea was found here. Though inwardly shocked as they were, the two of them had been the few collected enough to start trying to get her down, where as most others could only stare in bewildered shock and disbelief.

"... Take the chains off slowly, Gajeel. Don't let them drop." Levy called up softly from where she stood at the edge of the platform, her eyes wide and glinting, arms pulled to her chest in uncertainty and worry- she only earned small huff from him.

"Don't gotta tell me that..." He grumbled. For a split second, he glanced down toward Levy and felt a twinge in his chest- which he knew was guilt, but would never admit to it.

Seeing Frea like this was sure to bring up the memory of _him_ doing the same thing to her- on the tree in the park all that time ago. He could see those painful memories in her eyes, and had to look away.

To be fairly honest, Frea was never one he expected to see this done to- to see her beaten and wounded to the point she had been strung up like a doll... His outlook on her had never made it seem possible anything like this would happen to her, and yet it had.

Whoever it was that did this- they must have been hellishly strong and ruthless... And they were going to have hell to pay too.

It infuriated him, despite himself. He never acted it on the outside, but he respected Frea and cared enough for her that this made him very, very angry- and all he wanted to do was wring the throat of the bastard responsible. But for now he kept his cool, and focused on trying to get her down first. He didn't want her stuck like this too much longer, it was demeaning, and he figured Frea wouldn't appreciate being strung up any longer than she probably already had been.

He grabbed the bottom of the chains in one hand and swiftly broke the top, immediately feeling the dead weight of the Energy Dragon Slayer's arms in his hand as the binds slackened, a small hard lump formed in his throat at the feeling of such lifeless dead weight.

Lily lowered them slowly, without having to be told to do so. Gajeel glanced at his Partner a moment, Lily was being very silent... He saw the concern and deep set anger in his Partners face and he knew it was for more than just seeing Frea in this state.

Moon was gone, presumably in the hands of the person who had done this to Frea- and he was worried about what had happened, and what might be happening to her. Gajeel himself found himself tensing up at the thought of the she-cat in the clutches of someone dangerous enough to take Frea down like this.

Wendy moved up beside Laxus with Carla in tow, the both of them slipping the chains from Frea wrists as they loosened enough to do so, Gajeel's feet hit the edge of the platform as Lily set him down- tossing the chains aside when they were off, expression neutral yet tense.

Wendy's fingers grazed the sword just barely, sweatdropping as she felt a spark of Magic jump off of it a moment before it was gone and before she could determine what it was.

"... This is going to be the hardest part..." She mumbled. "... Just taking it out is going to tear apart everything... If it isn't already damaged..." She trailed off,

"We can't cut it out though." Carla murmured. "It isn't metal but stone, it'd fracture too much if we tried breaking it, or cutting it."

"... I'll just have to start healing it as soon as its out. And try to avoid moving it too much as we're taking it out." Wendy mumbled, raising her hands as they began to glow softly. "Gajeel, could you take it out?" She asked, he huffed a little but stepped up, his hand grasping the sword hilt, the other gently laying on Frea's shoulder to support it.

Laxus shift sideways, ready to catch her as soon as the sword was out, Wendy moved up next to him an gave Gajeel a nod- her hands under the blade. Wendy stiffened a little and Laxus grimaced slightly,

"... Tch... Sorry, Silver..." Gajeel grumbled under his breath, earning sweatdrops from most everyone else.

He tensed as he pulled the blade out swiftly but not too quickly, earning a spray of scarlet hitting the platform at their feet and the sound of bone and muscle snapping- easily heard with their heightened ears.

Frea's jaw clenched in pain, letting out a small hiss as her body tensed, but otherwise she didn't react nor wake up.

Laxus caught Frea in his arms, holding her bridal style a moment before lowering her onto the floor, Wendy's Magic flaring as she set to work on trying to close the wound as quickly and efficiently as she could, Laxus let Frea lean against him, one resting against her back to support her and expression neutral.

Gajeel grimaced and moved back, swiftly tossing the scarlet stained sword down so it stuck into the ground in front of the crowd of Fairy Tailers.

Wendy sweatdropped, eyes wide. "... This is... Awful..." She mumbled,

Chase, who had yet to move nor say anything, his eyes suddenly cast down toward the stone sword lodged into the path not a few feet from him- the shocked and horrified look he he'd been wearing suddenly changing to a look of anger.

He _recognized_ that sword.

His fists clenched at his side, eyes glinting in rising yet muffled anger. He couldn't mistake it, he'd know it anywhere.

"... That _bastard._.." He hissed under his breath.

Master glanced up along with Natsu, who both seemed to have noticed and or heard Chase growl under his breath- both of them recognizing the look of anger on his face.

"What do you mean?" Natsu asked,

"Do you know whom that sword belongs to?" Master asked, Chase had started forward and grabbed the sword in his hand- a dark look on his face.

"I've seen this sword, back on Tenrou during the exams." Chase muttered, blue eyes burning as he looked over the stone blade. Everyone in ear shot sweatdropped, looking shocked. "It belongs to the Grimoire Heart Mage that Teach and I fought with."

Wendy's ears trained to Chase- suddenly remembering the wound Frea had received back on the Island, to the piece of a sword that had been lodged inside of the wound. Frea had received significant damage then... And now, now the damage she earned was nearly tenfold- but she could see the similarities. The way the blade ripped and shredded instead of cleanly cutting, an effect of Magic on the blade she assumed.

Master's eyes narrowed and Natsu scowled, "You're saying one of those Grimoire Heart Bastards did this?" He growled, Chase nodded stiffly.

"But why take Moon?" Erza muttered, earning Master's gaze. "She wasn't with us at that time- no one in Grimoire Heart should even know her as far as I know."

Lily sweatdropped, ears pressing against his head and eyes narrowing. He was silent, he hadn't said a word since arriving at the Guild with Gajeel- and that was because he was trying to wrap his head around it all.

He was tense, and he knew immediately Moon had been taken- but for what reason, by who, and where- he had no idea. What he did know for certain was if Moon was in the hands of the same person, or people, that did _this_ \- this much damage to Frea- Moon was in grave and serious danger.

A part of him worried she was hurt- or being hurt... And them maybe worse...

But his mind flashed to one thing.

It was the one thing, that as far as he knew- no one in the Guild had openly questioned it. Something he knew many to them, including himself had wondered over for sometime now.

Those bandages Moon always wore, the sad, nearly haunted look he had seen come into her eyes on occasions when she was alone... They hinted at something past. Something Moon had happen to her, something that had gone on and she never spoke about, nor explained.

_Something that hurt._

Maybe it was true Moon shouldn't know anyone in Grimoire Heart- but she had been on her own long before meeting Frea. She had a past, and no one knew about it- could it be possible, whatever it was, whatever he thought just have been dark and painful...

... Moon knew this Mage that Frea apparently ran into? She had some history with whoever it or they were?

The thought seemed a little far fetched, but he couldn't shake it off.

"What was his name?" Master asked, seemingly calmly though Chase could easily feel the anger and tension sparking off the Old Man. It was something he could feel from most everyone else, mixed with worry, and fear- there was rising anger, anger toward the one who had done such a thing to Frea and to Moon- to one of their Family Members.

"Tomaru." Chase nearly hissed the name, just remembering that man angered him.

"Then we gotta find him!" Natsu snapped,

"Hell yeah, if we find that bastard, I bet you we'll find Moon." Gray growled, "And we'll be able to get back at him for doing this to Frea."

"Nobody gets away with hurting anyone in Fairy Tail." Natsu hissed, slamming a fist into his palm, suddenly burning with energy.

"He's gonna have hell to pay." Chase growled, someone who was never quick to fight suddenly seemed ready to jump in Magic Blazing he was so angry- and he had right to be.

Master paused, listening to the murmurings of agreement among the rest of the Guild. He was just as angry as they were, nearly more so- but even then, he knew better than to jump right into anything. He had made that mistake with Phantom Lord once, and paid the price for his rashness.

"We will not let this go unchallenged." He spoke up, firmly, as the eyes of the Guild rest on him. "But we must learn more, before we act in any way. We do not know why either Moon or Frea was attacked- or if this man, Tomaru, took Moon at all- though it is likely. Until we know more, we won't move just yet- but we will bring Moon back, and make the one responsible pay for this." His eyes hardened. "Two of the Members of our Family have been attacked and threatened, with one of them captured by the enemy. Fairy Tail will not rest until the wrongs done have been made right."

"Yeah!"

"We're gonna make that Bastard pay!"

"Moon, we'll get you back!"

"You hurt anyone in Fairy Tail- and the rest of us will make you pay!"

Aisha let out a small sigh, eyes fixed to the sudden angry crowd as Solana gazed at it too- her green eyes sparking in risen anger, though she kept calm. If what Aisha said was true, and seeing what happened to Frea- one of the strongest in the Guild, and possibly the strongest she had ever met- combating anyone who could do this to Frea was not going to be easy, and t was going to be very dangerous. It was something the Master and several others like Erza, Lucy, Mira, Laxus, Gildarts- all realized themselves.

Whoever this Tomaru was, whoever their enemy was- they were dangerous. Very dangerous.

Wendy's attention had moved back to trying to close up the wound on Frea's shoulder some time ago, eyes narrowed and sweatdropping as she did so. This was a complicated and pretty messy injury, and healing it was very slow going- a part of her was afraid of how well Frea would be able to move that shoulder after this, even with all the Healing Magic she knew...

Her eyes widened in shock as her body tensed suddenly, realizing nearly instantly what that Magic she had felt spark off the sword earlier was- it was a... A Paralysis Spell... She tensed her attention away from Healing, about to neutralize the Spell-

Her Magic faltered as her heart leapt to her throat, eyes going wide and jaw dropping slightly-

There was a sudden burst of pressure that hit her, steam started to rise up from the wound in nearly translucent waves, the Paralysis Spell was fading quickly and even the wound itself... It was healing, all in the sudden flux of pure, raw Magic Pressure...

Beside her, Carla, Gajeel, Lily and Laxus alike stiffened- easily sensing the increased Magical Pressure, and none of them able to believe _where_ it was coming from.

"... Damn it... Finally..." Frea hissed, eyes blinking open slowly and glittering in unexpected rage- especially in someone who hasn't been moving or conscious moments before. She blinked, eyes closing as she straightened up slightly, though not much, but enough to support herself without too much help, her jaw clenching in pain.

"... That Paralysis Spell... Is freakin' annoying..." She growled lowly, eyes opening and burning with silver raging fire, teeth bared as she glanced past them toward the sword Chase was holding. No one else besides the ones standing close by seemed to have noticed Frea's return to wakefulness, until Chase felt his Old Mentor's Magic and anger rising so quickly, his eyes snapped her way yet he didn't say anything just yet.

There was a sudden flurry of anger and rage rising off of her, all exhaustion and weakness seeming to melt away- including the wound.

Frea's anger was so potent her Magic was some how burning away both the Paralysis Spell, and healing bits of the wound in a fiery hot wave- thus the steaming.

Her face darkened as her eyes glinted in cold, seething fury, fist clenching as her Magic Pressure increased, causing both Carla and Wendy to flinch, Gajeel, Lily sweatdropped heavily, though they seemed less surprised than anyone else... just slightly. Laxus stiffened, though nearly imperceptibly, eyes narrowed and expression neutral as he watched Frea's face darken, watched and felt her stifling anger and rage rising with her Magic...

_That look..._

"I am going to kill Tomaru."


	48. Final Say Goes to Jynx

**Chapter 48**

**Final Say Goes To Jynx**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

"... Frea..." Wendy mumbled, sweatdropping at the dangerous look that the Energy Dragon Slayer wore. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen Frea look so... Murderous.

"... That man, Tomaru- he did this to you?" Carla asked, Frea nodded stiffly. "And Moon?"

Frea's eyes sparked a minute and she growled, "He took her, damn it..." Her jaw clenched a little, seemingly half in pain, half in rage. Everyone listening sweatdropped at the affirmation. "... He and that damned Guild of his are gonna pay."

"Guild?"

"The Death Bolt Guild."

Frea's eyes moved past Wendy and Carla to the familiar sight of Solana standing just next to the platform, Aisha at her side. Wendy, Gajeel, Lily and Carla turned around at the name, eyes narrowed.

"It looks like you've got yourself in a mess with another serious Dark Guild, Frea.." Solana murmured, green eyes glinting slightly.

For a split second there was a small, faint flash of pain that sprung up from the scar in the center of her chest- the ghost of a memory of the Guild Master of Black Chimera coming to the surface. Solana let out a small sigh, eyes narrowing at the state Frea was in.

"Death Bolt...?" Wendy mumbled, eyes wide.

"But what on earth does this Guild have to do with Moon?" Carla asked suddenly, sweatdropping. "Certainly this man didn't take her on a whim?"

Frea went silent a minute, eyes closing as she seemed to go into thought on it- by now a few had started to realize she had come to, and slowly try moved up toward the already crowded platform.

"Teach..." Chase mumbled, stepping up beside Aisha.

Master Makarov slowly stepped up on to the platform, stopping just in front of Frea as several people parted to allow him through, the rest of the Guild's S-Class close behind him.

"Frea." Master murmured softly, expression neutral. He seemed to have heard Carla ask the question and now he was waiting for the explanation- easily seeing it was a sensitive matter.

"... Moon was prisoner to a Dark Guild for many years before I ever met her." Frea murmured slowly, earning shocked gasps and stricken expressions from most everyone at the news. Master blinked, eyes suddenly flashing in anger and slight astonishment. "They tortured and hurt her... And it didn't stop until she found a way out. She hadn't run into them since then." Frea's jaw clenched a little, becoming even more agitated at the thought. "... Until now, damn it...!"

Many people glanced to her uncertainly, the sudden revelation of Moon's past taking them aback. Gajeel glanced sideways, feeling a cold chill fall over Lily beside him- who was suddenly scowling with fire in his eyes that was almost as potent as the one in Frea's.

"The one who attacked you was Tomaru?" Master asked lowly,

"Yes. He's the Guild Master- he must have created his Guild after leaving Tenrou and Grimoire Heart was disbanded." Frea muttered,

"... So he took Moon back... To be his prisoner..?" Happy mumbled softly, eyes wide and looking fearful. Frea's fangs ground down in eachother, her anger only still burning, more so at the thought of Moon being taken.

She let it happen, damn it!

There wasn't anything she was angry for more- than her anger toward herself.

What was the point of everything that had been going on, the one spent training to get better, how far she had come- what was the point of all of it if Tomaru could do this? Take Moon and nearly kill her while doing it?

_I'm such a weakling... Damn it, I couldn't even keep her safe...!_

That anger was enough to put her Magic into overdrive without her consciously trying to use it- the same thing that had happened when fighting against Cobra in the Tomb.

She was so angry her Magic burned away both his Poison, and healed her wounds all on its own.

Her shoulder was steaming as her Magic overflowed and worked to repair the damage now, and been away the Paralysis Spell that had left her pinned and unable to move for hours on end. With the major wound, many smaller cuts and wounds about her body healed entirely- fading without a trace they were even once there.

At some point things had gone black... She must have passed out some time between being strung up till now, but even then those hours were a hazy blur of suppressed anger and rage writhing around inside of her.

This was pathetic, she knew that. She felt pathetic, and weak... And it just pissed her off more.

_Tomaru beat my ass into a bloody pulp... He strung me up, he took my Partner, that bastard..._

She would never admit to it, but she was slightly humiliated.

She supposed that had probably been that bastards aim...

"Them we have to find the base of Death Bolt, and get Moon back." Gray growled and receiving nods from several others. Master stiffened slightly, eyes narrowing.

"An all out frontal attack may not be the best plan." The Old Man mumbled.

"We can't just sit here and wait, Gramps!" Gray protested hotly, coming up into the Platform with Natsu next to him.

"Every moment we're here is another moment Moon is in the hands of that man." Lily said seriously, eyes glinting in muffled anger. "We can't allow her to remain prisoner for any longer than we can avoid."

"We'll have to find it first." Erza reminded the group slowly.

"We can look into it." Chase muttered, exchanging a glance with Aisha, who nodded at him.

"You don't need to."

All heads snapped toward Frea as she straightened up and got to her feet, earning a small protest from Wendy and Carla, but otherwise she ignored it. She leaned against the door a little and held the arm of the injured shoulder lightly, eyes still burning in utter fire, though the pain in her eyes was unmistakable.

Laxus got to his feet beside her, growling a little under his breath at the fact she was moving so quickly but otherwise saying silent. He knew arguing with her would be useless.

"What do you mean..?" Many people echoed,

"I've been locked on to Tomaru's Energy Signature since he left." Frea replied in a low growl, earning shocked looks from everyone and an astounded stare from Chase- who for the best of him found it hard to believe that Frea could have been keeping an eye on the man's Energy Signature for as long as she must have, and in the state she was in.

Chase stiffened slightly when she looked toward him, immediately sure of what she was going to say to him.

"Think you can use your Trail Spell to find a way to him, kid?" She asked and he blinked. He wasn't sure if she was asking because she wanted to make it easier for the Guild to find the Death Bolt Guild, or if she wasn't sure she could do it on her own... the way she was in right now, he wasn't sure anyone let alone Master would be willing to let her come along to fight Tomaru and his Guild, though he was sure she'd come anyway.

If she did... would her anger and rage be enough to keep her on her feet? Even as wounded and beaten up as she was? He couldn't imagine how much blood she must have lost... But it was no small amount. She must have been dizzy, and her pale skin did nothing but worry him more...

".. Yeah, of course." He answered after a moment, being able to feel the weakness, pain and exhaustion coming from her in steady waves- nearly as steady as the raw power bouncing off of her, he wasn't sure she could keep an eye on Tomaru's Energy Signature for much longer... and he wasn't willing to lose Moon and Death Bolt's location if Frea lost it.

A quick glance in Master Makarov's direction, and the brief, silent gaze they shared a moment made him sure that the Old Man was thinking the same thing.

He moved up onto the Platform, eyes narrowing and sweatdropping. He stopped in front of Frea, aware her sudden urge of Magical Pressure was waning- slightly. She looked back to him with a neutral stare, slowly letting go of the arm of her injured shoulder. She looked ready to lift her hands to meet his- as they usually did when combining their senses, but hissed at the attempt, making many people including Chase stiffen.

".. take it easy Teach." He said lowly, eyes glinting. "... you sure you're ok to do this?" He asked, earning a small frown from her.

"Does it matter?" She hissed lowly, moving both hands up and stifling the hiss that threatened to make it past her lips- he could feel a sharp wave of pain prick off of her in the next instant that nearly made him flinch, and he could see her shoulder shaking with the effort of using her arm at all. Her Magic had begun to heal the wound quite well, but as Wendy and Carla knew immediately- that wound was too messy, and too serious to even be remotely usable in a few weeks at the most. By now the steam that had been coming from the wound had ceased and Frea's Magic had quite healing it on it's own- Wendy fidgeted slightly, eyes flicking back up to Frea, wanting to start healing the wound again, seeing the blood starting to drip more- and easily seeing the pain and struggle it was to use the arm of the injured shoulder at all.

She, along with several other people who saw it- they were astounded that Frea was healing her wounds at all- most never knew she was able to do such a thing, or do it so effectively. Many of the smaller wounds she had were fine completely, making her seem less haggard- but Wendy figured even if some of the outward wounds had gone, the overall damage was too serious to be left alone. She hadn't been able to get a good look at the extent of all her injuries apart from her shoulder- but her stomach clenched, and she knew Frea was hurt, badly. Very badly.

Though Frea didn't seem to care about any of that, she was too angry to. Chase frowned slightly himself and sweatdropped some more- he recognized that look on his Old Mentor's face, and he hated it. It was one that told him, she could be on the edge of death and she would still be forcing herself to move, to fight, to use Magic- and in the end, all that ever earned for her, was more injuries and becoming that much closer to death...

"I'm finding Moon." She told him in a low tone, a small warning for both him- and everyone else in earshot. "Nothing is going to stop me from getting her back, or repaying Tomaru for all of this." What she didn't say out loud, was that nothing and no one was going to stop her.

_No one._

With a small, inward sigh- he cursed her in his head. He wished she wasn't so stubborn, and not for the first time- he wished she put more thought into taking care of, and keeping herself safe, where he knew it was her favorite choice to stand in the line of fire for everyone she cared about, regardless of how it affected her, or her health.

But for the best of him, he couldn't argue... because she wasn't going to listen. She was so full of anger and rage, no amount of reasoning would get through to her.

At least... he wouldn't argue at the moment. He'd lock on to Tomaru's Energy Signature and create a Trail to him, so they could find Death Bolt and Moon in as little time as possible.

But hell if he was going to go along with her fighting in the battle against the Dark Guild so easily- he figured he wasn't the only who was going to argue with her on that point either.

He raised his own hands and held them out so she could rest her hands on top of his- disregarding their normal routine of pressing their palms together, he didn't want to put anymore strain on her wounded shoulder than she was already doing herself.

"..... you're too head-strong for your own good, Teach..." He mumbled under his breath, too low for her, even with her heightened hearing, to hear what it was he said.

Both their eyes closed as he felt Frea's Magic start to mingle with his- she was clearly beginning to suppress the uncontrolled waves to allow the Spell to work.

"Energy Sense." They said in unison, standing surrounded by the grim faced and silent members of the Guild, the sky above them slowly turning grey as storm clouds began to roll in, and a chill breeze started to blow. Their Magic's made and appearance, waves of light blue and silver rippling around their feet and spinning faster every moment, Chase's senses being guided by Frea's as he followed her senses toward what she was locked on to.

He recognized it nearly immediately, knowing it from the battle against the man on Tenrou. But what caught him entirely off guard, was the distance between them and Tomaru and himself... it was more than the distance between Magnolia to Crocus, which was no small distance in itself... and somehow, even despite the great distance between Frea and Tomaru- distance that would normally be impossible to sense an Energy Signature at all- Frea had somehow managed to stay locked on to it, for hours on end.

He had known her regular sense of the Energy about them had heightened, but this was.... It had to be impossible, it should be impossible, and yet she managed it.....

He shook the thought off, knowing he needed to get on with the Spell. He wouldn't need to keep the trail visible right away, he just needed to know where it was- he wasn't expecting the Guild to move out immediately as it was- which he was sure was not going to go over well with Frea and a few others.

_"May I find my target,_

_That I will keep within my sight,_

_The Energy Signature in which I search for._

_Reveal to me,_

_The trail of those in which I pursue,_

_To follow in shadow or light,_

_In whatever conditions that arise,_

_Appear to me now,_

_And show me the way..."_

His Magic was beginning to blaze up brighter than Frea's, his Magic slowly wrapping around the Energy Signature Tomaru tightly, making it impossible to lose it even despite the distance- but remaining locked on to it would take some effort of him, he knew, but he was well willing to do it.

Moon had to be found, Death Bolt and Tomaru were going to pay for this.

"Energy Lock: Trail Seeker!" He finished firmly, and in an instant both their eyes snapped open at once- Chase's eyes full pale blue orbs of light for a split second. Many people jumped backward away from the stream of his pale blue Magic flashing over the ground and out away from Magnolia, before it faded entirely.

"... Got it." Chase murmured, his eyes slowly leaving Frea and she pulled her hands away and held her arm again, he slowly moved his gaze from her to the Old Man standing a bit behind him. "I can get us there now, but it's pretty far." He explained as the Old Man nodded.

"Then we'll begin getting ready to head there, and bring Moon home." Makarov replied, earning nods from everyone else. There was a shimmer of gold beside him as Mavis appeared, looking unhappy and tense. "First.."

"I've begun coming up with a plan to combat the Death Bolt Guild, based off the information I know." Mavis explained, she gave the Old Man a small, serious look. "This will not be an easy battle." Many members of the Guild sweatdropped and glanced toward Frea, they had known that already- anybody who could do something like that to Frea, an S-Class of the Guild, and one of the few Mage's they knew to have done so many unbelievable things- they knew they were facing dangerous and powerful enemies, and they knew winning would not be an easy task.

".... Frea.. please..." Wendy mumbled, catching the Energy Dragon Slayer's eye, and flinching slightly at the still rage-filled look in her eyes. She steeled herself against her nervousness and straightened up a little, looking determined. "You have to let me heal you! We still have time while the rest of the Guild gets ready." She said firmly and Frea blinked, looking ready to protest.

Frea of course was itching to leave now- she could easily find Tomaru and his Guild on her own, and without having to wait for the rest of the Guild and their 'preparations'. She was going to, in all reality, just leave, and not wait- but the look on Wendy's face made her pause.

It wasn't often anyone saw Wendy looking so determined about anything, and the tone of voice she used with her in that moment- it was demanding, Wendy wasn't going to take no for an answer, and Frea realized it. She didn't like it, no.... but she wasn't going to argue with the Little Dragon Slayer on it either.

She nodded just once, earning a shocked look from Wendy for a moment at how easily she gave in, before the Sky Dragon Slayer smiled in slight appreciation and triumph.

".... Only until the rest of the Guild starts moving." Frea told her lowly, before glancing toward Master as he paused at the bottom of the platform, seemingly aware Frea was looking at him. "Don't take too long Master, I know Tomaru will not treat Moon with any mercy, we cant leave her there too long." She warned and he nodded,

"I understand. We will go quickly." He replied and Frea just blinked, as he turned away and headed into the hall.

Frea let out a small wince as she began slowly stepping toward the stairs of the platform- of which was starting to clear as some of the Guild headed inside through one of the open doors of the Hall after Master and Mavis. Wendy jumped and walked at Frea's side, eyes glittering as they took the stairs slowly.

Chase let them pass, his eyes never leaving Frea until he found Aisha's gaze and blinked. The Moonlight Mage gave him a small look, somewhere between tenseness and slight sympathy... But what caught him was the innate sense of fear glinting in her eyes. He couldn't ever remember seeing Aisha afraid at all... He stiffened, but she broke eye contact and moved into the Hall without a word.

Solana watched Aisha disappear, eyes narrowed and arms over her chest. Lucy had moved up beside her, the blonde's eyes glued to Frea and hands clasped in front of her, looking extremely worried.

Solana sweatdropped slightly, her eyes fixed to the door Aisha had gone through, and the slowly moving mass of grim looking Fairy Tail Wizards. In her sister, she couldn't forget what she saw- that small flash of fear in Aisha when she thought about the Guild... About Death Bolt.

_An Assassin Guild... Known for their kills..._

With that information at hand, Solana very much knew any time wasted in preparation was all the more d wheelie with Moon prisoner to such a Guild. Moon could be killed at any moment, and if they weren't looking to kill her... The damage they could, and probably were doing to the Exceed now was unfathomable.

She figured Aisha had disappeared to disclose the Assassination aspect of Death Bolt the the Guild Master, of which she was certain Frea had no clue about. If she did, she certainly wouldn't have agreed to wait for the Guild to prepare.

Her eyes moved back to the Energy Dragon Slayer, who had stepped off the last step and was moving toward the Hall door, Wendy, Carla, Laxus, Gajeel and Lily in tow- the barmaid Mirajane was waiting for them by the door.

Her eyes met Frea's silver ones as she was passed, and Lucy stepped forward to follow them inside.

"We'll get Moon back, no problem!" Lucy said firmly, her eyes locked to Frea who broke her small glance at Solana to meet the Celestial Mages eyes. She nodded,

"Moon's super tough, I'm sure she'll take care of herself just fine till we get there!" Happy said, looking to reassure the clearly angry and aggravated Frea- and even Lily, who was looking unnaturally unhappy. He and Lucy both sounded more as if they were reassuring themselves though, instead of Frea.

Solana's attention snapped toward Natsu as her adoptive older brother stepped up next to her, his entire countenance tense and just as aggravated as Frea. She understood that though, knowing she was the same way- though she hid it a little better than he did.

"Those bastards ain't getting away with this." He hissed and she nodded, her eyes watching the group around Frea disappear inside, just as he watched them go as well.

"It won't be easy." She told him lowly, "These people... They managed to string Frea up, of all people. They're dangerous, really dangerous... The Guild is gonna get hurt, just like Frea did. Maybe even worse for some..." She told him, he stiffened slightly.

"... What're you saying?" He asked, blinking once as Solana's eyes fell closed and she let out a small sigh.

"... We have to get Moon back, there is no question about that. And we need to make the bastards pay for doing any of this in the first place." She replied, "But with what happened... With how hurt Frea is..." She sighed again, and when she opened her eyes, Natsu saw the emerald orbs turn flinty and hard.

"We _can't_ let Frea fight, if we do- she may end up getting herself killed."

* * *

 

**The Night Before-**

"I will not let him take you." Frea told her softly, firmly. "You're never going back to that Guild, I won't let him win." She said and Moon blinked, for a split second she felt a little better.

_Frea..._

"Moon is my Partner and a Member of Fairy Tail." Frea growled, straightening up. "You will not have her, I won't let you and if you decide to try and take her- _I will destroy you."_

Tomaru's grin spread wide at her words, a cold spear seemed to strike Moon in the core at the sight of it.

She knew that look, she had seen it so many times before- but suddenly, one instinct crashed down over her head, and all she wanted to do was yell at Frea to turn around and run.

Frea was so powerful, she could do so many impossible, incomprehensible things... But... But she just knew, she had learned the hard way;

Even the strongest Wizards can lose to pure evil and dark, malicious intent.

"Seven years is a long time, Shade Demon."

Tomaru disappeared from where he had been standing, just as fast, if not faster than the last time both Moon and Frea had seen him- quickly losing sight of him as his companion remained where he was, emotionless, unmoving, silent.

He was always like that, Moon reminded herself- easily recognizing who was with Master Tomaru... And again that icy, terrified fear gripping her grew stronger, colder.

"Frea!" She gasped, realizing the fight had begun immediately. Frea was anticipating it, and jumped backward as something blurred in front of her- silver eyes locked on to the form of Tomaru as he appeared in front of her, swinging his leg out.

Frea brought her arms up to blood the blow, and did- but the force sent her and Moon, who was holding on desperately, to be blown backward several dozen yards- the skin about Frea's arms bruising nearly immediately as she hissed.

Tomaru paused a moment, smiling wickedly at Frea as he stuck his hands in his pockets. "Ah, you're much faster than you used to be. Very good!" Frea scowled,

"And you're a bloody fool." She growled, eyes lit up in pure rage and fury. Moon and Tomaru alike blinked, seemingly unsure what she meant. Her arms lowered, and she snapped her fingers.

The space Tomaru stood in suddenly blazed bright silver as a sudden wave of power rose up around him, the ground shredding and a successive boom shaking the forest to its core. Moon stared in utter shock as Tomaru was lost from sight in the blaze of light, she hadn't even ears Frea say a Spell, or seen her set that Energy Trap up... She must have done it in seconds!

"Your Spell Execution has sped up as well, I see."

Frea and Moon whipped around at the voice suddenly behind them, eyes wide and sweatdropping.

Frea jumped forward, starting to whip around, she saw Tomaru lift a sword in his hand and swung out toward Moon- she growled and turned, keeping Moon away and blatantly allowing him to slice across her upper arm with the sword he had materialized in his hand- glowing in the dim with wild gray light. Frea hissed, and Moon stiffened, digging her claws into her Partner's shoulder to stay with her.

"Frea...!" Moon gasped, seeing the blood beginning to fall, knowing immediately she had let herself get hit so she wouldn't get hurt. Frea just grumbled under her breath and shook the arm, sending several scarlet drops into the grass below her.

"Its fine." She muttered. Her eyes narrowed as Tomaru disappeared again, body tense and senses on high alert.

"You can't win if you don't go as fast as he is." Moon told her quickly, nearly frantically. She knew how fast Tomaru was, and she knew Frea couldn't stand against him very well at all if she didn't pick up her own speed. If she wanted any chance, she'd have to use her 'Speed of the Energy Dragon' Spell.

"If I do that, you won't be able to hold on." Frea replied lowly, Moon sweatdropped.

"But you-!"

She broke off as silver erupted about them in immense waves, tearing the ground up and scarfing the trees around them, Frea's arms swiping out around her and body tensing. A Magic Circle appeared under her feet, her eyes burning just as bright as her Magic.

She clapped them together, "Energy Trap!"

Moon's head snapped sideways as a large silver box suddenly sprung up to their left, quickly followed by the sound of something hard hitting the silver walls- Tomaru's sword as he attempted to slice his way through his new found prison. Moon stared in utter shock, hardly believing Frea had managed to catch him with how fast he must have been traveling.

The Magic around them started swirling as dozens upon dozens of Magic Circles appeared in every side and corner of the box Tomaru sat in, the feel of Frea's Magical Pressure increasing every second.

"Energy Lance: Storm!"

Moon watched in horrified awe as dozens upon dozens of Energy Lances tore through the air toward Tomaru, who stood in the center of Frea's Trap, scowling profusely.

She was amazed, and inside of her she felt a small flare of hope- Frea could win this, already she had gained an upper hand... Her seamless tactic of trapping him and attacking harshly all at once was nearly amazing, Frea was thinking two steps ahead and she _caught_ him!

That small flare of hope inside of her died as soon as she remembered the presence of the man who had come with Master Tomaru.

There was a sudden flash of black and crimson electricity that stuck down, easily tearing through Frea's box and the Lances moving toward Tomaru, a sudden surge of Magic Power that made Frea stiffen,

There was a series of large booms that made the ground itself shake as the Energy Lances detonated and the box shattered into millions of silver pieces.

"I commend you for catching me, Shade Demon. That was quite a feat."

Moon's head turned just in time to see Tomaru appear behind them again, the glint of his speed in the dim as he swung out at them in rapid succession.

The blade tore out across Frea's back in a diagonal strike, landing a deep blow from the top of her right hip all the way up to her left shoulder, the Magic around the blade blazing brightly and wildly as it tore at the skin and muscle, shredding the fabric of her shirt.

Frea let out a shout of pain, a wave of scarlet raising into the air in the swords' wake. Moon's eyes went wide in horror, some of Frea's blood hitting her cheek- the liquid warm against her fur.

Tomaru's swung his leg around with such speed, his foot land against Frea's back and sent her and Moon flying with such force, a wave of air rose up around them.

Frea hissed as she wrapped her arms around Moon, holding her Partner to her chest as she hit the ground, wearing a trench through it and smashing into a tree hard enough it shattered under her- the Energy Dragon Slayer's jaw clenched in pain at hitting the new fear across her back against the tree, eyes glinting in pain.

"Damn it...!"

Tomaru was much faster, much much faster than he had been when she had fought with him on Tenrou. She tired her bet to keep him in her sights, to stay ahead of him but she wasn't moving fast enough to even begin to combat him, or defend against nearly anything he sent her way.

Moon was right. She knew she was... She had to speed up if she was going to have any chance against the man, but she wouldn't be able to keep Moon close if she did- and she wouldn't let Moon out of her reach for even a minute.

"... How did he... Get out of my Trap...?" She hissed to herself, before breaking off to wince at the fiery pain tearing across her back, feeling her blood soaking the tree and the ground around her, her shirt torn up the back and loosely hanging around her shoulders now. Her back was left bare and now exposed the bandages still wrapped about her torso from Hilshine, those shredded somewhat and beginning to be stained red.

His sword had cut through the strap of her bag, sending it falling to the ground some distance away, and landing with a heavy thud- from the weight of the Energy Magic book still inside of it.

"... F-Frea..." Moon stammered, looking up at the Energy Dragon Slayer with wide, tearful eyes. Frea blinked, the waves of Fear coming from her Partner never ceased, and she was still trembling.

"... Moon..."

"... It was... It was Hikien... That man.." Moon stammered, ears flicking in the direction of the man Tomaru had appeared with. "... His Magic.. He can transport anyone, anywhere. Even from inside of someone else's Magic..." Frea sweatdropped slightly, that must have been what that black and red lightning had been.

"So you do still remember us, eh, Kitty?"

Tomaru was back in front of them, the tip of his sword piercing the ground at Frea's feet as the Energy Dragon Slayer stiffened, holding Moon closer and slowly drawing her feet up toward her. Tomaru smiled wickedly, seeing the haunted look appear across Moon's face at the sight of him.

Frea drew her feet under her, getting to her feet and standing with Moon still held to her chest, wincing at the pain movement caused. She faced Tomaru, straightening up and scowling at him with one of the darkest glares Moon had ever seen from her before- the feel of her Magic increasing again.

Frea was not going to let him win so easily, she was prepared to put everything forward into keeping both Moon safe, and defeating the man. Even hurt already and on the lower end of the stick, she wasn't ready to bend knee and give in- she wouldn't. She would never give in to Tomaru, he'd have to kill her to make her stop fighting.

That's what Moon was afraid of- that he'd kill her. That Frea would die protecting her.

_I can't let her get herself killed... I can't... I can't be the reason she dies... I can't let another person... For protecting me... I have to... Do something..._

_I can't just stand back and let other people take care of me... Its pathetic I..._

"Frea, you have to l-let... Let me go..." Moon stammered,

"Hell no." Frea hissed, Moon frowned.

"You have to give it your all to beat him!" She snapped back, voice shaky. "You can't do that holding on to me!"

Frea stiffened, her eyes quickly flicking down toward Moon- meeting her scared, yet determined expression. She was talking sense... But she was hesitant to do as Moon said. Tomaru was fast enough to catch her if Frea let her go- and even if he didn't? That man, Hikien- he could easily grab her...

"Please..." Moon whispered, her her lowering as her paws gripped Frea's shirt. "... I don't want you to kill yourself holding on to me, Frea... Please..." She looked back up toward her, her pale blue eyes burning in sudden steely determination. Frea blinked in shock at the fire she saw erupt in Moon, despite her fear.

"I won't let you die protecting me, Frea. We're Partners, we protect each other." She hissed, "We'll fight him together Frea, let me go."

_Moon..._

Frea couldn't remember the last time Moon had looked so determined over anything, so willing, so brave... Brave enough to be able to push back her fear, to stand up against someone who was a figure of her nightmares. Moon had never looked so willing to fight...

And before now, before this instant- she had never been so willing to protect Frea. She'd always kept an eye on her, stuck with her, been beside her. But Frea had always done all the fighting, Frea had always been the one protecting Moon... And now she was going to fight. She was going to fight to protect Frea.

_Its my turn to try and keep you safe..._

Frea slowly let her go, and Moon sprouted wings, floating at Frea's shoulder as she allowed her own Magic to flare up- she wasn't one for fighting, but that wasn't to say she couldn't if she needed to.

Tomaru settled the pair with a twisted smile, "Ah, look how determined you are Kitty!" He chuckled, Moon sweatdropped. "I never thought you could do anything more than whimper and scream~!" He laughed and both Moon and Frea scowled.

"I can do a lot more than you ever knew." Moon growled, her paws raising and Magic rising in the instant Frea's did.

She had to fight. And not just for Frea... For herself.

"Its time I stood against you.." Moon growled lowly,

"Copy-Cat: Fire Dragon Roar!"

A Magic Circle appeared before her as the for air of spinning flame flare out across the small distance between them and Tomaru, Frea disappeared in an instant as she muttered 'Speed of the Energy Dragon Slayer' under her breath.

Tomaru's eyes went wide in surprise at the Spell Moon sent his way, before he moved out of the way- only to be closely followed by Frea, who was moving at the same speed he was at now.

"Energy Dragon Iron Fist!"

Frea's clenched fist made contact with Tomaru's sword as he raised it to block her attack, Frea hissed as her hand was cut and bruised by the Magic of the sword, before she brought her arms back and her Magic blazed about each arm.

"Energy Dragon Wing Attack!"

Tomaru narrowly avoided the attack- his coat being shredded as Frea's Magic made contact with it.

"Copy-Cat: Ice Make- Lance!"

"Energy Lance: Storm!"

Dozens of Ice and Energy Spears and Lances streamed out toward Tomaru as he moved away from Frea- the attacks coming in rapid succession, and it out a moment wasted by Frea as she landed on her feet again. The air shook with the amount of Power that both Moon and Frea were throwing at him, Tomaru sweatdropped slightly, frowning.

He stopped in his tracks and lift his sword up- the stone blade still stained red with Frea's blood. The Magic about his blade blazed brighter as he closed his eyes a moment.

"Stone Sword: Cyclone."

Ice and Energy alike were destroyed in the flurry of wind that rose up around Tomaru, the wind slicing through their Magic and causing them to implode- the air shaking with the noise before glittering pieces of ice and silver were carried away in the remnants of the wind that Tomaru had created, now lowering his sword and setting a dark glare in the both of the Fairy Tail Wizards.

"Impressive... You're both much stronger than before." He muttered. He stiffened slightly when Frea started moving, and noticed at the same time that Moon did too- as if they were communicating with one another silently- he guessed maybe telepathically, though that wasn't the case.

"Explosive Rain!"

"Copy-Cat: Fairy Machine Gun!"

The hundreds of compact Energy Bombs rained down from above him as several different Magic Circles appeared around him- trapping him in a circle as glittering bits of Magic shot out toward him, stuck between the Magical Bullets and the Bombs from above.

Tomaru's attention snapped sideways toward his ever silent companion, who still looked as if he hadn't moved a single inch. For a moment, the eyes of the man seemed to glint in the dim, and Tomaru scowled slightly.

The forest and the earth around them was suddenly uplifted and uprooted in a series of core-shaking booms that echoed far past the trees and the forest itself- the light of silver and gold lighting up and glaring against the dark backdrop of the night sky overhead. Frea and Moon shielded their eyes from the bits of rubble and the waves of air that the both of them had stirred up.

Tomaru appeared out of the dust and haze that had sprung up, blood running down his cheek and over his chin, a separate line of red dripping from a wound on his torso, his jacket ripped and torn while his clothes were stained brown. Faintly, Frea wondered why the man with Tomaru hadn't tried to move him from in the center of the attack- but quickly pushed the thought away.

"Moon!" She snapped, Moon gave her a quick, determined nod as she felt her Partner's Magic rise to a peak, her own Magic rising about her in frantic waves.

"Right!" Moon replied, flapping to gain a little height and swinging her paws forward.

It was as if the two of them were speaking to one another in their heads- though that was impossible with Frea's mind being forever blocked off as it was. But the level of understanding between them- the ability to guess the actions of another and work in synchronization as well as they were. To be able to plan their moves without needing to tell one another what the other planned to do- it was unprecedented.

As it stood Frea and Moon never really fought with one another against someone else, not a full on, fully involved fight. Of course, they had spent time training with one another- but it had never been enough to warrant such fantastic teamwork, such seamless execution of Spells and moves with one another. In all reality, being able to guess one another's moves, and chain together Spells and moves like this was somewhat of a shock to Moon- who could only chock it up to being what Mira and Erza had said.

_'You probably know Frea better than any of us.'_

Even in the haze over her terror over seeing both Tomaru and Hikien now- to see Tomaru take any sort of hit... it made her fear dissipate, just a little. For a minute that small flare of hope grew stronger, and she felt her Magic do the same.

With she and Frea working together, and giving their all into the fight.... They had a chance, a real chance of winning, she believed that.... _They could win._

In that moment that Frea called her name, she seemed to know exactly what it was that her Partner wanted to do- she understood what Frea was asking of her, even without words or even pretense, and she was fully prepared to do it.

Frea's Magic swirled around her, making immense waves of raw power pummel everyone in the vicinity, running through them and shaking their cores. She was letting forth every shred of her power that was swirling faster and stronger with rage and anger toward Tomaru, and the things he had done- to both Frea and Moon herself.

"Copy-Cat: Aerial!"

Her Magic sprung up around the entire area- trapping herself, Tomaru, Frea, Hikien- _everything_ inside of a dome of pure air, her Magic causing it to swirl and harden around them till it was stronger than steel.

Frea's Magic burned up around her and suddenly seemed to pour into the very ground itself, cracks appearing across the surface of the earth as silver Magic spilled from the crevices, the earth and air shaking violently as her Magic reached an all time high.

"Energy Dragon: Earth Shock!"

Moon recognized the move, she had seen it from afar in Hilshine- and seen the after affect in the Underground Tomb during the Infinity Clock mess... But to be right next to it, right in the area of such a Spell- it was stifling, overwhelming... It was fantastic, and wondrously powerful, if she witnessed anyone other than Frea cast quite a Spell, she would be deathly afraid.

She and Frea heard Tomaru let out a shout of pain, and finally Hikien was forced to move- as the tree he had been standing in was suddenly uprooted and sent spiraling into the air, but even he couldn't avoid the giant slabs of earth and rubble sent flying- though he tried. Moon flew higher to avoid the aftermath of the Spell, eyes narrowed as she kept Aerial going-

Inside such a strong dome of the Magic, she knew neither Tomaru nor Hikien would find it easy to move or dodge from Frea's attack, they couldn't- and they weren't, they were getting hit, and they were gaining an upper hand over the Death Bolt Mages. Not even Hikien, with his powerful Magic- could find enough time to try and move either himself nor Tomaru out of the way of the attack- instead they took it full on.

Tomaru was thrown back, his body breaking through the trunk of a tree that fell to the now uneven and destroyed ground, splintering the wood and let out a yell of pain. Hikien disappeared in a haze of red and black electricity, before appearing a bit away, dark eyes glittering but still silent- a stream of blood running down his now sliced upper arm.

Moon swept her paws forward toward Tomaru, a golden Magic Circle appearing in front of her- ears against her head and eyes narrowed to slits.

"Copy-Cat: Sky Dragon Roar!"

"Energy Dragon Wave Attack!"

The spiraling tornado of air shot out toward Tomaru on one side, while four large waves of silver cut through the air toward him on another, Tomaru scowled darkly and raised his sword, his Magic blazing.

"Stone Sword: Stone Barricade!"

A slab of stone sprouted up around Tomaru to block the incoming attacks- the stone cracking and crumbling as it endured the attacks- but only just barely,

For all the speed Tomaru had, he couldn't prepare himself for Frea as she leapt at him through the crumbling stone about him, much faster than Moon could remember seeing her move- a blinding silver blur that appeared in front of him in an instant.

He brought his sword up to try and block her- but she swung her hand toward him, fingers curled and streaming with her Magic.

Her fingers sliced through the stone of the sword, breaking it into several different pieces with ease- Tomaru hissed, just as Frea's other hand swung out toward him.

"Energy Force!"

Her open palm slammed into his chest, a wave of pure pressure springing up around them as he was propelled backward with such force, he broke clean through an upstanding slab of earth behind him. Frea was on him again, moving faster, her hits harsher, more powerful by the second- too quick for Tomaru to defend against, the burning anger and rage in Frea's eyes never dampening.

Frea was too much for him... This battle, this was going to be won. Once Tomaru was down, Hikien shouldn't be much of an issue... They were going to win, Frea... They both made sure she wouldn't get taken back.

_We're going to win..._

"You made your last mistake, Tomaru!" Frea snapped coldly, her Magic blazing so high, it seemed to reach up into the clouds above him- her final move, Moon realized- the move that would finish Tomaru for good...

"You'll never hurt anyone ever again, you damned bastard!"

Frea curled her fingers as she jumped at, and above Tomaru- her arms raised above her as Her Magic spiraled up into the clouds and began to fester and swirl above their heads at an unbelievable speed.

Moon didn't recognize this Move of Frea's, but in an instant she realized it wasn't an ordinary Spell- the amount of Power radiating from it, it being above the insane amount of Power normally seemed to have- she knew it must be a Secret Art Frea knew... It somewhat reminded her of the 'Sealing Trap' Spell Frea had used on the Demon from the Book of Zeref, at least in look.

This Spell was one of pure force and destruction, and it was all aimed at Tomaru- Frea's overwhelming power, and her anger and rage toward him.

His eyes widened as he looked up at her, crouched on the ground and holding his side- blood running through his fingers. Frea's numerous hits she had landed had already left dark bruises across his body, and more cuts than anyone could count. It would seem he had seriously underestimated her a second time... As he looked up to see her coming toward him, and the waves of Magic working over his head- he seemed to realize he was in trouble.

_She's finished him!_

"Energy Dragon Slayer Secret Art...!" Frea snapped, her Magic blazing in the clouds above ever faster,

_... Something went wrong... Horribly wrong..._

Time seemed to slow as Frea came down toward Tomaru with her final hit, as her Magic reached its climax and she was about to send the Spell hurtling down toward him- as Moon watched Frea about to defeat a man who had been a thing of nightmare for her. Her tormentor, torturer, the man who had kept her prisoner, hurt her in countless ways.

Frea was about to prove that small flare of hope right- the one that had been growing as her fear and terror lessened each moment with the prospect of victory.

Time slowed, nearly stopped in an instant- Frea was nearly there. It was nearly over, they were nearly won... And then it all _shattered._

Moon watched in horror and shock as Frea's rage filled expression suddenly changed to one of confusion and pure, utter, agony. Her eyes scrunched closed as her body tensed, and her Magic imploded- all of it breaking apart and fading into nothing, the waves of Power washing over her and emanating from the Energy Dragon Slayer suddenly stopped and all sense of Magic from Frea disappeared entirely.

"... Frea?!"

She didn't understand, she had no idea what happened... Even now, she did not know what went wrong, why Frea suddenly seemed to be in so much pain, why her Magic and Spell had failed like that- it was all unprecedented. Unexpected.

Frea let out a small yelp of pain, it feeling as if her entire being was suddenly plunged into a burning pit of tar and oil- her vision blurred, her muscles felt like they were snapping, and it was hard to breath- waves of agony rushing through her as the wound in her side seared with mind-numbing pain not unlike the pain she had felt when Jynx touched her in the White Plane... It was nearly tenfold that, and she lost all sense of time and place as her Magic imploded on itself and disappeared, every shred of Magic Energy in her body wasted.

Ten thousand swords seemed to pierce through her body, her core, her being... The pain was too much to breathe let alone think, everything was suddenly black for a second.

Tomaru saw the sudden pain etched into Frea's features, easily able to see her Magic destroyed in itself, knowing full well the Spell failed.

He smiled darkly and held his hand out, another sword materializing in his hand as he jumped up toward Frea instead- immediately taking the unwarranted situation as an opportunity to strike. Moon's eyes widened as she started forward, her heart dropping to the pits if her stomach and blood running cold.

"Frea!"

They were so close- they had the upper hand... They had a chance... And now the tables had completely turned.

Tomaru made his comeback without mercy, without hesitation. He swung out toward Frea and caught her with the brunt of his sword, sending her flying away with a painful sound of ribs cracking. Frea hit the ground and bounced, coughing out as blood sprung up her throat an into the air from the sheer force of the attack. The impact only made her vision blur and the agony all over her body grow worse... Why had that happened?! What made it do that?!

Tomaru landed in front of Frea as she struggled to get up, only receiving his leg to the stomach as he kicked her- sending her skidding backward and smashing into a tree. Tomaru sped out toward her, face twisted in an evil, malignant grin as he left his sword- grey Magic around the blade blazing.

"Where do those seven years have you know, Shade Demon?!" He yelled, "Strong as you are, you still fail to learn the true lessen! The Light can never defeat the Dark! The Dark side of Magic will always win- and now you will pay for your insolence with your life!"

Moon was in between Tomaru and Frea in an instant, her blue eyes sparkling in fear and determination. She didn't know what happened- but she couldn't let Frea get killed.

Frea's eyes went wide, stiffening as Moon flew between the incoming Tomaru and herself.

"Moon!" She snapped,

"Copy-Cat:" Moon growled, swiping her paws out in front of her and Magic blazing.

"Stone Sword:" Tomaru growled, not at all deterred by Moon's sudden appearance. Frea struggled to try and get up, desperately trying to call on any Magic she had left to try and block the oncoming blow- but all her Magic as edgy seemed wasted and gone, and even trying to all on any Magic made her body blaze in more fiery pain.

"Divine's Sky Shield!"

"Explosion!"

A wall of swirling golden and white Magic sprung up in front of Moon, dotted with dozens of runes and designs across the face- quickly met with brunt of Tomaru's Sword as he swung out at it. The wall stopped the blade, easily- but the resounding boom that echoed out made Frea's heart drop to her stomach, both her and Moon sent flying as the wall exploded and they hit the ground. She heard Moon let out a yell of pain, stifling her own and blinking to get rid of the haze over her vision, her ears ringing.

"... Tch... Moon...!" She hissed, trying to see her Partner and spotting Moon on the ground a ways from her, dazed and unmoving.

"... Frea..." Moon mumbled, glancing toward the Energy Dragon Slayer slowly, clothes torn, fur singed and dusty, stained red where she was cut. The bandages about her arms were loosening and falling around her gently, Frea stiffened.

Even from where she was, she could see long pink scars running all over Moon's arms and legs, the scars she received from years in Death Bolt...

"Well Kitty, that was impressive." Tomaru smirked, stopping where he was and smiling at Moon. "Too bad though... I was going to end her life now, but I think I'll have a little more fun with her- I'll let you watch me torture you're precious Dragon Slayer awhile longer." He smiled wickedly and Moon's heart dropped.

"You'll see her suffer some more, before I move on to you."

"You bastard..." Frea growled lowly, her fire still not destroyed even with the sudden beating and amount of pain she seemed to be in. Hikien appeared beside Moon and grabbed her by her head, lifting her up and earning a hiss of pain from Moon- too bruised and hurt from taking the brunt of the explosion to move. Frea bared her teeth at the man, getting to her feet unsteadily.

"Let her go, jack-ass!" She snapped furiously,

"I'd worry about yourself, Shade Demon."

Tomaru was _relentless._

He was moving too fast, his actions brutal, harsh, merciless... He came at Frea before she could do anything, cutting, hitting, breaking bones, bruising skin, throwing he around. She didn't have any Magic left to fight with, and soon her body was too damaged to even fight back normally.

Moon struggled against Hikien's iron grip, eyes wide and tear filled as she was forced to watch Tomaru hurt Frea, wound her and throw her around, torture and toy with her before doing what he planned to- kill her, and the. Take her back to DeathBolt.

The tears streamed down her face freely as she watched, gasping as she yelled at Tomaru to quit it- horrible flashes of memory of Kyo resurfacing.

She was going to lose another person she cared for... To Tomaru... He was going to kill Frea, and she couldn't stop it.

That last Spell had spent the last Magic Energy she had, and taking that hit her been too much- she couldn't force herself to move, and wasn't strong enough to wiggle free, to try and stop Tomaru.

_I can't... Frea...!_

Scarlet liquid painted the grass, trees splintered and the forest nearly destroyed around them. Blood stained everything, the ground torn up, the area seemingly the place of some Great War...

He wouldn't stop, he just smiled wickedly, he kept going. Frea kept trying to stand up against him, to defend herself, to get to Moon- but every time she did, Tomaru attacked her again- harsher than before.

She was spent, she was bloody, broken, hurt... Nearly...

For what seemed like an eternity, the sound of Frea's body thumping and slamming into the ground filled the area, bones cracking, skin breaking, sobs and yells of pain... Her sobbing, her yelling for Tomaru to stop- followed by her own yell of pain as Hikien slammed her face first into the ground to get her to shut it.

"... Quit that... Bastard!" Frea yelled, struggling to sit up as her fiery silver gaze locked on to Hikien, brimming with icy rage and hatred.

"I think I've had enough playing with you, Shade Demon." Tomaru smirked, slamming his foot down on Frea and pushing her back down, she hissed.

"... Frea...!" Moon hissed,

"... I think it's time I end this, and take my property back to my Guild." He went on, Frea simply glared, blood dripping past her lips and down her chin.

His face darkened as his grin grew wider and more twisted, dark and malicious intent dripping from him- Moon felt a chill fall over her. He raised his sword and leaned down slightly,

"Wouldn't it be fun, stringing you up to the doors of that Guild you're both so find of?" He hissed, Frea's eyes widened slightly and Moon felt her heart stop, her tears steaming faster. Frea's eyes suddenly moved and met hers in the last second as Tomaru brought his sword up all the way, and she... She saw sadness, regret.

_Guilt._

"Goodbye, Shade Demon."

A terrified, core-chilling scream ripped through the air, breaking the sudden, deathly silence.

"FREA!"

* * *

__

Flesh ripped and a yell of pain was stifled by the hand that smacked down over the mouth of the one about to make the noise. Tomaru drove his sword straight through Frea's shoulder and through the wood of the Guild doors, her blood falling in a river in the steps- Tomaru himself standing on a stone pillar he had erected, shoving Frea into the door in the middle of the silent and unmoving Magnolia around them.

The dark, malignant grin on Tomaru's face shone in the shadow of the deeply silent and daunting night around them. The grin widened and he stooped down, hissing in a sickly sweet voice just next to Frea's ear- who by now was barely breathing and hardly alive. Moon wasn't even sure she could hear a thing Tomaru said.. She herself, she was too hurt, too strained.. Everything was moving in a blur around her, she couldn't make sense of anything... She felt empty, cold...

"Suffering is the best, and most effective punishment. Better for those who follow the light path- shadow will always win. Something you still don't understand... Hehe..." Tomaru hissed, Moon barely able to hear the words at all.

A river of crimson fell and littered stone, flowing slowly in the silvery moonlight with a sickening sound of muscle, skin and bone being shredded, the light of Tomaru's sword blazing a moment, tears fell from Moon's eyes weakly, barely able to lift her head anymore.

Tomaru hopped off the pillar as it disappeared under him, not before taking time to paint the DeathBolt Symbol over Fairy Tail's own on Frea's shoulder, he turned, grinning at her.

"Time to go home, Kitty." He smiled. "We're going to have a lot of fun..." He snapped his fingers, an invisible brush painting in Frea's blood across the steps- Moon's vision was too blurry to make out what it said.

They turned away, Moon held firmly in Hikien's grasp. Her tired eyes moved to Frea- the unmoving, silent, wounded, beaten form of her Partner now crucified to the door of the Guild... The Guild, she would never see again...

_Frea... She'd never see again..._

She was defeated, destroyed... It was over. She was strung up, humiliated... _Gone..._

Her clothes hung in rags, her blood ran freely- and as she was taken away, as her vision grey darker, Moon felt herself grow a little colder... She hated this... Hated to see Frea so... _So broken..._

With what little Magic she had left, she lift a paw toward Frea and cast one last Spell- a shimmer of gold and the shirt Frea had had on, which was no more than rags now and didn't cover her body at all- that disappeared and replaced itself with a different shirt entirely. A Requip...

It was stupid, but she couldn't let... Let Frea be humiliated anymore than she was, it was an honor and decency thing... It was stupid, but she felt she at least owed it to Frea, to make sure she wasn't strung up in nothing than her bra when the Guild finally found her...

It was all she could do... It was her fault this happened... That Frea... Her eyes fell closed as her mind gave way to black waves of unconsciousness.

_... Its... My fault..._

* * *

 

Moon's eyes snapped open as we let out a terrified yell, reality of the events of late slamming into her, her already crushed heart dropping back into her stomach as she recognized the surroundings- the iron bars of the cage Master Tomaru usually kept her inside of, it being hung on a chain above the ground and toward the side of the Master's desk.

Tomaru had a small alcove pushed off to the side of the Guild's Main Hall, a grand chair set behind his desk and stacked with Kill Contracts and mugs that needed cleaning.

The Guild was underground, in an old network of sewer systems that had been abandoned and forgotten long ago- everything was dark, and damp and musty... Shadows clung to every wall with only the dim glow of cracked Lightning Lacrima on the walls or Torches- the fire not even natural, it was a sickly yellow and brown color and provided no warmth in the perpetually cold space.

The dark and shadowy figures of the Guild's members lined the walls and the tables set up in the dim- half burned and dying candles littering table tops, mugs and plates of food spread around haphazardly. Her heart sped up as she met the the cold and malicious gazes of the Dark Wizards, before quickly looking away.

It was best not to make eye contact.

Though it was impossible to see it in such darkness and dim- through years being prisoner here she knew there were several hallways and tunnels leading from the main hall, some of them up toward the surface, others leading farther and farther into the earth, rooms and secrets hidden and best left buried and untread.

She felt her blood slowly turn to ice and rising sense of fear and horror settle into her very being- she was back in the place she never hoped to return to... Her prison, her place of torment and nightmare...

... Back as a Slave inside an entire Guild of cold, merciless Assassins- all with a reputation for being the deadliest killers around.

She let out a ragged, nearly choked breath- trying to calm herself down though it was no use. She was trembling since waking up, and she didn't expect to quit any time soon.

Her body hurt all over from taking that hit from Tomaru's Explosion, she felt weak and her throat was ragged and dry from sobbing and yelling so much... Her eyes stung from the tears she had shed and the dim lighting did nothing to help.

Her thoughts flashed back to what happened, to the sight of a beaten and bloody Frea... To seeing her bleeding out and crucified to the Guild Doors... Tears brimmed in her eyes again as a sharp pain struck out at her heart.

"... Frea... I am so... So sorry..." She whispered, a few tears spilling over and running down her cheeks, she held her head in her paws and scrunched her eyes closed.

_No crying... No... It makes you look weak... It makes them harsher... You can't..._

But _hell_ she couldn't stop herself. Knowing that Frea had been hurt that badly trying to protect her, to know that she had been strung up and left to bleed to death... Because of her...

... To know Frea was probably dead... That hurt more than anything, more than any wound she had ever endured. It made her heart shatter, and she couldn't help feeling cold and lost... So empty and broken.

And so... So guilty...

She rubbed at her eyes to try and get rid of the tears, taking in a few shaky breaths and forcing herself to stop crying as best she could.

"Why so sad, Kitty?"

She jumped backward in terror, the chains and binds wrapped about her paws clinking and pulling her down as she pulled against them- a usual sight... Magic Nullifying chains, she couldn't use her Magic even if she tried.

Tomaru's face appeared just outside the cage, he had popped up from behind his desk without her noticing. He smiled at her wickedly, his face halfway darkened in the dim around them- faint candlelight from the one on his desk flickering over his features, only making him seem more malignant.

Moon hissed slightly, straightening up and untangling the chains as best she could manage, facing him with narrowed eyes filled with fear.

"Is it because I killed dear little Shade Demon, hmm?" He chuckled lowly, her ears pressed back against her head. "Oh... You became rather fond of her didn't you? So cute. The love of a cat for a demon... It could be a story book."

"She wasn't a Demon!" Moon snapped, her anger sparking despite her better instincts to keep herself under control.

Tomaru's grin widened as a dark glint came into his eye and she immediately knew she had made a mistake in snapping at him.

"Tsk, tsk... Now we're gonna have to work on your manners!"

He snapped his fingers and in a powerful burst of Magic, she was thrown into the bars of the cage behind her with a painful slam- her back bruising and ribs aching from the impact. She shot her eyes against the pain and hissed,

"Must I reeducate you? You're not to speak unless spoken to. Such bad habits that Shade Demon taught you." Tomaru snickered, Moon dropped down to the bottom of the cage and growled, wincing.

"... Ah... What do you say?" Tomaru asked, his tone dangerously low. The look on his face made her heart beat faster in fear, but a small part if her... That remained defiant.

She knew better than to act on it.

"... Forgive me..." She mumbled, he leaned in, looking expectant.

Inwardly, she scowled and cursed him.

"... Master..."

"Much better!"

 _There is only one man I know... Who deserves to be referred to as Master, and you are not him..._ A kind man, the leader of the Guild she had fallen in love with, the Guild she would never see again...

She faintly thought to the Guild's mark on her back... She couldn't see it, but she hoped Tomaru hadn't destroyed it while she had been unconscious... Of anything, she wanted the Fairy Tail Guild Mark to remain with her... Something to hold onto of the Guild she'd probably never see again.

"Enjoy your nap?" He went on, tapping the bars of the cage and making it swing a little. "You'll need your rest, its back to serving your punishment for leaving!"

Killing Frea... Stringing her up... That hadn't been enough punishment...?

... No, of course not... She knew Tomaru better than that... She knew him too well.

She knew her life was going to be hell for a long time yet- hell until she died.

 _I'm going to die here..._ One of her worst fears was going to be realized.

Several others had already been fulfilled.

First this man... He captured her as a kitten... Kept her here and tortured her for years... He murdered the one person in this wretched Guild to ever show her any kindness at all. He murdered his own son. _Kyo..._

He tracked her down once she escaped, and killed the second person she had ever truly cared for. He'd strung her up, beaten her, left her to bleed to death. He killed Frea because he was trying to get to her- and yet that wasn't all of it.

Tomaru had known Frea before, before she met Moon at all. There had been history there and Moon had never known about it...

... But she had known, known about Tomaru's former Partner before he became Master of Death Bolt. It was the Partner that had been killed- and it had been Frea who had done it.

Frea killed Kasumi- who used to be Tomaru's Partner.

The rational side of her mind struggled to convince herself that Tomaru's anger toward Frea had been spurred from what had happened with Kasumi- that he wanted to kill Frea because of what had happened with the Celestial Key Maker... But the irrational wide of her mind had her convinced Tomaru killed Frea because of her trying to protect Moon.

The sinking, crippling feeling of despair and guilt grew stronger.

She honestly couldn't think of anything Tomaru could do... That could ever hurt more than seeing him do that to Frea, knowing he had probably killed her... And believing she had died because the Energy Dragon Slayer had been protecting her.

He opened the gate of the cage with a snap of his fingers, she lowered her eyes and let them close- fighting against the tears coming up.

She wasn't sure if... If she could even feel any of the pain he was going to inflict in her... She felt so numb...

His hand wrapped around the chains connected her hands and tugged her out of the cage harshly, letting her hang by her arms as he held her up in front of him, she cracked an eye open to see the dark grin.

"This is going to be so much fun, Kitty..." He chuckled, before taking a step from the alcove and into the Main Hall- the glittering gaze of the Guild turning toward them.

"Who wants to give our little Kitty a few blows?!" He called out, holding her in front of him. "Anything you'd like lads, ladies! Just don't kill her- but do please, make it _hurt!_ " She winced, fear gripping tighter as hungry eyes turned on her from all around.

Tomaru laughed as he snapped a collar around her neck, and hooked both that, and the chains about her paws to the hinge of a small, raised stone slab in the middle of the Hall, the chains lengthening in a glow of grey- something Tomaru had created specifically for this event.

He turned away from her and held his arms out, addressing the watching members with a dark and twisted grin on his face- his entire being dripping in malicious intent, just slightly more venomous than the looks she received from around the hall.

"Our dear Kitty has been returned to us- long after the day she so disobediently fled from this place!" Tomaru called out, "She must be punished for her actions, and now I turn to all of you to join in on the action! You may do as you wish, and I invite you to! But remember, do not fatally wound, nor kill her!" He smirked and turned slightly to glance back at her, Moon's heart seemed to stop.

"Death would be too easy a punishment, after all. And we do still need a Slave to wash our dishes and serve us our food and drink, wouldn't you all agree?"

Dark grins and glittering eyes swept out among the Hall, Tomaru smirked at the response.

"She is open to you for the next six hours! Have at her as you will!" He announced, before turning back to Moon. "I'll start us off, shall I?" He asked,

He snapped his fingers in her direction, another implosion of Magic going off in front of her as she tensed up in anticipation. This sudden explosion sent her flying backward, smashing into the side of a table hard enough to shift it- she yelled and hit the floor. A chorus of dark laughter and shouts rung up around her, a mass of movement as other Mages prepared to land their own blows.

Moon's eyes snapped to Tomaru, who smiled at her wickedly, before turning toward Hikien- who seemed to slip from the shadows toward the man's side.

"Wake our little Kitty up again, should she pass out- will you?" He said to Hikien- who just deftly nodded.

Tomaru began waking toward the dark entrance of one of the tunnels connecting to the main hall- waving over his shoulder.

"Give our little slave a great welcome back to Death Bolt!"

Another implosion of Magic sent her sprawling across the floor, she gasped out- her already battered body screaming in agony at the sudden surge of action against her. A heavy boot kicked her away, and she hit the leg of a table.

She winced, jaw clenched and vision dotting in black at the pain, tears in her eyes as memories flooded back to her... To this... To what her life had always been for so long.

Having endured it for so long, she was used to pain and abuse. She could take a lot of damage, despite popular appearance... But for habit endured this much and worse for so long, many would never believe she could function normally. She should be a scared, twisted and writhing ball of despair and terror- and yet her defiance, her anger, her resolve- those had never failed her, they had never been destroyed.

Her resolve is what got her through all of this before, what forced her to escape, what kept her fighting and sane... What kept her alive.

Without it, she'd hardly be a person. And she'd never have been able to trust Frea, or anyone else after escaping. She wouldn't be kind, she wouldn't be gentle, she wouldn't care... Without resolve, she would have broken a long time ago.

Though no one knew- her resolve, her determination- it was much stronger than Frea's.

And even so, she felt herself breaking- because even before she had someone- she had Kyo... And then she had Frea... And now she had no one.

_... Welcome Back... to Hell..._

* * *

 

"You're not coming."

Frea stiffened, now faced by the steadfast and neutral gaze of Solana, who had planted herself in front of her as she moved toward the Door- the Guild nearly done preparing.

She had moved away from Wendy without a word, something inside of her was stirring her into action... A sudden urgency she couldn't control, something that set her on edge more than she already was, and suddenly made her already short temper than much shorter.

Solana was backed by Natsu, Chase, Gray and Gajeel, who crossed their arms over their chests and gave her a neutral stare- blocking the door and the dismal grey sky outside. Wendy had come up behind her, still not done doing what she wished to with the wound in Frea's shoulder- and not to mention the countless other wounds.

Laxus- who had previously been sticking (uncharacteristically) close to Frea, he had moved away wince entering the Hall to stand in the far wall with Freed, Bixlow and Evergreen next to him, his eyes narrowed and glancing between Frea and those in her way.

His eyes locked on to Frea silently, from this angle- he could see the shirt she was wearing was drenched in scarlet down the back, and he stiffened- remembering the amount of it that had dripping down the door.

She looked awful... And everyone knew it. Wendy especially, who Frea had only allowed a small amount of time to work her Healing Magic. Her reasoning had been most of her wounds healed on their own- which outwardly appeared very true.

It wasn't the outward wounds Wendy was most worried about- it was everything overall. The beating she took, the bones fractured, the muscle snapped- the exhaustion, over exertion, and the amount of blood the Energy Dragon Slayer had lost. She knew Frea was in no good standing, and it worried her how quickly Frea was moving- she needed rest and yet Frea wasn't willing to do that.

That was typical of her... But foolish.

She hadn't even allowed Wendy to try and wrap any of the other wounds. She was too quick to try and leave- and that was rather sudden, she had been willing to sit- but for some reason she started moving off without warning. It was as if some sense of urgency gripped her suddenly- which it had, but no one including Frea knew _why._

Her eyes flashed in sudden anger at seeing so many people trying to block her in her movements, her narrowed eyes landing on Solana with a furious glare that should have set anyone off- but the Sun Dragon Slayer simply gazed back at Frea cooly, not going to back down so easily.

"The hell I'm not!" She snapped back coldly, fists clenching.

"I'm serious Frea. You are not coming, not a chance." Solana replied lowly, a dangerous glint coming into her eyes. Frea bristled,

"None of us are gonna let you." Natsu said suddenly, standing beside Solana and looking just as determined.

"Ain't no way." Gray muttered.

"We're not letting you go, Teach." Chase muttered.

"And what makes you think I'm gonna go along with that?!" Frea snapped, "This is Moon! There is no way in hell I'm sitting here in the Guild on my hands while the rest of you go out and fight with Death Bolt! I can't do nothing!"

"You can and you will." Solana growled,

"You're not in any shape to by fighting these guys, Frea." Natsu mumbled, "You're too hurt."

" _Hypocrite_!" She snapped back, silver waves flashing around her an instant- causing several people to sweatdrop. "The lot of you! What if it was Happy who was captured?" She growled, her eyes locked to Natsu- before snapping to Gajeel. "Or Lily?!" Gajeel frowned slightly, before Frea's furious gaze snapped to Solana- who gazed back unflinchingly. "If it was Aisha?! If any of them were like Moon is right now- none of you would give a damn if you had a broken arm, leg, or some wounds! You could all be half-dead and hardly able to stand and still you'd be doing what I am! You'd fight anyone, destroy ofr do anything to get them back! And hell if anyone would stop you!" Silver sparked off of her and they sweatdropped.

"Don't talk to me about being too hurt to fight!"

"Maybe it'd be better if more people tried to stop us!" Natsu snapped, his voice a lot harsher than anyone would expect. Frea blinked, her furious scowl never fading. Many people on the hall blinked in shock at the tone he was using with her, and the sudden exclamation. "We are stupid and we do fight when we shouldn't! We're always running off to fight even when we're beat up and hurt, we fight even if we shouldn't because we feel we have to! But maybe sometimes it would be better if someone tried to stop us!" He took a step toward Frea, almost threateningly.

"You know that, maybe better than anybody!" He growled. "You know people shouldn't go running off to fight when they're to hurt! You've stopped plenty of us from fighting when we were wounded, because you knew letting us fight in that condition would only make things worse! Only get us hurt more than we already were!" He set a deadly stare on Frea- a look he wouldn't usually dare give her, and one that only made her more angry.

"We're trying to keep you from getting more hurt than you already are, Frea!" He hissed, "You're not the only one fighting in this- we're all gonna be working to get Moon back, you don't have to risk getting hurt again!"

"He's right, Frea." Gray muttered,

"You're not the only one Moon has to depend on." Chase muttered, "Everybody in the Guild is gonna work to get her back, and to make that Bastard pay. We can handle it, and we're sure as hell not going to let you try and fight in the condition you're in." Frea's bangs overshadowed her face a minute, hiding her eyes from sight as her fists clenched harder at her side, and the waves of power coming off of her started to rise more.

"Look what Tomaru did to you already." Solana muttered. "He nearly killed you- and he will do it again if you come with us. We're not letting you put yourself in that danger. If you come with us, you'll be getting hurt like this all over again- and you're body won't be able to take it. If you couldn't win against him before, what do you expect to do now that you're like this?"

Frea's jaw clenched, she didn't care they were talking sense- it pissed her off, they were being hypocritical, they were making her very, very angry... She didn't give a rats ass about herself right now, all she cared about was making sure Moon was alright. About getting her back and destroying Tomaru for what he did.

And of course she had no way of explaining what happened before- of why she turned out in this state. Why he managed to do this to her, why she hadn't won.

She had been lined up to win, two seconds more and she _would_ have had him and she wouldn't have ended up this beaten, this hurt and this humiliated. She would have kept Moon safe, she wouldn't have been taken, and they wouldn't be in this mess... Two more seconds and all of this would have been avoided!

The only reason she lost- was because right as she had been about to win, that damned wound in her side from fighting with that Thing in Hilshine had flared up with such unbelievable agony that her Magic imploded, and destroyed itself entirely. Her Magic failed and her Spell to win had failed, Tomaru gained the upper hand after that and then it was just the dominoes tipping one after the other.

That damned wound... It had been giving her too much trouble to be natural. It hurt at the most random times, it was slow to heal and now it had landed her in this mess- it was almost as if the only purpose that wound served, was to royally muck up her life. To foil her plans and to set her up for disaster- because somehow, that pain it brought with it was enough to wipe her Magic away completely for a time.

Had it not been for that damned wound- if not for that damned Thing, Moon wouldn't still be here and she wouldn't be in danger!

She wouldn't have lost damn it!

She looked up and settled Solana and the rest of those in her way with the most deadly glare any of them had ever received from her, immensely calm and powerful waves of silver wafting up around her slowly.

"Are you going to stop me?" She hissed lowly, her voice dripping in the challenge. They couldn't stop her- as it stood, none of them had ever won a fight against her, and even all together her rage was so potent they wouldn't stand a chance.

They sweatdropped but all of them straightened up, stepping up to stand at eachother's shoulders and returning her glare with their own.

"We will if we have to, Silver." Gajeel grumbled,

"We're not letting you come."

She bared her fangs at them, rage and impatience making her much more quick to act than she ever would- and more violent toward her friends and Guild-Mates than she ever would be.

It was admirable, and quite loyal of them to be so steadfast in their decision of not letting her come. They were after all- acting with Frea's best interests in mind. They knew she was too hurt to risk letting her fight, and they were worried what could happen if she was allowed to come at all. She would most likely end up worse than she was already- of even dead. And they weren't willing to risk that, not in a million years.

Even if that meant standing up to one of the very people nearly all of them would never consider arguing, nor standing against. It was not wise to anger Frea, or defy her in her wishes most of the time- doing this was likely to get them hit and their asses kicked, but they didn't care.

Had Frea not been so rage filled and on a warpath; she may have seen sense in what they were telling her- and appreciated their efforts enough to respect them. But what Tomaru did- his actions against not only her, but Moon- and all the things he had done, and would do- all of it was pushing her into a blind rage that kept her from seeing anything but red.

Frea would never attack anyone in the Guild out of pure rage- her brawling was always done while holding back and keeping her emotions in check. She would never full out go after anyone in the Guild- she wouldn't never allow herself to, not since her days being a Demon. But at the moment, she wasn't thinking like she usually would-

Having Moon captured and possibly being hurt of worse, that sent her into a rage unlike any other.

Her fists clenched harder and she shifted, looking ready to go after the lot of them- to throw them out of her way and head to Death Bolt on her own. Screw the Guild, screw what they wanted- all she cared about was Moon!

Those standing in front of her tensed, easily able to tell they were in trouble now.

By now, most of the Guild had turned to watch the confrontation- all of them in agreeance on the idea of not allowing Frea to come. One look made up their minds- she was in no condition and they didn't want her any more hurt than she was. Many of them started to move, ready to stop Frea once it was clear she wasn't going to take no for an answer.

Master himself stood up, looking stern and unhappy- he was ready to order her to remain at the Guild, though he knew that would make little difference. If he needed to, he was willing to hold her down and force her to stay still- after all, better at the Guild than in the middle of a battle. She was safer here at the Guild, and her safety meant a lot to him and everyone else.

"Fight us if you want Frea," Solana growled.

"We still ain't letting you go." Gray grumbled.

"Better you take it out on us, than get yourself hurt again." Natsu muttered.

Wendy sweatdropped, fidgeting from where she was close by to Frea- eyes wide and looking nervous.

"Frea please!" She murmured, "You're in no condition to move at all!"

"Listen you fool!" Carla snapped, sweatdropping heavily. "You're only making things worse by fighting!"

"Please don't!" Lucy called,

"Frea!" Master snapped, his voice joined by Erza and Mirajane as they moved to try and stop her.

Frea's clenched fist collided with Natsu's open palm, he moved forward before anybody else could and caught her hand, her furious silver gaze meeting his. She thought her other one forward and he caught that one too- wincing as both of his hands bruised, flame circling his fists to counteract Frea's own Magic. Their foreheads banged together as they stood in a sudden deadlock, silver and orange clashing as their Magics rose up around one another furiously. The rest of those opposing her circled the two, tense and eyes narrowed.

"Get out of my way, Natsu." Frea hissed, voice dripping in venom and gaze flinty.

"No, I'm not letting you leave." He growled. "You did this to me last time, you stopped me and said there was no use running in head first, and risking anyone getting more hurt than they were last time."

Frea growled, knowing he was referring how she stopped him from running off into the thick of things with Legion and the crisis with the Infinity Clock- not that she cared to have her own lessons reiterated to her at the moment.

"I was pissed at you, just like you are now- but you were _right._ I realized that afterward- and you gotta realize its right to not let you come with us." He went on lowly, "I get it Frea- but its time somebody else keeps you from doing stupid stuff, just like you're always doing for everybody else."

She closed her eyes a minute,

"... Tch... The only stupid thing right now, is the fact that you're still in my damn way, Flame-Brain!" She snapped, eyes snapping open as he Magic increased exponentially and Natsu sweatdropped.

He was sent backward by an invisible wall of force slamming into him, he hissed and flipped in midair, sliding backward but landing on his feet.

"Enough Frea! You will not be coming, that is my final decision!" Master snapped, earning Frea's attention as she glanced over her shoulder to see the Old Man's furious, and stern expression. It was an order- a command from her Guild Master, one she would usually obey, but not this time.

"You can try and stop me all you like Old Man, I'm still going whether or not you want me to!" She snapped back, Master Makarov glared, his expression darkening and fists clenched.

It wasn't normal for Frea to outright disregard an order from him- she usually did as he asked her to, and her unwillingness now did not make him happy.

"... Brat...!"

By now, her entire being was engulfed in the light of her Magic- all weariness and pain gone in way of rage and anger. It had been a long time since many in the Guild had seen her so wild and unruly- and it shocked them, but they understood it. All her anger and rage was only making her Magic expand more and more- had she not been strung up not long before, and be covered in as much red as she was- no one would think she was injured at all, especially considering the amount of power she was giving off.

It all disappeared in a split second, the silver shattering and all feel of power emanating from her suddenly ceased without warning. Frea looked utterly shocked, as did the rest of the Guild- her eyes cast down to her hands as she tried to come to terms with what had happened. It was as if a switch had been flipped to turn her Magic off- and it was not unlike when her Magic imploded when fighting against Tomaru.

Chase sweatdropped, but his eyes narrowed upon noticing the black crescent moon symbol that suddenly blazed on Frea's lower left arm. Frea noticed it too, and her anger rose.

"You... Little...!" Frea growled. She immediately recognized the Mark and knew who put it there- a Magic Limiter with the intent of keeping her more _manageable_. It only made her more irritated and angry, the fact that the very person she was at considerable odds with at the moment was trying to stop her now- like so many others.

She would have whipped about to look directly at the ghost girl- who's Energy Signature she felt flare up just behind her, if suddenly the pain of her wounds- and more notably, the agony in her back hadn't flared up with her Magic being quelled.

It had been her sudden upsurge of Magic Energy and Power that had been keeping her anger potent and her pain at bay entirely- her body was beaten and a battered and broken, and she hadn't been feeling it hardly at all- until _that_ moment.

It was as if all the pain and exhaustion and the full extent of her injuries suddenly caught up and rammed into her- the wall against it her Magic had created suddenly gone and allowing the torrent to hit her.

The Guild was lost to black waves in front of her eyes before she was able to move a muscle, and the last hazy bits of it and the shocked faces of those in front of her were suddenly tilted as all sense of wakefulness left her entirely...

"Frea!" Wendy gasped, seeing the Energy Dragon Slayer start to tilt dangerously.

Master's suddenly enlarged hand stretched out to break Frea's fall before she hit the floor- the Old Man looking considerably serious now.

"Jynx.." Chase mumbled, sweatdropping.

"What did you...?" Gray muttered,

"... You know she's gonna be pissed when she wakes up." Solana told the ghost lowly, moving up to support Frea and allow the Old Man to move his hand away, holding Frea's uninjured arm around her shoulders. Wendy dashed up to her with Mirajane in tow, looking a little frantic at how quickly the Energy Dragon Slayer had passed out with her Magic stopped- it only made her more worried about the amount of damage that Frea had taken, and how little of it she was aware of.

Especially how serious her wounds would have to be to make her pass out the moment her Magic was no longer there to keep her up and standing.

Jynx just let her eyes close and her arms crossed behind her back, posture stiff and demeanor rigid and... _Cold._

"I very much doubt she can be any angrier with me than she already is." Jynx replied lowly, " _Let_ her be angry with me- she already hates me, doing this will make little difference." She muttered, before turning toward Makarov, her red eyes resting on him calmly. "It is the best decision not to allow Energy Dragon to face Death Bolt- her Magic alone was the only thing keeping her moving, and conscious- as you can see." She mumbled, earning sweatdrops from everyone else. "And of Magic- she had very little left. With her body as beaten as it is, it would have been a very bad idea to allow her to continue on and fight."

"My suggestion- leave quickly, now that she is subdued. She won't be awake nor move for a long time now- and Moon is in danger as it is. Haste is needed."

The Old Man nodded, before turning to quickly arrange the last things he needed done before the Guild started moving. Jynx remained standing where she was, faintly aware of Frea being taken to the Infirmary, and the approaching figure of Mavis. Silently, along with several others- the Old Man thanked the Ghost Girl for stepping in as she had. None of them had been very fond of the idea of having to restrain Frea as it was...

"Did you know Limiting Frea's Magic like that would work?" Mavis asked softly.

"I had hoped it would, though I wasn't sure." Jynx replied lowly. "... As it is... Had she not been as exhausted as she was, her anger would have been enough to drive her even after I put my Limiting Seal on her."

In all reality, she wouldn't have interfered at all if she hadn't thought it entirely necessary for her to do so. It was clear that Frea did not want her around, nor have anything to do with her- she had lost what little trust the Energy Dragon Slayer held for her.

And probably, she would never gain it back either.

But when it had been clear Frea wasn't going to listen to anyone in the Guild, nor obey the orders from Her Guild Master- there was one person left who could and would stand against her, without having to risk being an object of dislike and hate from Frea afterward. Had Natsu, Chase.. any of the Guild actually been the ones to stop her in her attempt to save her Partner, it was likely Frea would never look at them the same again- with Jynx there was no reason not to risk it, as Frea was already on bad terms with the Ghost Girl.

In this way, Jynx could have the final say and not worry about the repercussions for her actions later. It honestly couldn't get any worse between herself and Frea than it already was..

But despite that- she was true to her word. She meant to help and protect Frea whenever she could, and right now was one of those times. Frea was in no condition to fight, it would be poor judgement to allow her to- and Jynx saw that, as did so many others.

"The truth was... I would have been willing to whatever I could, in order to make sure Energy Dragon did not go to face Death Bolt, nor Tomaru a second time." Jynx murmured, Mavis glanced sideways toward her, eyes glinting.

"If she were to meet them- I could not be sure she would remain alive... This Guild, that man... They're merciless, dangerous, malicious beings... This battle will be dangerous for all of the Guild; and in this instance- most dangerous for Energy Dragon." But there was another thing still,

She knew what happened when Frea fought with Tomaru. She knew Frea would have won that battle, she was seconds away from doing so- but then something happened.... Something dark and unexpected, a shadow that seemed to flicker across Frea's own being, and destroy her Magic all at once- keep her from winning.

It was the same thing she had felt when she had brought the Energy Dragon Slayer to the White Plane, when it became clear to her that there was something inside of Frea that was no longer right.... That she was tainted, her being... her soul had been corrupted, if ever so slightly- that small dark patch had been what had caused her Magic to fluctuate when they had been Implanting the Lacrima, and that small dark blotch had been what had made Frea's Magic fail against Tomaru...

Jynx couldn't shake the feeling... Something else was at work here, more than Tomaru, more than his Guild. Any sort of flaw in someone's being, like the small one she felt with Frea's- they shouldn't carry as much weight, nor affect anyone as much as this one was for Frea. That made her believe that whatever it was..... that had stained Frea's being, it was now laying a stake in her actions and her life- and had probably purposely made it so Frea lost to Tomaru. Something wanted to interfere and hurt Frea...

... Something that dearly wanted to do Frea great harm- and would do so, through any means necessary.


	49. Into DeathBolt's Shadow

**Chapter 49**

**Into Death Bolt's Shadow**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

_Swirling black, endless shadow, the world dead, silent, cold around her. All sense of Energy, all sound, all feeling- it was all gone... She was utterly numb._

_She couldn't recall what it was that had happened, one minute she had been about to enter an all out battle with Natsu, Solana... Everyone who were trying to stop her from saving Moon._

_One moment she was ready to fight... Then..._

_... Jynx._

_Jynx did something, and all the world went black before her eyes. Now she was stuck in eternal shadow... And handy any clue, nor enough strength to try and get out._

_Her body felt heavy, weak... Dead weight, she couldn't move, she couldn't open her eyes, she could only float there- all her rage and anger, her drive to get Moon back- all of that simmered dimly below the surface and wasn't enough to pull her out of the black._

**_"What an interesting turn in events, hmm... Malunafrey...?"_ **

* * *

****

_Moon hunched over, curling in on herself and holding her head in her paws, arms stained red and running in crimson from the five new slashes she had received._

_She couldn't remember anything but pain and fear since hatching from her egg- one minute, she was in the wide new world and alone- the next, the jaws of a monster hung inches from her nose and she ran. That beast had leaped and managed to grab her- but only her once soft, rounded ears- shredding them to bits before a burst of Magic allowed her Aera for the first time, and she flew away._

_And then this Guild... These awful, evil people- they found her, found her wounded and starving, wandering aimlessly with nowhere to go... She was an easy target, a toy._

**_A slave_ **

_She let out a few shaky breaths before sobbing overtook her- it wasn't the pain from the wounds, it was the feeling of hopelessness- the realization she'd be forever trapped here, serving vile people who loved to make her life, and others- a living hell. She'd never be rid of it, she was going to die here- suffer for years before the sweet embrace of death allowed her a reprieve from this wretched life._

_So young... Left alone, to die, to suffer through this... Did she deserve any of this?_

_She didn't think so, not that she knew much better..._

_"... Hey.."_

_Her entire frame shook as she jumped up, head snapping around and eyes filled with tears. She scrambled backward, hitting the bars of the cage and trembling- her eyes searching frantically for the unwarranted voice, expecting Master Tomaru or some other Member that was looking to poke and prod at her._

_"Woah, easy, easy... Stay quite, don't make too much noise."_

_She blinked the tears away enough to see who it was that was peering at her through the cage bars- his young face and bright, purple eyes- a hint of boyish freckles dotting his face. He was nearly 13 or 14, from what she guessed- she hadn't seen him all that much, his father never liked that he would come up to her. Not that he tried, that boy knew he was in trouble if Master Tomaru found him talking or even interacting with her- he had always kept a distance, but now, as the Guild around them went silent as its Members shuffled out, he had chanced coming up to the cage- the desk of Master Tomaru empty as the man was gone._

_The boy set her with a sympathetic, and unnervingly kind stare as he smiled slightly- it was a gentle, sweet smile- not the maniac, evil grins of the other Guild Members. She blinked, not sure what to make of it._

_"... I'm sorry about them." The boy said quietly, she stiffened._

_W-what...?_

_"... They're all so mean and evil to you, it isn't fair." The boy went on, seeing the confusion written on her face. "Its just who they are- evil people. You shouldn't ever have to be in a place like this."_

_"... B-but you...?" She stammered, her voice a little to high and squeaky- he winced and she paused, swallowing. "... You're here... Y-your father..." She stammered and the boy frowned a little._

_"I don't want to be here." He answered honestly, catching her completely off guard. "I never did... I want to leave." She sweatdropped,_

_It didn't seem possible to her... That the flesh and blood of a man she knew to be wholly evil and terrible... That Master Tomaru's son could be so different. That this boy would want to leave this wretched Guild, that he'd be willing to leave his father behind._

_"... I will leave." He said after a minute, she blinked in shock- her eyes meeting his, determined, strong..._

_"I'm going to get out of here." He said again, sounding more certain. "And when I do, I'll take you with me."_

_It felt like the world had fallen away from underneath her- like the Guild had disappeared, and the cage. The only thing in front of her, was that boy- her eyes never leaving his determined expression, and small, kind smile toward her. There was no way he had said that- the son of Master Tomaru, he would never have said that to her._

_That... That he would leave, he would find some way away from this Guild..._

_... And he... He'll take me with him._

_It was a chance at freedom, escape- a chance to escape the inevitable outcome that she would die here. That she would spend her life in pain and torture._

_He couldn't mean it- she dared not believe he did, because despite herself... There was a small flare of hope. She's never felt that before, but she knew what it was... And she didn't want it to be destroyed. She knew he couldn't mean it, and she wished that feeling hadn't come- because she would feel even more cold and empty once it was gone._

_"I promise I'll get us both out of here." He said, earning her attention again- still looking just as determined... And just as sincere._

_Could this really... Be happening...?_

_"I don't know a lot of Magic right now- but I'm going to learn. I'll get strong enough to get us out of here, and until I can... I promise I'll keep you as safe as I can. I'll do what I can to try and make sure they don't hurt you so much anymore- you'll just have to hang on." He said, a fist clenching in front of him and eyes shinning in the dim with a fire._

_Her tears slowly came to a halt, as she simply stared, mind reeling._

_"We'll get out of here together. I'll protect you." He smiled and she felt something inside of her stir... Something warm. He smiled at her and turned away, seemingly digging in his pockets a moment, before moving his hand back and holding a piece of bread through the bars to her._

_"Are you hungry?" He asked, she hesitated- before slowly taking it from him, still not able to say anything. He grinned, "I'll bring you food and talk to you when I can manage, and I'll even help you serve food and stuff- so you don't have to do so much."_

_"... B... But... Why...?" She stammered, "... Why would you do that... For me...? Your father... Won't he be angry...? You... You'd be risking so much... Even just talking to me..." It was all true, she knew that Master Tomaru didn't want his son to speak with her at all- and to go so far as helping her, and giving her food? To someone he didn't even know? They hadn't even talked to one another before this, and now he was promising to get them both out... It was such a risk..! And it didn't make any sense..!_

_He gave her a smile, an innocent, kind smile that was oh so foreign._

_"Well, because we're going to be best friends." He said in a matter of fact way, her heart skipped a beat at the unfamiliar notion._

_Best... Friends...?_

_"You and me, we're one in the same. We don't belong here, so we have to stick together to get out." He told her, "And we will get out, promise. Now- hurry and eat that before anybody sees." He backed away a little, "Don't cry so much anymore, I'm here now." He smiled, turning away. She stared, before jumping a little._

_"W-wait...!" She called quickly, lowly. He paused,_

_"Hmm?"_

_"What's... What's your name...?" She asked, she'd never figured it out._

_He grinned, a bright, happy smile that seems to warm her up just by looking at it._

_"Kyo. We're gonna be the best of friends..." He paused, "... What's your name?" He asked, she stiffened._

_"... I don't... Have one..." She mumbled and he blinked, before seemingly going into thought._

_"Hmm... Well, you know what? I read this story a little bit ago, an old legend about day and night..." He smiled, "It talked about how nighttime and the dark can be scary sometimes, but there's always light to keep dark at bay- there's always that light that will remain even in total darkness. The light of the moon." He smiled a little more, "That's it, you're the light that shines still, even in total darkness down here, the small bit of light that gives hope that darkness will eventually fade away-"_

_"Moon. That's your name now."_

_She couldn't help thinking that he was that bright light in the dark..._ Her _bright light._

_She smiled, just a little- and for the first time._

_"Best friends, then."_

* * *

_"Don't cry Moon, everything will be ok..."_

Moon's eyes fluttered open to the dim and dark of the Guild Hall. Her ears twitched at the wispy memory of his voice, and the image of his promise to her slowly faded and she sighed- wincing half way through as pain flared across her entire being.

She rubbed at her wet eyes and silently cursed herself- even sleeping and unconscious she was still crying... _Damn it..._

She groaned, sitting up slightly in the cage and glancing around- the Main Hall was nearly empty now, she guessed many of the members were gone now on missions, or maybe to bed... Though most of them didn't really sleep. Her session of being thrown around like a rag doll had ended, thankfully... But her body was so bruised and broken now it hurt to breath, but again- she was used to it.

She clenched her paws a little and closed her eyes, she needed to quit with the crying, she had to steel herself against what was thrown at her- she needed to be able to face everything without whimpering and crying over it.

Despite the hopelessness and the numbing pain and sadness... Deep inside of her, there was a small flame- a small fire, of anger and resentment toward this damned Guild, and its wretched leader. She had been angry and unhappy about the doings of Extalia and sending the 100 eggs to Earth all on their own- she could get angry with other people's idiocy and stupid ideas- but she had never hated anything more than she hated this Guild, its doings, and its people.

But damn it- that dream made her grief all the more raw, because it brought back memories of Kyo and the years they spent here, growing stronger, getting ready to break free.

And then she remembered him getting killed- by his own father no less.

And then she remembered _Frea._

She pressed her fists against her eyes to stop the new tears, shaking her head furiously and hissing again at the pain moving at all brought. She _couldn't_ break down, she had to stay strong enough to last- her life would be hell from here on out, but she wouldn't let herself die easily, and she wouldn't allow herself to give up either.

She sat all the way up and slowly shuffled over to the edge of the cage, leaning against the bars with her back and letting her head fall back.

Giving up meant dying sooner, and dying meant everything would be gone... Her memories would be lost.

And even if her memories were full of pain and sadness, she wanted to remember it all- because there was happiness and pleasure among them too. The good and the bad, they were all things she wanted to never lose- she supposed she got that from Frea.

She glanced around the dim, noting there was no sign of Master Tomaru nor Hikien. She faintly recalled being zapped to wakefulness in the middle of the beating she had received, and the faint memory of Master Tomaru calling the whole thing to a close- before she had been thrown inside of her cage again. That's when everything went dark once more.

This place was sickeningly familiar, and she hated that it was that way. The same walls, same unnatural light, same tables, mugs... The same cage and the same bars. The same chains about her hands and feet, and about her neck. If these Magic Nullification Chains hadn't been around, she might have tried to contact the Guild via Telepathy- not that she was sure she had any Magic Energy left.

A small part of her was a little worried of whether or not the Guild would come to help her anyway... Nonsense really, but there was a small inkling of doubt.

_Not that they could ever find this place anyway... I've been here so long, and even I'm not sure where Death Bolt is actually located... There are too many Spells set up to keep it hidden._

She let her eyes fall closed and her arms hung at her sides loosely, too exhausted to keep them near to her person- the chains rattled slightly in the near silence.

Her eyes snapped open as her paw brushed something in the shadow of the cage- something unfamiliar and something she knew shouldn't be there. She glanced down and her heart leapt to her chest,

Frea's Bag was on the floor of the cage beside her, nearly hidden in the dim- so much so she hadn't noticed it at all until now. What struck her was how it was there at all- she distinctly remembered it being thrown off during the battle with Tomaru- and knew she hadn't grabbed it, and highly doubted anyone else had. It should still be there, left and lost on the floor of that forest, and yet it was here. With her.

It was almost as if it had appeared on its own- a ridiculous notion of course.

She drew it closer, slowly and eyes flicking around in case anyone noticed what it was she had. It was heavy and a little dirty from the fight- but as always, it seemed to remain in stellar condition despite the damage it should have taken- an enchantment she supposed.

She opened it up and looked inside, her heart dropping a little to see the Calling Card Frea usually carried on request from Mirajane and Cana, was not inside- a means of communication she could have used. She figured it must have fallen out, or maybe Frea had forgotten it...

Knowing Frea- she usually only kept a spare change of clothes, some money and maybe a snack with her at all times. There was a small coin purse in the bottom from what she saw- but that wasn't what took up the bulk of the room in the bag.

It was that Book Frea always seemed to have on her, and the one that seemed to have some strange power and sense of self about it. The same Book she had seen Frea talk to, interact with- and the same Book she had only seen up close once. It was when Frea had been turned tiny during the Clock Arc Incident, when this Book transported itself to the Guild and landed on top of the Energy Dragon Slayer without warning.

She remembered it clearly, because the Book had flipped open rapidly before her eyes- before finally stopping on one certain and specific spot. She'd never been willing to tell Frea what it was she saw that day.

She didn't understand it all- the Book was clearly very old, dating back hundreds of years as a start. It had seemed to contain Spells- those Frea had used, or had others use from it- but she had also seen Frea's desk and the numerous notes taken on it. It seemed a recording of some series of events- a history book if you will.

So how was it, this ancient, centuries old Book had the symbol of the Death Bolt Guild printed inside of it? Hundreds of years before it was even an idea?

She slowly pulled the Book out, a small frown gracing her lips as she sweatdropped slightly. Something about this Book put her off a little, set her on edge even. Mostly, because she knew it wasn't a regular Book- no book should have a mind of its own like this one seemed to, and even then- she swore she could feel some sort of power rising from it as she touched it.

She set it in her lap and curled her paw over the edge, meeting resistance as the Book refused to open at all. She paused, sweatdropping slightly.

It lurched underneath her hand and she pulled it back as the Book slammed open, pages flipping rapidly and with too much noise for comfort. It stopped on the same page it had shown her before, she stiffened when the otherwise barren page despite the Death Bolt Guild Mark at the top- suddenly shone in a dim crimson and words appeared on the page.

She couldn't read them- they were in the Dragon Language, which took her by surprise but after a moment she figured she should have guessed.

_'Drearand en Dargerio ecne thered yorte, wel egemre hilann erom ru a elttan ro hilarrn- de predenn ot ve legea pelta, ve niotder uf de ilkome vildi wel dyate de hjenn uf kel.'_

Gibberish... Utter gibberish.

She wondered if this was how Frea had felt trying to read it...

"... English, maybe...?" She mumbled halfheartedly- knowing what Chase had been asked to read had not, and could not have been in this confusing and utterly unintelligible language. How had anything, let alone Dragons- have understood any of this? It seemed like an assortment of made up words that held no meaning- of course which was untrue, seeing as how Dragons had used this very language for centuries... But to Moon, she had no hope of deciphering it at all.

She'd seldom heard Frea speak it- and when she did, she never truly got around to asking what the words meant. For a moment she tried thinking back to the piles of notes she had organized while cleaning their room in Fairy Hills- those notes Frea had dedicated to figuring out specific words and their meanings- those she guessed she had managed to recall from her time with her Dragon, and whatever else she could dig up in the Guild's Library.

She closed her eyes a moment, the book did nothing to comply with her request for English- and she felt a small rise of indignation grow inside of her.

 _Dargerio_ and _Drearand_ had been written on a small sticky note from what she could recall- Light and Dark.

 _Hilarrn_ had been one of the spoken words Frea had said when opening the Tomb in Nvindorr- to which had been explained to here that it meant 'one'.

Despite that, all her searching in her memory of the notes Frea had taken- none of the rest of the words on the page had been among them. She let out a long sigh and sunk down against the bars a little more- her head was pounding without thinking about the writing, and she was nearly too exhausted to even care.

... What could Light and Dark have to do with this damned Guild anyway? Everything here was Dark yes... Its people, the air, the atmosphere.

But any shred of light that her remained in this place had been snuffed out long ago.

"... Why is the Death Bolt Guild Symbol in here...?" She mumbled aloud wearily. "... How could it be...? Centuries before this Guild existed...?"

... Did this Book somehow document future events? How absurd a thought that was...

"... Why are you here..?"

She was talking to a Book. Great.

Her consciousness began to fall away into the waves of exhaustion and pain falling over her, she sleepily closed the book shut and put it back in Frea's bag. It didn't move nor change anything on the page- so she assumed it was done in its strange antics.

She carefully moved the Book and the Bag under the pile of old rags that should have served as some sort of bed- making sure it was out of sight so no one in the Guild would see it.

She leaned back against the bars again and crossed her bleeding and nearly numb arms over her, shivering slightly and letting her eyes close again, she could barely keep them open as it was.

... This was it... This was where she'd be from here on out...

_... Damn it.. All..._

Her ears twitched slightly as the faint sound of some sort of wind whispering over the stone walls of the Guild caught her attention- just as her mind was about to give way to nothingness. She didn't open her eyes, she just listened a little, not very intently either... It was common some breeze whistled over the rocks down here... She remembered that clearly...

_"... Warning... Warning..."_

Her eyes snapped open in an instant once she caught the faintest hints of the whispered words- not a voice she could recognize nor place, her eyes swept about the space frantically as a cold chill seemed to fall over her. The voice was so low she wasn't sure if she actually heard it, or imagined it being as exhausted as she was...

Her heart sped up when her ears were suddenly bombarded with a low, nearly imperceptible rumble of several whispered and hushed voices- too many to count, too many to understand... It was almost as if... These were the voices she thought she had heard... In... _Nvindorr..._

_"... Warning... Dark things... Coming..."_

_"... warning... shadow is..."_

_"... coming..."_

The voices faded entirely as silence fell heavily over her, her eyes wide and fixed to the bars of the cage across from her. A bead of sweat dripped down her face as she sat paralyzed, trembling slightly and heart racing. She couldn't force herself to believe she had heard that... She didn't want to think she actually had... Because it spooked her, a lot.

Voices with no bodies... Invisible speakers... Whispers on the wind...

She'd never think of herself as easily scared, nor quick to react to odd and disconcerting things in an in appealing way...

... But, however exhausted she had been- she couldn't manage to fall asleep again, and instead sat in silence and darkness, alone.

* * *

 

"Hmm?"

Laxus stood with his arms over his chest and eyebrow quirked, looking down at his grandfather as the Guild began moving out of the Guild doors in tense waves, the Old Man had stopped him in his tracks as he walked past him- Freed, Bixlow and Evergreen glanced over their shoulders uncertainly- having previously been spoken to by the Old Man himself. He thought it odd they gave him apologetic looks, before leaving the Guild entirely-

He blinked in shock at what it was the Old Man said to him next,

"You're not coming." Makarov said evenly, expression serious and arms crossed behind his back.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" He grumbled, quite surprised at the statement.

"You are still on probation from taking any Job assignments, after what happened with Ivan- Porlyusica has not cleared you for work." He said in a matter of fact tone, "You will not be coming to fight in this battle- not today."

"I feel fine Old Man." Laxus muttered,

"Regardless, I will not allow you to come." Makarov murmured, earning a stare from Laxus, who's jaw clenched a little. He didn't like being ordered to stay put any more than Frea had, but he wasn't about to go around blowing through people because of it.

Mostly, because he figured that Prolyusica failing to clear him for assignments was not the only reason the Old Man was forbidding him from going- it was something about that serious look the Old Man had on, and the hints of concern he could see glinting in his eyes... There was something more the Old Man seemed to be thinking, though for a minute he seemed reluctant to say it.

"... Seeing how Frea reacted when I told her to stay at the Guild, I am worried she will run off the moment she comes to." The Old Man said at length, his tone soft and weary. His eyes fell closed a moment, "It is unlikely she will wake up any time soon, but we have been wrong about how long she would be unconscious before now. I do not wish her to push herself more than she already has, and I know her loyalty and love for Moon will not allow her to sit still if she does wake up." Laxus blinked, eyes narrowing.

Master looked up and fixed Laxus with a steady, serious stare that betrayed the weariness and the strain what had happened was putting on him- the Old Man was good at acting restrained and tough in situations like this- but the reality was that every time someone in the Guild got hurt or something like this happened, it was just another huge strain on the Old Man he didn't need. The Old Man hated to see any of his 'children' hurt or wounded, and despite himself he couldn't help but worry- a lot.

The Old Man loved everyone in the Guild dearly, but Frea had always seemed to have a soft spot in the Old Man's heart- maybe it was because she was one of the ones that was always in trouble and getting hurt. But the things that happened with Frea seemed to hit a lot harder sometimes, and it was clear the Old Man was worried about the Energy Dragon Slayer- he usually was.

He had, in all reality- become even more worried and protective over her after everyone had believed that she had died at the hands of Kasumi and Shadow alike... The ache of losing her then wouldn't ever heal, and seeing Frea so wounded and beaten, it probably made his heart ache all the more.

Laxus' eyes narrowed a little more,

"As you are still forbidden from taking jobs, and coming with us to join in this battle- I have something else to ask of you, though you may not like it." Master murmured, Laxus sweatdropped slightly.

"What?"

"If Frea does wake up- we both know she will try to follow us to Death Bolt, regardless of her condition." Master muttered, Laxus agreed- knowing that it exactly what she would do. "If she does... I need you here to stop her."

Laxus stiffened slightly, eyes widening a little in slight shock. The Old Man... Wanted him to keep Frea under control?

Him interfering at all- especially _him_ , someone Frea oftentimes butted heads with regularly- having him be the one to keep her still and at the Guild if she were to wake up- his presence might just inflame her aggravation and rage more than it already was.

He couldn't say he was fond of the idea of having to hold her back and babysit her... Not that he was worried he couldn't take her on if need be.

"You are one of the few people in the Guild strong enough to take Frea on, especially as angry as she is right now." Master went on, "You are one of the few able to contend with her in all the years she having been here, you will have less an issue keeping her from running off than anyone else."

That he agreed with, because it was true- Frea oftentimes fought with everyone in the Guild, but it was a rare few that ever beat her in a fight, ever.

Laxus himself couldn't boast about having beat her- they always came up in a draw when they had fought one another, no one won- but he didn't lose either. The sequence of tying with one another is what spurred the want to have a rematch to test their strengths against one another- so they could see who would win now that they were older and much stronger than they used to be.

He was rather interested in having a rematch with her- but it wouldn't be his idea to have it now. He wasn't exactly interested in holding that rematch while keeping her from running off and getting herself injured again, or worse.

"You want me to babysit?" He muttered lowly, Master sighed slightly.

"... I understand being asked to deal with her should she awake may not be preferable to you. But in the end, its necessary- Frea cannot be allowed to fight, she's too injured to be moving at all let alone pushing herself into an all out confrontation with a Dark Guild just as dangerous, if not more so than Grimoire Heart was." Master murmured softly, "I know very well you two are usually at odds, and this would never be something I would normally ask of you... But I ask you try and put whatever unhappiness you have with Frea aside for now and do as I ask." Laxus' eyes narrowed a little and just looked at the the Old Man silently.

Master blinked once, his head tilting slightly. "Besides- I had thought you two were on better terms nowadays?" He asked and Laxus huffed slightly, "... If not then, at least would you please just do as I ask? Whatever you feel for Frea, even you must understand that letting her fight is unwise." The Old Man paused a moment, "You owe her enough to try and keep her safe and alive, for what she did for you with Ivan- don't you?" He added in, and Laxus' eyes closed a moment.

The Old Man brought up something that had been bothering him- he and Frea had started a tallying system for the favors they managed for one another- and they always worked to make sure they were even. After Ivan, and Frea's help- he owed her and he knew it, and that bothered him a little.

Call it a pride thing

He wasn't arguing that letting Frea fight Death Bolt would be an unwise decision- in fact it'd be a pretty damn dumb one. It wasn't a matter of not agreeing with the Old Man in this situation at all, he did.

... If he had been asked to do this a few years earlier- he would never agree to it.

"Tch... Fine. I'll keep her out of trouble if she wakes up." He muttered lowly, his somewhat lack of argument for the idea and ready willingness to do it catching Master off guard. The Old Man stared a minute, unable to believe he had agreed as easily as that.

"... If the Guild isn't standing when you come back, don't blame me." Laxus grumbled lowly, "I'll keep her from gettin' herself hurt again, but I can't promise we won't wreck the Guild when I have to fight to keep her here."

"... You will try not to hurt her, won't you?" Master asked quietly and Laxus blinked- a little surprised he had asked... Before he frowned slightly,

".. Tch... Like I'd even try to hit her, I'd say she's beaten up enough already." He muttered and Master blinked.

That wasn't the answer he would have expected... He would have expected something like 'not too much' or even something along the lines of only hurting her if he needed to to keep her under control... But Laxus seemed much more concerned with the idea that Frea was hurt enough already.

For a moment his expression softened and he smiled slightly, recognizing a more gentleness suddenly inside of his grandson he really hadn't seen before.

He really had changed... From that arrogant foolish boy he had to expel from the Guild...

Something had changed, and he hadn't seen it until that very moment. He knew this was nothing Laxus would ever consider doing, he would never ask unless he had to- and he did. Laxus would never have been willing to have anything to do with Frea before now, he certainly wouldn't have been set on not hurting her- because fact was, Frea wouldn't have any qualms hurting him if she did wake up. Laxus would never have been concerned enough about inflicting more damage on the already wounded Dragon Slayer- before now, he wouldn't have cared.

Even the way he agreed with little argument on the matter... It was odd, and the Old Man couldn't help but feel there was something more to do with why Laxus had agreed so easily. Something about his grandson's outlook on Frea that had changed...

Laxus would never admit it out loud- but he _didn't_ mind this at all. The request made by Master wasn't something to get worked up over... Because somewhere inside of him, Laxus himself wanted to make sure Frea didn't get herself hurt again. That want to keep her from doing something stupid was sudden and extremely foreign to him- he usually wouldn't care what she did, but at the moment- he did.

He chocked it up to being the need to repay the debt he owed and left it at that- though on the edge of his mind, seeing the blood Frea was stained with, especially across her back- that image lingered with a small, faint tenseness that flickered inside of him. Remembering how she had been strung up to the Guild door- that made him very angry, though he quelled it.

He could still smell her blood on the air, and remembered distinctly the look of pain on her face when she moved in the wrong way- the way she was beaten and bruised and _broken_. She looked like shit, and clearly felt like it too if she had passed out the moment her Magic was no longer a factor. It had never been often Frea looked so defeated and hurt- though recently it happened more often, and despite himself... Seeing her like that made a small twinge flash in his chest, his body to tense up a little. He didn't understand what did that, seeing her like that made him much more tense than it ever had...

... He didn't like it

Master smiled and nodded, "Thank you." The Old Man murmured and Laxus huffed,

"Whatever..."

"... Hmm..." Master hummed slightly, noticing Laxus wouldn't look back at him- and instead he seemed to be glancing back toward the back of the Guild. "... I doubt this battle will be easily won. We have all the information available from The First and Aisha alike- but we still know little." This time Laxus glanced his way. "Most of us will go to face them, but others will stay. Warren will be responsible for communication, and a few more are staying to man the Hall while we're gone."

"Fine by me." Laxus muttered, "The less people here, the less bother." He grumbled, Master blinked- noticing the return of Laxus' usual attitude.

"Master."

Both he and Laxus glanced toward the door where Erza was waiting patiently, most everyone already moving. Master nodded once and turned,

"... Do what you believe is needed in order to ensure Frea is safe." Master murmured as he started walking away. Laxus blinked, before grumbling under his breath.

"Yeah, yeah..." He muttered lowly, turning away slightly, before pausing.

"... Don't get yourself killed, Old Man."

Master nodded just once, not looking back as anger was allowed to bubble inside of him again.

"Better worry about yourself." The Old Man called back, "Frea will not be happy should she wake up."

Laxus frowned slightly, being left on the Guild Hall with Warren, Macao, Wakaba, Nab, Levy, Droy, Jet, Kinana, Laki, Sam and Reedus alone- everyone else moving toward Death Bolt and all intent on payback, as well as bringing Moon home. Levy was at a table filled with books and papers, clearly reading up on what she knew of Death Bolt- her two guard dogs close behind. Warren was standing over a map set up with the approximate location of Death Bolt marked- Sam just next to him. He hadn't seen the Old Woman come inside- but he could smell Porlyusica in the Infirmary, along with the scent of Wendy and her cat.

The rest were sitting or standing around, all grim face and tense- everything deathly silent as they waited for the real battle to begin, for those in Fairy Tail heading for the Dark Guild to begin their fight- and bring Moon back with them. There were very few in the Guild who weren't looking to march on Death Bolt and give them hell to pay- those who didn't have the Magic or Power alone to fight were the ones to stay. But not being among the war-party was not enough to lessen their tension.

The town itself seemed silent and waiting in tense, all with bated breath- the sky overhead continually swirling darker as clouds amassed and the scent of rain on the air sharpened- still not enough to wipe away the scent of Frea's blood.

Laxus let out a sigh and turned toward the back of the Guild,

Being left behind should infuriate him just as much as it had Frea, but he wasn't very angry with it- and for why he wasn't, that was beyond him. He was plenty willing to stay at the Guild now where normally he'd be one of the first to jump in and face Death Bolt head on. He'd usually see it as demeaning being forced to stay here...

... Not this time. Things... Are different this time around.

He'd come to realize it frequently now, the one thing that stood out in all that was happening;

Everything had suddenly changed, slowly and very little at first... But now things were changing more, still changing...

The biggest thing that had changed... Was him, and he still wasn't sure why.

It had been time for him to grow up, to change his attitude and his actions- he'd been a huge fool in the past and he knew it. He just hadn't been expecting to change in all the ways he seemed to have.

He let out a low growl at himself, he hated thinking about all that shit so much- he wanted to stop thinking about it, but it was very hard to do so. He wasn't good at thinking or brooding, it pissed him off too much. He never liked it, and so he never did it- he never let things bother him that much, especially not inane thoughts and wonderings.

He shook his head to clear the thoughts entirely and started walking,

Think in the now and the things he would do in a moments time, that's all he needed. He was better with actions anyway,

_... Hmmph... That damned cat... Might have been right about that at least..._

* * *

 

"You're very tense." Chase murmured softly, his eyes flicking toward Aisha as they made their way trough a dark forest surrounded in dusty cobweb and dead leaves.

They were following amongst the group of Fairy Tailers heading toward Death Bolt- everyone was tense, they were all burning in anger but as they marched forward- the ferocity of their rage had waned. It had been a good 2-3 hours since heading out at first- most of it had been spent commandeering a train to bring them as close to the Death Bolt Guild as quickly as they could manage.

The remainder of the trip would be spent trekking through this very old, very dark forest. The air itself was heavy and cold, it set everyone on edge- Chase even more so being able to feel the rising Negative Energy as they traveled deeper- the only light provided being the faint blue glow of the Energy Trail he had going- and the flames flickering off Natsu's raised fist ahead of them.

Every once and again Master and Freed would move about, the group stopping to allow them time to dispel the various Spells that had been set upt to block passage, or send them astray. The forest was teeming in Magic, all of it seeming to measures to ensure no one grew close to where Death Bolt was- however strong such Spells were, they proved little match for the expertise of Freed and Master. What other Magic Chase could feel... it was dark and powerful festering- and it was growing stronger the farther they traveled.

He glanced sideways toward Aisha, having long ago noticed that she was being very, very quiet- and the sheer tense coming off of her in waves was more than the rest of the Guild combined.

What caught him off guard was the tiny inklings of fear he could feel pricking off of her every now and again.

For a very long while, Aisha had been talking back and forth with Master- she, being an Information Broker with many contacts throughout Fiore- she knew of Death Bolt and had been asked by the Old Man to share what she knew with him.

Since then she hadn't said a word, and he sweatdropped at the way she was acting- he couldn't remember the last time he had felt actual fear coming off of the MoonLight Mage at all.

"... Hmmph..." Aisha huffed slightly, it being the only response as she refrained from looking toward him.

"Is there something the matter?" He asked lowly, sweatdropping slightly.

"... Its this Guild..." She muttered after a long pause, "... Its notorious... The stories I have heard about the Mages that call themselves members..." She shuddered, just slightly. He sweat dropped a little more, suddenly seeing her eyes narrow and flick around them warily, something about her posture and that seemingly afraid look she had.

_Fear, true fear..._

"... Something is very very wrong here."

He glanced away, sweatdropping a bit more and eyes narrowing. Of that... He could definitely agree. The Energy around this place was dark and malignant, as of the Energy of the Dark Guild itself had seeped into the Land around it and poisoned it entirely- to do so would mean a lot of Mages, a lot of power.

Maybe too much power.

It felt as if a shadow had fallen over everything the moment they set foot in this wood, and it only deepened the farther they traveled.

He took in a breath,

"I agree." He murmured lowly. "... But despite that... We'll get through this. Not even Death Bolt, no matter how notorious it is, they aren't strong enough to beat us. To win against Fairy Tail, they can't do it."

"Why are you so sure?" Aisha mumbled lowly, he blinked in surprise- she wouldn't look to him when he glanced her way.

"What the hell does that mean?" He asked,

"... Hmm... You have a lot of faith in this Guild. Sometimes I think too much." She replied lowly,

"Why wouldn't I? We're both a part of Fairy Tail, we're all family here- all comrades. As long as we work together, nothing is impossible to get past." He answered lowly, eyes narrowing. He wasn't sure what brought on such negativity about the Guild in her... At all.

"Tch..." She growled, suddenly coming to a halt and turning toward him, her eyes sparkling in muffled anger- the serious look on her face, the grim frown... He wasn't sure he liked the look. "You wouldn't get it. This damned Guild... Its built up on the innate power of 'togetherness' of Family. You all think if you rally together, you can do anything." She huffed a little. "I know you all believe that, whole-heartedly. Its a nice notion, and I've been content to allow you all to believe what you want... But I know Dark Guilds. I know them better than you, than anyone in this damn Guild. I know what they're like, truly like- especially the strong ones. The only other person in Fairy Tail who knows Dark Guilds, and the power Evil People can really hold as well as I do- is probably Moon." His eyes widened slightly, coming to a halt next to her.

"There are things out there that 'Family' and 'togetherness' can't overcome. Sometimes it doesn't matter how many people you have, how strongly you feel- whatever. Sometimes there is just too much darkness, to much evil to overcome by any number or degree of passion. Sometimes there is no end to a darkness. And this Dark Guild, especially this Dark Guild- it may not be enough our numbers or the power of 'Family' all of you hold so dearly to." She sighed slightly, none of the conviction leaving her voice. "There are dark forces that can't be destroyed by such things as what Fairy Tail believes in. Sometimes something is just too evil for even the strongest person or power to destroy."

"Have you really such little faith in the Guild..?" He asked lowly, after a longtime of silence between them. His eyes sparkled in the dim, unreadable to her- just as hers were nearly unreadable to him.

"Its not a matter of faith." She muttered, his eyes softened a little.

"... Then its personal experience?" He asked softly, catching her off guard. She stiffened a little, and his expression softened, becoming a little... Sympathetic. Gentle even.

"You mentioned that Moon may be the only one who knows as well as you do- you said that because she and you went through the same thing, didn't you?" He asked softly, she sweatdropped. "You were prisoner to a Dark Guild after your village was attacked, right? You've got experience with them not because you're an Information Broker, but because you _lived_ through it?"

She looked away from him, eyes closing and falling silent. Chase frowned a little, eyes softening as he felt waves of pain and sadness begin sparking off of her. He just gazed at her, he didn't expect she would answer that question, it was probably really painful for her... He could only imagine...

"Yes." She muttered, taking him completely off guard with the response. Her fists clenched at her sides, her entire body tensing as... Anger began to spark off of her as the memories came flooding back. "It is personal experience, that's why I'm so adamant about this."

"Aisha..." He started, her purple eyes snapped open and looked to him, glinting madly.

" _No_ , I don't want sympathy, I don't want you to ask about it- just no." She growled, "There are things in this world better left unspoken, and this is one of those things." He paused,

"... You don't fully believe everything you said."

Their attention snapped around toward the new voice, as Solana made her way toward the both of them, her emerald eyes glinting in the utmost sadness- sadness for her sister, for what she must have gone through. Solana had been following along closely beside Lucy and Natsu, Loke near them as both Spirits had come through their Gates on their own- and now she moved toward Chase and Aisha.

She and Aisha hadn't been close since finding each other again, and Solana regretted it... But she also knew Aisha had changed and that she wasn't looking for the close, sisterly bond they had once shared. She was much more independent now, and she hated being coddled... She was just happy that Aisha had let someone close again, even if it wasn't her.

She had been listening to Chase and Aisha talk for a long time now, every moment she knew Aisha had suffered more than she understood... And she knew very well her sister would never share what happened in the past with her.

"I am not talking about what happened, that's in the damn past." Aisha hissed, looking suddenly very angry. Solana just gazed at her,

"That's not what I'm talking about." She murmured, both Aisha and Chase blinked. "I'm talking about what you said, about some evils being to great for combined power, or love to overcome."

"What about it?" Aisha muttered lowly, eyes narrowing.

"While what you said can be true... Sometimes it only takes one thing, one person- to be able to defeat the truly dark things." Solana murmured. Aisha stiffened slightly, "Don't tell me you forgot about that?" Solana smiled softly, sadly. "Its very close to us... That even in total darkness, even when all good and light seems gone and snuffed out... There is always some shimmer of light, even in total darkness."

Aisha looked away, sweatdropping. Chase blinked, glancing between the two of them as if he had missed some thing- which, he had. It was an old story, and one the both of them remembered well.

_Even at night, when the sun is gone and the world falls to shadow... The moon and the stars always provide light, it is never truly dark._

_Even in the day, when the sun shines and dark seems chased away- it is never truly gone, shadows remain, even the sun cannot destroy them._

_They live within one another, one cannot exist while the other is gone. They are two of the same halves, always there, always together..._

_... One light can be enough to drive away a world of darkness._

"... Sometimes, you only need a single, small person to defeat the biggest evils." Solana murmured. "Its a matter of finding that one person, that one light. They may be hard to find, but they are always there."

Aisha sweatdropped, "... Question is... Can we find them...?" She whispered, eyes falling closed. Chase blinked, looking from Aisha to Solana as it suddenly clicked for him.

No, he didn't know the whole story... But suddenly he understood what Solana was getting at. In Aisha's life, in all the pain and the shadow she had to live through- there had been some sort of light that still shone, a light that pulled her through all the evil that had threatened to swallow her. She found that light that still remained, however weak or small it had seemed... And she made it through, she got herself out of the shadows and the evil.

... Because _Aisha_... Had been that small, single light once... And if she had found that light in herself to make it through the horrors of her past, there must be a light here, in this new incoming evil.

"We'll find it." He said suddenly, catching Aisha's eyes. Solana smiled slightly, he was a quick study it seemed... And the way her younger sister looked up to him in that moment, her eyes flashed... There was a small flicker of faith, _she trusted him._

Chase smiled, eyes shining as Aisha simply looked up at him in purely wrapt attention. Solana smiled softly, turning away. Even if she couldnt be the person her sister could look to the most for comfort, advice, safety, friendship... she was very happy that she still had someone, and that that someone was Chase-

. _.. Frea... you were a great mentor to him... I've no doubt you tuaght him much more than just Magic..._

Solana smiled slightly, eyes glinting. _You seem to be able to teach people all sorts of things, without even meaning to... Frea..._

"We'll find that one person, because its true- there is always hope. And we can find it, wherever it is." Chase said firmly, Aisha just blinked.

She... Couldn't help but believe in what he said.

It was odd that- how easily he was able to get her to trust what it was he told her... And how easily it seemed, he was able to get her to relax. Her tenseness, and her fear seemed to melt as she looked to him.

It was this foreign hold Chase seemed to have over Aisha that Solana had picked up on, and nudged a little to try and calm her sister down. Even if she couldn't do it herself... At least Chase could, and that was plenty for the Sun Dragon Slayer.

Aisha nodded, just once- smiling just faintly.

"Right."

As it would happen... That one light may just be in the most unexpected of places, and it was certainly different for everyone. She may have been her own light all those years ago- but suddenly she had a new one, and it shone a calm, cool light blue.

* * *

 

_"... Warning... shadow is... Coming..."_

Moon's eyes narrowed, fixed to the floor of the cage and sweatdropping, her paws wrapped about her person and ears twitching. She had been trying for hours to catch onto those whispered words... The words without voices, without bodies...

The words that sent chills running up and down her spine.

She hadn't heard them since that first time, but even now- what little she had managed to hear was swirling around in her mind relentlessly.

What on earth... Could have said those things...?

She shook her head, a wash of pain flaring up at the movement.

Her eyes moved to scan the Hall, slowly beginning to see people begin to file inside, sit down and grumble quietly among themselves. She sighed, many hours had passed, and not a moment of it had been spent in sleep, and now the Guild was starting to stir... And soon her torture would pick up again.

"Morning."

She jumped, knowing immediately the voice was not that of Master Tomaru, but of someone else. Someone she had once thought her friend, and someone who had turned into a _monster._

She felt shivers run up her spine, a chill falling over her as she scrambled from the edge of the cage- or at least tried to.

Someone's hand reached through the bars, hooking a finger around the metal collar clasped about her neck, drawing her back toward the bars before she could scramble away, eyes wide and fearful as her blue gaze met a dark, cold, red one.

"My favorite little snack is finally back." She murmured, her eyes hard and voice low, and dripping in hardly hidden menace. Her face remained expressionless, it usually did- it was when you could see emotion that you should truly be afraid.

In her eyes, as Moon came to know all too well- there was malice, danger.

Hunger.

Blood lust.

It was nearly as bad as Tomaru... As it probably should be, but in this woman- it was a hundred times more potent. One of the most insidious beings she had ever known. It was this woman... she was truly afraid of this woman, and for very good reason. Not even Master Tomaru nor the whole of the Death Bolt Guild chilled her to the core as much as she did. Because this girl, this girl was a large part of the Dark Heart of the Death Bolt Guild- it was as if she was the true and most powerful source of darkness and evil in this Guild... the true heart of evil in Death Bolt.

Death Bolt's most true, evil, and most powerful shadow...

"L-lyla..." Moon stammered, eyes narrowing as the woman smiled, a small, twisted smile.

"So you remember me then?" Lyla murmured, pulling Moon closer as she grinned evilly. How could she not?

There had always been one person in this hell-hole of a Guild that she loved, that had ever cared for her and she cared for just as much.

... But once upon a time, there had been _two_ people.

She simply gazed into Lyla's red eyes, ears falling back against her head. She frowned slightly, a flash of pain running through her heart, and a small wave of anger, her fear suddenly masked a little.

"... I could never forget." Moon hissed lowly, Lyla smirked slightly.

"Oh, such anger in those eyes of yours, Moony." She murmured, her face inching closer. "Anger at me?"

"Do you need that answer?" Moon muttered,

Lyla smirked and leaned in, her lips inches from Moon's ear as she chuckled lowly, coldly.

"I suppose not." Lyla whispered lowly, "Not that I care you're angry... It was rather fun at the time. Even now, the memory of seeing the blood, hearing him scream..." Lyla smirked, shuddering in pleasure at the thought- Moon's stomach flipped.

"... I just wish I'd been the one to do it. And, I wish I could have eaten him whole. Pity I didn't get the chance."

Moon winced, feeling Lyla's grip around her collar a tighten and begin pulling at the skin. She sweatdropped, feeling herself grow colder and colder the longer she was this close to the girl. It was almost as if her very being could lower the temperature, like the pure malignancy inside of her was potent enough to seep into the air itself...

 _It wasn't possible_ , she had thought that for a long time. She remembered Lyla... She remembered her, before she was this... This _monster._

She had once been kind, sweet, honest... Innocent even. She had once been her friend, she had been gentle- Moon had cared very much for this girl, and Lyla had cared just the same, they had been one in the same so many years ago... And now she was blood-thirsty, brutal, and twisted. As if some great evil had seeped into her and tainted a once bright, good soul.

Something had changed her, in the most drastic way... Enough to change someone who had been loyal and kind, into someone willing to sell out their own friends.

_... Their own family..._

"He was your _brother_ , Lyla." Moon growled, as the girl pulled back, still grinning darkly. "And you sold him out... _You_ got him _killed."_

"That I did." Lyla chuckled, Moon frowned.

"Don't you feel anything...?" She mumbled, Lyla tilted her head, blinking a few times. She looked slightly confused a moment, before her twisted smirk returned, her eyes darkening, the space around her seeming to grow darker. Moon felt like a cold sheet of water had suddenly dropped over her head, seeing Lyla's grin grow wider as she drew her tongue over her teeth- which for a moment, looked unusually pointed...

"Hunger."

* * *

 

_Do you have any idea, the amount of trouble you've been stirring up?_

_All the things coming after you... They're starting to affect other people now... Get them hurt._

_You... You're in the sights of some ancient Thing... The world seems out to get you, nearly every week there's something new out to get you... You're in trouble all the time, you're fighting all the time... And more often then not, you end up hurting._

_And then there's people getting hurt around you. Taken..._

_"DAMN IT!"_

_She clenched her jaw, not at the agony sweeping over her very moment, but at the utterly screwed up life she as leading now- the anger, the rage._

_The guilt_

_She was trouble, she knew that... She stirred things up, she always had something going on around her, or after her- and in the end, she managed to screw over not only her own life, but the lives of those around her._

_It was as if bad things were attracted to her... Kasumi, Shadow and Winter... The Council... All of it. So many bad things happened to her, she was targeted, she was being controlled, something was trying to get to her- and in the end, it was looking to kill her._

_Tomaru... What happened with Solana... What I did in Nvindorr... I even managed to drag Sting and Rogue into this mess involving this Thing. They almost died, Chase almost died..._

_... And in the end, all of that had been aimed toward me._

_Now... Now I managed to put Moon in danger._

_I couldn't stop Tomaru, he took her... And it was because of that Thing. That damned wound it gave me, the pain- whatever it was, it destroyed my Magic. And in the end, I lost- I lost, I failed... And god knows what the hell Tomaru is doing to Moon now that he's got her..._

_Her fists clenched at her sides, ever floating in that great sea of darkness around her. She kept trying to push herself to wakefulness, every inch of her being was screaming at her to wake up- to go and save Moon._

_She had to, it was her fault they got in this mess in the first place... She had to try and fix it._

_But because she was unconscious, because she couldn't wake up- the Guild was on their way to Death Bolt. They were putting themselves on danger now- if she hadn't lost they wouldn't be facing that Guild, they wouldn't be fighting._

_... Nobody would be getting hurt... On my fault... **My** mistake..._

_"Damn it all!" She snapped angrily, "Damn me and damn everything out to get me! Damn that Thing, damn my screwed up damned life! Nobody should be getting hurt, not on my part, not ever!" She clenched her jaw more, eyes scrunched closed, fists clenched and body shaking._

_"I don't want anyone getting hurt on my part, on my fault- not ever again!"_

_That had been her vow, her damn promise... She wouldn't let anyone ever get hurt by something she did. She wouldn't hurt anybody she loved, over anything ever again. Years of being called a Demon, being feared and hated... Being afraid of herself, and what she could do to the people she cared for if she lost it._

_She'd never define herself as someone who got scared, or even felt fear... But there had always been one thing, one thing she hadn't shared with anyone- a deep fear that haunted her every day. It was the same thing that made her promise to protect everyone... And probably the same thing that had caused her to keep so many secrets. To keep that she had caused that Magic Anomaly a secret, to keep what happened with Solana and the Celestial Key Making Spell a secret... The reason she had always kept herself distant from everyone, why she never shared personal thoughts..._

_In the end... She was afraid of herself, of her own power, and the evil she could do with it._

_She was afraid of the evil she could be forced to do... And even the awful things that could happen if she... If she ever went Dark, like so many people she knew had._

_It had been this worst fear that had been realized... When Shadow managed to take control, when her recklessness hurt the people around her... When that Thing controlled her and forced her to open the Gate in Nvindorr, and even tried to make her murder her friends back at Hilshine._

_And now- simply being around, simply being in the middle of everything crazy... That was starting to hurt the Guild, the people she was around. Those she cared for more than anything... And though she'd never admit it out loud, or to anyone else..._

_Everything going on... It was breaking her apart. She really was crumbling... And she hated it, damn it!_

_"What the hell am I supposed to do?!" She snapped, running her hands through her hair._

**_'Die.'_ **

_Her body stiffened, eyes snapping open and gazing around quickly. She didn't know why she bothered, she knew that voice all too well now... And she still couldn't understand how it got into her head at all._

_My mind is supposed to blocked off... Always..._

_"Die...?" She mumbled, blinking._

_**'If you're dead, no one around you is swept up in your own conflict, no?' The voice murmured, low and hissing. 'If you're dead, you can't be forced to harm the people you care for, and you won't be around long enough to turn Dark.'** The Thing broke off, chuckling._

**_'Which... In the end, you will turn Dark. Its inevitable.'_ **

_She sweatdropped, her heart skipping a beat. She knew better than to believe it, to listen to it... It was all lies..._

_... But still, she doubted herself. She always had... She'd come to beleive why Kasumi had ever taken her.. ever chosen her to be the one she wanted to destroy Fairy Tail... was because Kasumi had known there was some sort of Dark inside of her already, that she could be Dark... that she would be...  
_

_' **And when you do, you will kill everyone you once thought you 'loved', Malunafrey.'** The Thing hissed lowly,_

**_'In the end, the only destruction coming for them will be you... So why not end it early? Before you fall into Shadow, and never come back?'_ **

_She clenched her fists, silver eyes sparking in anger- but the light of doubt and uncertainty in her eyes couldn't be hidden._

_"Shut it!" She snapped coldly, "You're dead wrong! All you want is me out of the way! I already told you, I'm going to destroy you! There is no way around that!" Anger and abstinence began to flare up inside of her, and for a moment her own doubt and nervousness faded._

_It simply chuckled,_

**_'... If that is how you want it to go, then there will be no way around you turning Dark, Malunafrey.'_ **

_She faltered, feeling herself falling a little, her sudden resolve shattering._

_She knew... When she was being.. Lied to... It.. Wasn't..._

_No!_

_She shook her head furiously, eyes burning in rage and fangs bared. She felt a fire rise inside of her, the pain intensified but the cold was being driven away._

_"You. Are. **Wrong!** " She yelled, "I am done listening to you! Done with you and you're damned lies!" She swept her arms out around her, the dark suddenly illuminated in blazing silver as Magic bubbled under his skin in a rush- she had felt not a single ounce of it for so long, and now there was a torrent, a flood._

_She knew she shouldn't be doubting herself, she knew she shouldn't be afraid of things she could do, or might even would do. If this Thing thought she would turn Dark, she'd never let it happen. If her life was pulling other people into a torrent of danger- she'd do everything in her power to keep them from harms way. And her power would have to be enough._

It **will** be enough

_"Screw you! I will fight you, and I will win!" She snapped, "Throw your lies at me, whatever you have! I have been through worse, you are nothing, anything you do is trivial! I am going to completely destroy you, there won't be anything of you left when I'm done!" Her Magic increased tenfold, biting back the swirling black. "I'm not letting you win, and I'm not going to let anyone get hurt, I'm not letting you or anything kill the people I love! I'm sick of you, and tired of your jabbering!"_

_Her eyes hardened, suddenly steely and glinting in furious rage- and power. Deep, innate power... Power hidden deep within, and an expression that would send fear through anyone's heart. True and utter resolve._

_"Now, get out of my HEAD!"_

_Everything was engulfed in such bright light unlike any other, every shred of darkness was destroyed by the intensity in moments, and she was left in pure white._

_Her eyes widened in shock, suddenly feeling herself sucked down ward and hurtling at such an insane speed- if she were to hit the ground, she'd be done for._

_Her eyes scrunched closed, body tensing as the ground reared up inches from her nose-_

_"... Well done, Frea... My dear..."_

* * *

 

She lunged forward with a slightly panicked gasp, silver eyes wide and covered in sweat, breaths coming in harsh ragged gasps, heart racing. All sense of Magic and Power faded the moment she came to- aware of the familiar sight of Jynx's Seal still on her arm. Her eyes were met with the painfully bright light of the Fairy Tail Infirmary, before she scrunched them closed and her jaw clenched, doubling over as her pain and agony caught up with her tenfold.

She hissed, trying her best to stifle the yelp of pain rising in her throat, gasping slightly at it instead. Her head was spinning, for a moment she was having a hard time trying to place what was going on-

"Lay down!"

Her body went rigid at the ordered command, realizing too late there was a hand coming down at her- before that hand landed on her forehead and she was pushed back against the pillow roughly- a large ** _SMACK_** resounding as the Old Lady pulled her hand back, leaving an angry red mark on her face.

She hissed, agony flaring up in not her forehead and body- but her back too, remembering faintly Tomaru's sword carving across her back.

Her eyes met the agitated red ones of Porlyusica, her vision still blurry and head swimming but clear enough to know who it was.

"What the hell... Tch... Granny...?" Frea mumbled, breaking off to wince. She was slightly miffed she had let herself get hit like that- but she forgot about it the moment her back seared in agony and she shut her eyes, rolling to the side a little to try and keep from laying on the wound. Even the pain in her shoulder couldn't compare... It seemed mostly healed now, but her back..

"Frea..!"

She cracked an eye open, recognizing the soft tenor of Wendy's voice nearly immediately, and recognizing the worry in it. She sweatdropped slightly, Wendy's eyes sparkling in worry as she immediately saw the pain flash in the Energy Dragon's eyes.

Porlyusica let out a low growl, "I wouldn't have to act so rashly if you were not an utter fool!" The Old Woman scolded lowly, though her features softened when she too recognize the amount of pain Frea seemed to be in-

For someone who usually hid their pain very well, to see such raw and powerful pain in Frea now was a little disconcerting- and it was certainly rare.

Wendy moved toward the bed, Carla next to her and eyes shining- Frea was immediately hit with just how tired the little Dragon Slayer looked... She must have been using her Magic quite a bit.

"Frea, are you alright...?" Wendy mumbled, Frea sighed slightly- forcing her breathing to calm down and pushing her thoughts of the dream to the back of her mind.

"... Mostly..." She mumbled, a lie- but she didn't like worrying anyone.

"... Wendy healed most of your wounds." Carla announced softly, "As best as she could manage, but we haven't been able to try and address that wound across your back yet." Carla's eyes glanced to Wendy a moment, ".. Wendy's tired, she needs to take a break."

Frea nodded slightly, Wendy looked a little defiant.

"I'm fine." Wendy argued softly,

"Don't be foolish." Porlyusica muttered, Wendy sweatdropped. "You've been using your Magic too long, I can take care of the rest." Frea simply looked at Wendy a moment, eyes halfway closed.

Wendy looked ready to argue... It was commendable, it always had been... How concerned Wendy was for others, how she worked hard to do her part even if it meant exhausting herself.

Frea's eyes narrowed a little, sweatdropping slightly.

... She supposed she was the same way...

"... You need to look after yourself too, Wendy." Frea mumbled softly, earning the Sky Dragon Slayer's eyes. Hypocritical coming from her... But her rage had simmered down some, and now she wasn't thinking too rashly anymore, and she once again saw reason in taking time to rest.

Wendy looked a little surprised, still frowning in concern and unhappiness. Frea managed a small smile, though the pain on her face was still clear.

"I feel a hundred times better, you've done a lot. Thank you... But now you need to rest." Frea told her softly,

"She is right." Carla broke in softly, Wendy's eyes fell, still looking very unsure.

"Ok..."

Frea sighed a little, before wincing again.

"Its good to see you thinking straight again." Carla said, looking to Frea who just blinked, sweatdropping slightly.

"... Right..." She mumbled, eyes closing. "... I was acting... A little too violently... I suppose..."

"For good reason." Wendy murmured, Frea cracked an eye open to glance her way. "You were acting that way, because you really care for Moon." She nodded slightly,

Her gaze moved toward Porlyusica as she caught the Old Woman's attention, ".. How long have I been out?" She asked slowly.

"Four hours, nearly five." The Old Woman muttered. Frea felt her heart drop a little,

_That's too long..._

"... Hmm..." She hummed, before her teeth gritted against a wave of pain passing through her entire being.

"This wound needs to be treated." Porlyusica said lowly, her hand moving to gesture toward the bandages wrapped around her torso- they were stained crimson where the wound on her back was. "I wrapped it for the time being, but it needs more care than that." Frea took a small breath, glancing toward the Old Lady. She was met with a stern look- but one she could clearly see sympathy in.

"Since you're awake now... roll over, and let me get a better look, so I can set to work." The Old Lady ordered softly, Frea sighed internally but complied anyway- stifling the groan of pain at moving as she slowly rolled over on to her stomach, lifting her shirt up and pulling it over her shoulders to let it rest around her neck.

She took note her shoulder was wrapped, but found that moving it was still hard- especially when trying to move her shirt up. The other various cuts and bruises were nearly gone, and those bones she had felt fractured and broken seemed mended as well... Wendy had done a lot of work.

She crossed her arms under the pillow, eyes falling halfway closed and wincing slightly as she felt Porlyusica set to work- and the pain flared again. She buried her face in the pillow, eyes scrunched closed.

"... O-oh... My..."

Wendy did her best to keep her voice low and cut it off as the gasp rose up her throat at finally seeing the full extent of the wound. It was the same sort of reaction that came from Carla, though she hid her shock a little better.

It was shock and worry that started to spark off everyone in the room at once, once she had rolled over. Frea hadn't need to see the wound to know how deep, or had it was- she could feel as much, the pain was immeasurable though she kept herself quiet, only tightening her grip on the pillow a little more tightly.

The wound was very, very deep. The skin shredded and inflamed, the amount of blood lost from this wound alone must have been massive, and the amount of agony- the full length, and the size of it. They could imagine the pain was unbearable, unbearable perhaps to anyone other than Frea- who they knew could handle pain unlike anyone else.

Wendy and Carla exchanged glances, before glancing toward Porlyusica to see the serious expression on the Old Lady's face- before Wendy gently moved closer to the bed, her hand resting lightly on Frea's arm a moment- a small effort at comfort, being easily able to see the amount of pain the Energy Dragon Slayer was in. It wasn't often Frea couldn't keep her pain hidden, though she tried very hard now... She couldn't do it.

"... Forgive me for the unpleasantness, child. This wound is very serious." Porlyusica murmured softly, Frea nodded, her face still settled on the pillow- body tensing as the agony seared through her again.

 _Perhaps it would have been better.. If I had stayed unconscious..._ She did her best not to focus on the pain, nor what the Old Lady was doing- she instead did her best to concentrate on the sound of rain hitting the roof of the Guild continually, the low rumblings of thunder far off and the scent of the moisture hitting her nose. It did little to help, and she bit her lip, fingers curling into the pillow again.

The door to the Infirmary had been left slightly ajar, and now Laxus- who had taken up a post outside the door, in case Frea started a riot- glanced inside silently, eyes narrowed to slits and sweatdropping slightly.

He needn't be close to her to see how much pain Frea was in, nor to see the seriousness of the slice tearing across her back like an angry red line. The simple tensing of her body as the Old Woman set to work was enough, and with his heightened hearing he could hear Frea stifling her winces in that pillow- he himself felt an ache in his body just seeing the wound, seeing her pain... He could only imagine.

It took little thought to realize that it must have been that sword that Tomaru had plunged trough her shoulder- that it was that weapon that had inflicted such a large, long and serious wound. He faintly thought that it would end up leaving a long scar across her back... Just another one to add to the list he supposed...

His eyes remained locked on her figure for a very long time, before he made himself look away. His eyes closed, jaw clenched and arms crossed over his chest- a sudden bout of anger rising inside him despite himself. Anger he still didn't quite understand. Seeing Frea so hurt and wounded, to see her in so much pain all because of one man... It made his blood boil, boil hotter than he himself believed it ever could.

A large part of him wanted to tear into Tomaru, to destroy the man that had done so much damage and string her up like he had, nearly killed her. A part of him wanted to be there with the Guild, giving hell to Death Bolt.

And yet a part of him was determined to stay here and make sure Frea didn't go hurting herself again.

He sighed slightly, leaning against the wall outside the door, eyes still closed.

Frea waking up wasn't much a shock to him, despite her condition. She had proven time and time again she really couldn't be kept down for long, but the fact she hadn't jumped from bed immediately was surprising. Though he was sure she would try and run after the Guild as soon as the Old Woman was done with her... She was just so hot-headed and stubborn.

_And she cares... almost too much..._

His eyes opened, ears catching on to something aside from the quiet murmurings of the Guild, and Frea's quiet wincing... The sound of flapping wings, and the tinkling... Of bells.

His eyes narrowed a bit more, slowly stepping away from the wall and attention turning to the new sounds among the rumble of the rain outside. With the new sounds came two new scents, ones he didn't recognize.

He cast a small glance back toward the barely open door, before making his way toward the Main Hall- hearing the sound of feet approaching the Building from outside.

_Who the hell is that?_

* * *

 

"The Trail ends here..." Chase mumbled, standing at the head of the group of Fairy Tailers as they faced the large gaping hole hearing into the earth- the pitch black leading downward into nothing. The faint light of his Trail flickered, but would not penetrate through the entrance to the tunnel- even for all his trying, some sort of Magical Barrier blocked his Magic from going any farther.

Master Makarov's eyes moved slowly from his Magic, to the tunnel entrance itself- narrowed and glinting in the utter dim all around them. Aisha was standing not far from them, her eyes narrowed as she leaned in to inspect some scratching into the edge of the tunnel.

"There's a barrier keeping my Magic from going any farther." Chase murmured,

"As not to allow anyone to traverse a maze of tunnels into the heart of the Death Bolt Guild easily..." Master murmured, eyes closing a moment. "A sound strategy, it is rumored that the inner workings of the Guild itself is quite like a Labyrinth."

".. Any reports that made it out of those tunnels and back to the Magic Council... None of those _people_ ever made it out of that maze." Aisha muttered lowly, glancing back toward the Old Man, looking serious.

"Precisely." The Old Man murmured.

"Master, how do we intend to approach this?" Erza asked, walking up to stand beside him. "If it truly is such a a maze inside, there is a chance we could all become separated and lost. And attacked once we became more isolated."

"And finding Moon in such a maze is going to be extremely difficult." Lily muttered, walking up with Gajeel and Natsu in tow.

"This is also true." Master replied.

"We may not be able to do anything about getting split up eventually," Gajeel grumbled, arms crossed over his chest. "But finding Moon at least, that shouldn't be too hard."

"What do you mean?" Erza asked,

"Well, we can sniff her out." Natsu murmured, having moved up to the edge of the tunnel, his nose twitching slightly as he peered into the darkness. He grimaced slightly, as if what he smelled was something acrid- "Its faint... And among all the other scents its jumbled, but I can smell Moon. Definitely."

Master Makarov glanced between Natsu, to Gajeel who nodded to confirm he could catch Moon's scent as well. The Old Man's eyes landed on the tunnel entrance as they fell into silence a long time, waiting for his orders.

"... Hmmm... It is possible these tunnels will be made to split us apart." He started at length, "While I do not doubt any of you cannot handle yourselves alone, I would prefer to remain together- even if that means in smaller groups."

"It is possible we may not find a way toward the heart of Death Bolt through some paths, we may even find a dead end... But we will stick together as closely as we can, and form smaller groups should the need arise." His eyes moved toward Chase, "Do you believe once we are inside the tunnels, you may be able to sense Moon?"

Chase nodded, "Teach locked on to Tomaru despite this barrier- even if my Trail doesn't get through, I will be able to sense Moon's Energy Signature once passing through the Barrier."

"Then it will need to go like this;" Master murmured, nodding toward Chase, Natsu and Gajeel. "In the case of us being separated- the rest of you are to ensure you remain in a group with either Nastu, Gajeel or Chase. The three of them will be able to lead you toward Moon, and the inner sanctum of the Death Bolt Guild- with that there is less chance of getting lost." He received small, firm nods from everyone before him.

"Yes, Master."

"You got it."

"Sounds good."

"The Death Bolt Guild is notorious, it is known highly for the lives it takes and the ruthless nature of those Wizards a part of it. These people have harmed our Family, taken them prisoner, strung them up- and done more damage than anyone should ever be allowed. They have taken the lives of countless innocents and threatened the lives of those in our Guild. They have given us a proposition of war." Master Makarov said gravely, eyes glinting furiously. A look shared by everyone else. "Give them no mercy, as they will not show you any. We are here to take back one of our Family, and to atone for the unforgivable actions they have taken upon our Guild, and our Members."

"They're actions are unforgivable, and deserve to be reprimanded!"

A chorus of noise rose up around them, all eyes burning and all of them bubbling in anger. Anger toward the Guild that had done harm to two people they loved, taken and humiliated- to do such great harm to anyone in the Guild was not something Fairy Tail would forgive lightly, if at all. And they would not forgive Death Bolt now- they would give them hell to pay.

"Hell yeah!"

"We're gonna get 'um!"

"Team Exceed sticks together!" Happy growled,

"We'll rescue Moon, no matter what." Lily muttered, nodding to Happy's comment.

"... Time to make those Bastards pay for what they did to Silver..." Gajeel growled, cracking his knuckles.

"Yeah, we'll make 'um pay tenfold for the things they did." Gray growled,

"For Frea, and for Moon." Natsu muttered lowly, face dark. "Nobody gets away with doing that to Fairy Tail." He smirked slightly, "Since Frea ain't here to give those bastards hell, we'll just have to. A hundred times over, and we'll save Moon too."

"Hell yeah." Gray smirked,

"Gihi..." Gajeel snickered, grinning at the thought of payback.

"Its our turn to stand up for her." Chase muttered,

"Like Frea's always doing for everybody else." Lucy said, fists clenching. "We're fighting for her, like she always does for us."

"Truly." Erza murmured, "And we'll protect Moon with every bit of might as Frea would. As she would for any of us. Moon is still a part of this Family, and we will stop at nothing to ensure her safe return!"

"Yeah!"

"Its our turn now!"

Fairy Tail flooded in the dark entrance, a sudden flame of pure anger and power that erupted among the shadows of the area around them. A burning charge wanting nothing more then to repay for the sins that Death Bolt had committed, for the crime it had laid against the Guild and two members of their Family. A burning brand of Magic, and burning bond of Family and love...

Aisha stepped in beside the torrent of such sudden fire and pure emotion, her purple eyes narrowed and passing over the angry faces and the determined expressions. She scanned over the lot of them before her eyes met the emerald gaze of her sister, and they simply gazed at one another for a small second.

Even this sudden blaze, this fiery burning brand of energy and emotion... It wasn't the light they needed to drive the torrent of shadow and evil away that lay in wait for them inside the vast, winding expanse of the Death Bolt Guild. The burning anger and power of the Guild wasn't light enough to battle the deep, dark shadow that lay at the heart of Death Bolt... A sleeping evil, a hungry one.

 _A vast, powerful, truly evil and dark..._ _Shadow._


	50. We Are Stronger, Together

**Chapter 50**

**We Are Stronger- Together**

**Death Bolt- Part 1**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

****.:+:.  
** **

"Is this the Guild of Miss Frea? The Energy Dragon Slayer?"

"And the Guild of Miss Moon?"

Away from the agony flaring through her entire being, Frea managed to catch on to the two voices- and the two questions that got asked. She lift her head from the pillow a little, eyes narrowed to slits and biting her tongue to keep from wincing- eyes moving sideways to glance at the door.

There were two Energy Signatures in the Guild she didn't recognize, and two scents she managed to catch outside the smell of the rain. She blinked, Wendy seemed to have heard the questions being asked herself- because the small Dragon Slayer's head turned away toward the door.

Carla blinked in question, looking between the two suddenly attentive Dragon Slayers- able to tell she was missing something.

Frea hissed, a stab of pain searing through her very core as Porlyusica hit a nerve in her attempt at sewing up the wound- her eyes scrunching closed and attention on the two new voices dying instantly. Her fingers dug into the pillow and her body tensed up,

_... D... Damn it..._

"Wendy..?" Carla murmured, her and Wendy's eyes snapping to Frea as she hissed momentarily, before Wendy looked back to the door.

"... There's two people here..." Wendy replied softly, climbing to her feet. She glanced to Carla, and then at Porlyusica- who was sweatdropping heavily in her work. "... I'll be back in a little, Granny." Wendy murmured, earning a small 'humph' in return when the Old Lady refrained from taking her eyes off her work.

Frea watched Wendy and Carla head from the room quietly, one eye cracked open and already darkness beginning to dot the edges of her vision again. She couldn't let herself fall back into unconsciousness now... But the exhaustion pulling at her battered and heavily broken body was relentless.

But none the less... She wondered who was here, and why were they asking about herself, and Moon...?

Her eyes narrowed to slits when her vision started nothing in and out against her will, and she let out an aggravated sigh- before wincing again at the new stab of pain raging through her body.

_Damn Tomaru..._

* * *

Wendy and Carla made their way down the hallway outside the Infirmary toward the Main Hall, Wendy's eyes glittering in question and Carla glancing ahead with narrowed eyes.

"You said there were two people here, Wendy?" Carla asked lowly,

"Mhmm... Laxus-San is talking to them now." Wendy replied softly,

"Who could be showing up at the Guild now?" Carla muttered,

"They asked about Frea and Moon." Wendy replied, earning a shocked look from Carla.

"What on earth would they be asking about the two for?" Carla muttered, sweatdropping slightly. Wendy shook her head a little, as they entered the Hall and they looked toward the gathered group of those left behind- all huddled around those two new arrivals, of whom they couldn't see clearly from where they were at.

"What the hell do you want to know that for?" Max muttered,

"Why are you here?" Levy asked softly, eyes glinting.

"If you're looking for trouble, you better turn back around." Wakaba warned lowly,

"Please, that's not why we're here." The first voice replied evenly,

"We're here to help, that's it." The second voice elaborated.

"What do you mean, help?" Laxus grumbled lowly, face neutral and much more restrained than everyone else- but eyes glinting in slight distrust. Wendy and Carla broke through the crowd, finally able to see who it was that was speaking to the Guild.

"And who the hell are you, while we're at it." Laxus grumbled, standing at the head of the group, arms crossed over his chest and stern faced. The rest of those staying in the Guild had crowded around him, eyes glittering warily, Laxus having planted himself right in the middle of the hall- just before the door, blocking the way farther in.

Wendy and Carla's eyes went wide to see just who it was that had arrived, sweatdropping a little.

The both of the new arrivals gave the Fairy Tailers firm looks, lifting their arms and laying bare their shoulders- the emblazoned symbol of intertwined, ferocious feline heads, their mouths open to reveal sharp teeth, and tails curled about eachother stretching down- one in black, and the other in white being shown.

"I'm Uno." The first introduced herself evenly, yellow eyes scanning over them slowly, before landing directly on Laxus- whom she addressed nearly directly.

"I'm Iki." The second said lowly, his teal eyes glinting calmly.

"We're the Leaders of the Twin Cougars Guild. And we're here to help our fellow sister."

* * *

 

"Its been too long Moony." Lyla smiled, twirling her fingers slowly around a stream of Black Magic before her, head tilted and settled in Master Tomaru's chair, feet propped on the desk. "I really have missed having you around the Guild, there's been nobody to work all the cooking and cleaning... And of course, nobody to play with." She chuckled lowly.

Her red eyes glinted in the sickly light filtering from the candle on the desk, "Where have you been anyway? Father tells me you joined a cute little Light Guild." She grinned, her fingers slowing as the Black Magic picking up in speed. Lyla leaned forward a little in the seat,

"Fairy Tail was it..?"

Moon hissed, hardly able to breath for the pressure that Lyla's Magic was placing on her throat- now suspended in mid-air, upside down by it. Her body was paralyzed, but she wasn't numb- being in contact with Lyla's Magic was pain in itself, it was agony- but she couldn't move, and couldn't hardly find her voice enough to yelp let alone answer the question.

Lyla frowned a little, closing her fist as her Magic tightened around her neck even more- nearly cutting all oxygen off and making her body burn brighter in pain.

"Well?" Lyla asked lowly, dangerously- a certain... Hateful yet intrigued look coming into her eyes. She looked truly interested, and it was almost as if Lyla knew Fairy Tail... She was familiar with it in some way.

_But how? Lyla's never come in contact with Fairy Tail, so why does it look like in her eyes, that she knows the Guild..?_

"...y... Yes..." Moon stammered out breathlessly, body tensing as her vision started to swim and turn black at the edges.

"They're a rowdy bunch, hmm...?" Lyla muttered, twirling her fingers again to make her Magic move- it loosened slightly around Moon's neck, enough to catch a few shallow and painful breaths. "Lots of strong little brats... Always persistent... Especially about their ideals and 'love' and all that utter crap." Lyla grinned a little unhappily, red eyes closing as a sneer pulled at the edges of her lips.

"They were always damned annoying... Never let anyone have any fun... Always hated that..."

Moon stiffened, her blue eyes sparkling in confusion as she heard Lyla begin muttering to herself- at the disgusted look that grew on the girls face, and the way in which she talked about Fairy Tail... Like she really did know the Guild.

_But... She can't... She's never been to Fairy Tail... No darkness like her as set foot in the Guild, I would have known..._

Lyla's eyes opened, the red seeming to glow in the dim ever brighter as she turned her sights on Moon- the rising look of utter hatred, and hardly masked hunger for... For wrath and pain making its way into her eyes, it was enough to make her heart stop.

That look... Its the look... Of murder...

Lyla flicked her hand, Moon was jerked forward by the Magic holding her aloft- quickly coming to a halt just in front of Lyla as she reached a hand out toward her, hooking a finger and one of her long black painted nails under her chin, the point parting her fur and pricking the skin. She leaned in, her hot breath hitting Moon's face and unusually pointed teeth poking from her lips.

"And you Moony... You went there, you joined... And who did you become Partners with?" Lyla asked lowly, Moon stared, blue eyes glittering in fear, question, and grief. Lyla didn't wait for an answer, instead she dug her nail under Moon's chin a little harder, a small, twisted, lustful yet hateful grin on her face- red eyes flashing in blood lust, in murderous intent, intrigue... And dark interest.

"Yes... That infernal, cowardly, stubborn, and arrogant little Energy Dragon Slayer, Frea..." Lyla hissed, a pang of sadness rushing through Moon at mention of the name. "... I wish I could have eaten her too... Too bad daddy killed her..." Moon's eyes shut against the new prick of tears beginning to creep up on her. "Anything to get payback on that little bitch..."

Moon's eyes snapped open, _payback...?!_

"I wonder... If and when those wretched Fairy Fools come looking for you..." Lyla grinned, leaning in a little closer so her lips were right next to Moon's ear.

"... Will devouring and killing the lot of them be as much fun as killing Frea would have been?"

Moon went still, hardly breathing now as her eyes feet her wide- feeling the Magical Pressure flowing from Lyla increase as the potency of her blood lust rammed into her, chilling her to the core.

Is it possible? That someone changed this much? Became a completely different person? Became a monster? Someone once so innocent and pure of heart?

Is it possible a white and pure heart could turn dark, become the blackest and most evil heart of this Guild... All on its own...?

She started sweating, the cold drops moving down her back as what little breath she took in hitched in her throat- not only at the threat, not at the fear of being in the presence of someone so evil... It was fear, because the thought suddenly struck her... The impossible thought.

She's talking about Fairy Tail... About Frea... Like she knows them, knew them... But Lyla can't, she's never met them. _Lyla_ hasn't.

_... Dark heart..._

_'... Warning... Warning...'_

_Its not possible... It can't be..._

_'... warning... shadow... Is... Coming..."_

_Such darkness inside of her..._

Her body started trembling as a fear unlike any other gripped at her very heart, tears of horror appearing at the corners of her eyes despite herself. She felt cold, she felt her heart drop, she felt it stop, she was horrified... It couldn't be true... She'd never felt anyone so evil, she couldn't believe it... She didn't want to... Her breathing was becoming harsh in her rising terror.

Death Bolt wasn't the danger, Tomaru wasn't the danger... That true danger, that warning... It was worse than she could ever have imagined, the true danger was something much worse than the Guild knew, than she had known... The tears spilled out as her words came in terror-fractured pieces, the power around her growing thicker, choking.

"Y-you... A-aren't... L-Lyla... A-are... Y.. You...?"

* * *

 

"Stick close!"

"Everyone! To Gajeel, Natsu, or Chase!"

"Quickly!"

The tunnel was closing in on them quickly, gaps opening in the walls and the floors- sections falling from their feet, invisible forces pushing and pulling the massive battle party of Fairy Tail apart. It was as they feared, the safeguards of the Death Bolt were trying to split them apart, leaving them cornered and in weaker numbers. Trying to get them lost so they could be picked off and hunter down the moment the Mages of Death Bolt became aware they had set foot in their domain- if they weren't already aware.

Chase hissed, jumping backward to avoid the gap that opened up under his feet, jumping back into the nearest crowd of Fairy Tail Members to him- he wanted to keep as many people as he could close, knowing it was up to him to lead the rest of his fellow Members who didn't manage to go with Natsu and Gajeel. Aisha skidded to a halt beside him, purple eyes glittering in the dim as things started to shake.

Everyone's heads snapped down the tunnel as wind started to rush out toward them- and the overwhelming feel of Magic rushing toward them quickly- at least, the group that was left with him as nearly half the members of the warparty fell from sight.

"What the hell is that?!" Gray grumbled,

"Geez...!" Lucy stammered, eyes wide. "It feels so powerful..."

"Tch..." Chase hissed; eyes narrowing as it hit him the feeling that was approaching him- pure, raw, dark power... Power in the form of...

"... Shadow Magic.." He growled, light blue flaring up around his fists. White and pale blue sprung up around Aisha's person,

"Seriously...?" Lucy stammered, sweatdropped. "That's a lot of power in a Magic that's usually used by second rate Wizards..."

"You said it.." Gray growled, placing a fist in his palm.

Lucy suddenly lift two keys ahead of her, one glowing gold the other of she as her chocolate gaze, a confident smile appearing on her face despite the situation. Chase blinked, noticing immediately that among their group now- including himself, Aisha, Lucy, Gray, Bixlow and Freed- Neither of Lucy's Spirits, Solana or Loke were with them.

"Open! Gates of the Lion and the Sun Dragon!" Lucy wiped the Keys sideways, a bright blaze of Gold and Orange lighting up the corridor as a flood of Shadow Magic rounded a corner in the tunnel, reaching toward them like a great, massive, powerful flood of darkness.

"You guys think you can handle it?" Lucy asked, the duo of Loke and Solana appearing before them, fists clenched and eyes narrowed toward the oncoming flood of Magic.

Solana slammed a clenched fist into her palm, while Loke lift a hand and both if them smirked, eyes glinting.

"Hell yeah." Solana replied,

"Even Shadow Magic of that caliber can't handle the combined force of Regulus and Sun Magic." Loke told them,

The pair stepped toward in unison, fists reaching back as their Magic Egan to blaze around them. Loke clenched his fist while Solana let her fist open, her fingers curling over her palm.

"Regulus Impact!"

"Sun Dragon's Fiery Blaze!"

Their arms swung forward in the same instant, nearly chest to chest as a large blast of Gold charged from Loke's fist and a swirling beam of yellow and of orange erupted from Solana's hand- the two converging to form a spinning torrent of orange and gold that tore out through the tunnel toward the floor of Shadow Magic, the brilliance of the light nearly dazzling them as they squinted against it.

The combined Magic of Solana and Loke crashed into the wave of Shadow with a resounding boom that rattled the tunnel itself. The Shadow Magic split apart, melted and obliterated by the ferocity of the Magic, the torrent fading as the light fell to the tunnel in glittering pieces before disappearing altogether.

"Damn." Gray smirked,

"Impressive you two." Freed murmured, letting out a small sigh.

"Totally cool!" Bixlow grinned,

"Cool! Cool!"

"Thanks guys!" Lucy smiled, "I knew I could count on you two!" Very much so, with Solana and Loke's skills and Magics being so similar- they truly made quite the pair, as Lucy had quickly been figuring out.

"No problem." Solana smirked slightly,

"Anything for you my princess." Loke smiled, bowing slightly at Lucy as Solana simply rolled her eyes at him a little.

"Well, looks like we're all we have." Chase murmured, his Magic fading as he took a breath. The tunnel stopped shaking and things fell silent, he glanced backward toward the now solid wall behind them, "I hope everybody else managed to stick together..."

"... Anybody being split up here would be very, very bad." Aisha muttered. He silently agreed, the feel of evil inside of these tunnels was nearly overwhelming, there was some sort of pulsing power deep inside of this Guild- a power he knew wasn't a group of Wizards, it was something else, something deeper, something... Old.

"Alright," he murmured, "Everybody, stick close- lets start again."

* * *

 

"Watch it!"

"Look out!"

Shouts and warning were being thrown out around them in the dim and the dark- the rumbling of the tunnel and the sound of cracking stone nearly drowning the voices out. Sections of the roof were caving in on them- threatening to crush those who didn't move out of the way, and more particularly- split up to avoid being buried.

Lily growled under his breath, changing into his Battle Form in an instants time and sprouting wings- swooping upward and forward as he brought his sword around, slicing clean through a large boulder- the pieces falling apart and harmlessly around Lisanna and Evergreen.

"Thanks, Lily!" Lisanna called, rushing toward the large group of Fairy Tailers- lead by Gajeel.

The tunnel came to a sudden standstill as the path behind them was covered over in debris to heavy and too much to move- completely losing sight of several of their other Members, and most notably- Master Makarov.

"Huh?" Happy breathed, floating not far off to Lily's right. "Everything suddenly stopped..." He was noticeably lacking Natsu, who seemed to have been split off with everyone else. Lily's eyes landed on the familiar sight of his own Partner, who was scowling slightly in unhappiness- but at least they had someone with a nose to find Moon still with them.

"It was probably only meant to split us up." Erza spoke up, a sword in hand and eyes scanning the now unmoving tunnel, "Just as we expected... And now we lay in wait to be confronted by the Wizards of Death Bolt."

"Walking these tunnels may lead us into a trap." Mirajane said softly,

"... I ain't gonna be leading us into any dead ends." Gajeel grumbled, noise twitching slightly as he glanced down the dim dark of the tunnel ahead of them. "Not as long as I can smell the she-cat anyway."

"But there is no telling how long these tunnels really are." Evergreen muttered, pushing her glasses back up her nose.

"Then lets quit wasting time and start moving." Lily grumbled, still in his Battle Form and tone lined with tenseness- he caught the red eye of Gajeel a moment, seeing a sudden look of question on his Partner's face.

Gajeel was very much aware how tense Lily was- he's been that way since they had got to the Guild and seen Frea strung up like she had been. Everyone was tense yeah... But Lily was a bit more, he was angry and unusually quick to snap now. For his Partner- who was usually very level headed and patient, seeing his patience running so thin, and seeing the sudden flare in anger was somewhat surprising.

Why was Lily so worked up like this? He was a lot more bugged with all of it than Gajeel would have guessed... And he had the feeling he wasn't really worked up about Frea, so much as he was about Moon.

"Right, better not to waste any more time." Erza murmured, "Stick together everyone- and be on alert, the Wizards of DeathBolt are bound to know we're here by now." She received firm nods from everyone around them, before briskly following Gajeel's lead down the dark and winding expanse of the tunnel.

"Don't worry Moon... We're gonna save ya..." Happy murmured, eyes narrowed in determination. Lily silently agreed, knowing he himself would stop at nothing to ensure she was safe- and he would make any person in this Guild that may have hurt her would have hell to pay.

_These bastards are gonna pay..._

* * *

 

"Oi! Gramps!" Natsu's voice rung out in the dark, flames erupting about his fist to illuminate the sudden darkness and she'd light in who was left- many of them still picking themselves off the floor after having fallen quite a ways down a dark hole that had opened up in the floor.

His eyes landed in the Old Man, who was dusting himself off. "Ya ok?" He asked, earning a nod.

"Just fine."

"Happy?" Natsu asked next, sniffing the air a little to try and scent his Partner when he couldn't see him. His eyes widened a little to realize Happy was nowhere near. "Luce?" The blonde was absent too. "Ah man, no fair..." He grumbled.

"You alright Cana darling?" Gildarts swept up toward his daughter as she helped Juvia to her feet, she turned an annoyed glare on him.

"Back off old man!" She snapped.

"Gray?" Juvia mumbled, looking slightly distraught that her 'beloved' was nowhere near. "Oh no! What ever shall I do without my Darling Gray..?!"

"I'm sure he's fine." Cana told her, sweatdropping a little. "You'll be fine too, you don't need him to fight ya know..."

"Is everyone alright?" Master asked, his eyes sweeping across them.

"Yeah." They nodded, standing up.

_"Master? Anyone there? What happened?"_

The sudden voice invading their heads caused many if them to jump slightly, not expecting Warren's voice to be pounding their minds so suddenly- nor it to be as loud as it was.

"Lower the volume man..!" Natsu grumbled,

 _"Sorry... But what happened? Is everyone alright?"_ Warren asked,

"We've arrived inside of DeathBolt- but the Guild has been split up." Master replied, "Is everyone else alright? Did everyone manage to find either Gajeel or Chase?" He asked to the open Telepathic Link between all Fairy Tail Members.

_"This is Erza- I'm with Gajeel, Mira, Evergreen, Lisanna, Lily, Elfman and Happy. We're all alright, and currently heading father in after Moon's scent."_

_"Ah, it's Chase, Master. Lucy, Aisha, Gray, Bixlow and Freed are here with me. Everyone's fine, and we're heading out too."_ Chase's voice floated across their minds then,

"Very well, everyone stay on guard and stick together. I don't want anyone getting seriously hurt." Master told them firmly,

 _"You got it Gramps."_ Gray replied,

 _"Yes Master."_ Mirajane and Lisanna said at once.

"Yo, Happy, Lucy- you two he careful ok?" Natsu murmured aloud.

_"Aye sir!"_

_"Sure thing, Natsu."_ Lucy replied back, he smiled slightly.

 _"Lucy'll be just fine, she's got me here with her after all."_ Solana's voice broke in, sounding slightly enthused, and a little jokingly.

 _"With her Loyal Lion here as well, there isn't anything to worry about."_ Loke broke in,

 _"Oi..."_ Lucy sighed.

 _"You'd better be careful too, Natsu. Don't go doing anything stupid, alright bro?"_ Solana suddenly said, sounding serious. _"Goes for you too, my favorite fuzz-ball, ok?"_

 _"You got it!"_ Happy grinned,

Natsu grinned widely, chuckling a little. "Of course!" He answered, "I'll be completely fine!"

 _"He's totally gonna do something stupid..."_ Happy and Lucy sighed,

 _"Leave it to Natsu to be an idiot."_ Gray commented lowly,

"Hey!"

 _"You be careful too, Gajeel."_ Levy's voice suddenly spoke up,

 _"Hmmph... Whatever you say, Shrimp."_ The Iron Dragon Slayer grumbled,

 _"Please be careful too, Lily."_ Levy went on.

 _"We will, Levy."_ Lily replied firmly.

"Gray my darling! Please stay safe!" Juvia cried, Gray sweatdropped, looking slightly flustered.

 _"Yeah..."_ He sighed, _"Same for you, Juvia..."_

 _"Warren, how's Teach?"_ Chase asked, breaking the conversation between the lot of them- and sending a small moment of silence over the Telepathic Link. Natsu visibly stiffened and perked at the question, his smile fading as everyone waited for the answer.

 _"She's still out of it."_ Warren replied, _"Porlyusica and Wendy are still working away... And they haven't come out, or said anything..."_ Most everyone listening sweatdropped a little,

Warren silently added to himself that it wasn't as if anyone had tried approaching the Infirmary anyway- with Laxus standing outside the door and looking so brooding, they hadn't wanted to risk ticking the already bad tempered Lightning Dragon Slayer off- they already figured he was already pissed about being forced to stay at the Guild, they weren't going to press their luck.

 _"Its been a long time since we left the Guild... And they're still trying to fix her up..."_ Lucy mumbled, eyes glinting. _"... She looked bad... But how bad were those wounds really...?"_

 _"... Yeah, seriously..."_ Gray mumbled, eyes closing a moment.

"Well. We'll just pay these bastards back tenfold for all the pain they've caused Frea them." Natsu growled, "And Moon too."

"Right!"

 _"Be careful you guys, all of you... Bring Moon home, ok?"_ Warren murmured. _"I'll let you know if Frea wakes up, Master."_

"Thank you Warren." Master Makarov murmured, eyes glinting in anger and seriousness. "Natsu, we're counting on you and your nose." The Old Man said, earning a small firm nod from the pinkette.

"Yeah, you got it."

They began to head off, following Natsu as he sniffed at the air- setting off at a brisk pace. Master moved to follow, but came to a halt- noticing from the corner of his eyes the flash of dark purple that appeared in the corridor to his right.

"Jynx." He murmured, her red eyes focused not on him- but on the roof of the tunnel, narrowed and glinting in the dim.

"I will move about between the groups as much as I can, Makarov." Jynx told him softly, "The warding inside these tunnels and Guild are making it hard to remain here for very long, given my Astral Form." His eyes narrowed slightly,

"What is it?" He asked, recognizing the grave look on her face.

"... What Energy Dragon did not mention." Jynx murmured, "The reason she lost to Tomaru- was not at fault of her own strength, or lack of Power. She lost because something tailored the situation for her to lose." Master stiffened slightly, Jynx sweatdropped. "There is something outside of Death Bolt, and Tomaru working here. Something dangerous."

"... The Thing going after Frea..?" Master asked slowly, eyes narrowed. "I had felt some great power the moment we arrived here, "

"... Perhaps." Jynx replied, eyes closing and looking a little unsure. "It could be that whatever is after Energy Dragon may be the one pulling the strings here, it may have been what tailored things so Frea would lose in her initial fight against Tomaru... However, I am not entirely sure of that. This... Whatever sleeps here in this Guild... It feels different somehow. I don't believe that Thing- whatever it is, is what we can both feel here now. What we feel is something different."

He just looked at her a moment, eyes narrowed and sweatdropping heavily. He recognized the look of concern on the Ghost Girl's face, and the look of uncertainty.

What else would have been looking to make Frea lose against Tomaru, other than that Thing? What else could this power inside of Death Bolt be, if not that?

Jynx herself was unsure, she couldn't stop thinking about it- because it was all so strange to her. There was no doubt in her mind something intended ill-will to Frea, just based off what happened. It was plausible that that Thing had caused Frea's Magic to implode, and for her to lose. It was the only thing they knew of that had the motive, and the power to do such a thing... But Jynx had reservations on the how.

When she had brought Frea to the White Plane, that dark spot she had felt on Frea's being... It was not the work of that Thing, it was something else- something more wild, something more powerful... Something more complex and ancient than even that Thing.

Lets say that, it was that Thing. It made Frea lose... But now it was absent among the conflict? Jynx was very sure what slept in Death Bolt was nothing to do with that Thing- but perhaps... Had it meant to less to this? To least he Guild to coming here, into the heart of such evil and darkness they felt now?

If she were to keep believing that whatever had caused Frea to lose meant her harm through any means possible... What would that sleeping evil in Death Bolt be then?

She simply did not know

Master Makarov easily saw the uncertainty in the girl, and he could tell she was truly worried about it- as was he, now knowing the threat on Frea had been increased. He was very glad that she was at the Guild still- if it had been a threat to Frea before that had caused her to end up as wounded and nearly killed as she had been, having her here with the threat inside of Death Bolt itself surely would have amounted to distaste. And it still could- but he was happy Frea was not a part of it.

But it was that threat that set him in edge again- because now it was facing everyone here inside of Death Bolt, everyone d his children and his members fighting to being back Moon. Frea may have been missing the threat by remaining at the Guild- but very other Fairy Tail Member here was suddenly thrown into the middle of it.

"Tread lightly, Makarov." Jynx said at length, her red eyes opening to rest on him steadily.

"Whatever evil that is at work here- it will be very dangerous indeed. Those in the Guild, fighting now- they're lives could be in more danger than you or I had originally thought."

* * *

 

Lyla grinned darkly, eyes filling with undeniable pleasure at the overwhelming terror now gripping Moon.

She didn't bother to answer the question, and in Moon's mind- she didn't have to. The answer was clear... Clearer than anything had ever been for her...

Lyla snapped her fingers, and Moon was suddenly rushed backward. Her back smashed into the cold stone wall to Lyla's left, before she bounced off and away from it- the metal collar about her neck lifting and starting to put pressure against her throat as Lyla's Magic slowly trapped the end of the chain into the roof, crumbling the stone and sending bits of dirt down on her. Moon struggled, her paws suddenly released as she grabbed at the collar, muscles straining as she tried to keep as much pressure off as she could.

"While I wait for those Fairy Fools to show up, playing with you will have to hold me over." Lyla grinned, still sitting at her Father's desk. "You've been very resilient over the years Moony, you can take lots of damage and still keep at it- understandable, seeing how much the Guild loves to play with you."

 _Torture me..._ Moon thought bitterly, her fear still gripping at her heart as she struggled to catch breath, kicking and and squirming. She could almost feel Lyla's blood lust growing thicker and more violent, if that was even her name anymore...

"I wonder how long you can keep yourself from being hung?" Lyla smiled darkly,

A small boom, an explosive burst of Lyla's Magic sprung up next to her- ramming into her side with surprisingly cold heat, she yelled as she felt skin tear and bone begin to break- already fractured from the beating session not long before. The impact caused her body to swing loosely on the end of the chain, her paws scrambling at the collar as she tried her best to keep her full weight from falling on her neck.

Her arms burned, slowly closing slashed running along her arms beginning to open and bleed as she desperately dug her claws into the metal of the collar, eyes shut right and wheezing.

Another burst of Lyla's Magic erupted beside her, and she yelled again- feeling hot stickiness begin to stream down her back, her lungs ached and her chest seared in agony, along with her arms, her paws and her legs. It was almost as if she could see bone shattering when she got hit... But she refused to let go of the collar, the only thing keeping her from choking.

_I can't die... I can't let her kill me... I don't want to die in this damned Guild...!_

"You always were stubborn, Moony." Lyla chuckled, snapping her fingers as several more small explosions erupted around her, causing her to lose her grip and her throat to be crushed a moment, spluttering and coughing as she quickly lifted her heavily bleeding arms again- grasping the collar, her paws and arms were so numb it was agonizing... She was so tired, she was losing strength fast, and now she could hardly take a breath in- the agony of doing so was enough to bring tears to her eyes.

_... What if Fairy Tail comes for me...? Will they...?_

_Stupid! Of course!_

Or would they assume she was dead, like Frea already was?

Her heart dropped, in her struggle to breath and the searing agony and pain dancing through her being she was beginning to lose sense of things around her. Her hearing was being lost to the sound of her own, harsh and wheezing gasps- to the sound of her bones breaking and fracturing as Lyla's Magic continued to pound her. Her eyes couldn't make out snugging around her anymore- it blurred and darkened to where she couldn't see anything, she thought maybe Lyla had said something else- but she couldn't hear it.

Her mind was slowly being consumed in emptiness, in utter black... She felt herself beginning to slip away, her body beginning to stop responding to her, and her grip loosening more and more as the pressure on her throat increased- she didn't have the strength to keep thrashing and squirming. She knew she couldn't let herself pass out, if she did she was done for- and she couldn't let herself get killed damn it!

Thinking the Guild wouldn't come for her was stupid- utterly stupid. She knew them well enough to know the power of their wrath when it came to those in the Guild getting hurt- especially by people such as those of Death Bolt. For what happened, to her- and especially with Frea... They wouldn't let Death Bolt, Tomaru's or anyone's actions slide over anything. Deep down in her heart she knew Lyla was right- that Fairy Tail would be coming, the question was when..?

She couldn't even feel hopeful about the Guild coming here, all she could feel was pain, sadness, regret, numbness... And complete fear. Terror even.

At this rate, she may not be left alive when the Guild finally got here- though she was trying as best she could. She was afraid for her life, yes- but mostly she was afraid for the lives of those in Fairy Tail who would be coming here.

This was Lyla in her element, ever since she had changed into this monster. And even so, what she was doing to Moon now- it was nowhere near all she could do, or would. Lyla's murderous blood-lust knew no bounds, she had no hesitation nor qualms with causing pain, in killing. She wouldn't hesitate to kill anyone in the Guild- in fact, she would revel in it. And she had the power to wipe out everyone in Fairy Tail if she wanted too...

... But knowing Lyla- she wouldn't just kill the Guild. She'd torture them, much worse than she was torturing Moon now. That thought, of what Lyla may do- that scared her most of all now.

Deep down she somehow had the sinking feeling that it wasn't even Lyla... Not entirely.

No, it was someone else- someone truly evil and dark and twisted... Something. Something with a purely evil heart.

Her paws slipped further from the collar, the pressure on her throat increasing as she began to feel even more numb, and her senses fell almost into nothing.

_... The Guild... Has no idea... What they're going... To... Be... Facing..._

One of her paws fell away completely, and she hadn't the strength to lift it back up- she couldn't breath now.

_... E... Everyone in... Fairy Tail...t... They... Lyla... S... She'll... K...i...l...l... t...h...e...m... I...c...an...t... I... H...ha...ve...t...t...o..._

Her other paw fell dead at her side, all her dead weight suddenly on her throat, no breath making it past her lips, no strength left to squirm as she suffocated slowly, agonizingly... Everything is black...

_... warn... them... please..._

The pressure on her neck was suddenly released, just as she felt herself falling away- teetering on the edge of nothingness.

She gasped in air, coughing and spluttering a moment- before her body slammed into the hard ground hard enough to shatter the stone underfoot- and her attempt at taking in air turned into a gut wrenching scream of pain. She clenched her jaw, gasping and wheezing, eyes scrunched closed in agony as she recognized the metallic taste of blood on her tongue.

Slowly the world around her came back into some focus- enough that the defending silence brought on her ears was lifted to allow her the hazy and muffled sound of... Of booming echoing through the Guild...

She cracked an eye open halfway, just barely enough that her blurred and swimming vision could look out across the main hall- the figure of Lyla standing in front of her, her back toward her and the chain connected to her neck wrapped about the girls hand.

She strained to make out the noises she was hearing, them being nearly frowned by the sound of her harsh breathing and the strained beating of her heart in her chest.

To her it sounded as if... There was yelling, the sound of things rumbling, of explosions... Shouting...

"Hehe..." Lyla chuckled lowly, fists clenched at her sides as Moon glanced up weakly- seeing her fingernails suddenly lengthen and start to turn a darker color.

"So... The feast starts now, eh?" Lyla murmured to herself, even through her pain and the waves threatening to pull her under- she could feel Lyla's Power begin to strengthen to new heights, streams of black swimming up around her slowly, stretching out across the empty hall she and Moon remained alone in.

_The... Feast...?_

Her eye opened just a little more, fear dancing across the pale blue expanse- now glazed in pain and exhaustion.

_... N... No...! Everyone... They... They don't understand... They don't know... About... About Lyla...!_

For a moment she felt resentment flash inside if her for the Magic Nullifying chains wrapped about her, she would give anything to he able to send a Telepathic Message out- to be able to warn the Guild about Death Bolt. To tell them about Tomaru's Power, and about Lyla.

_Lyla isn't Lyla.. And she will kill all of them... They need to be.. Prepared..._

But even without the chains, she probably wouldn't have been able to manage it... She had no Magic Energy left, and she had no strength. Simply hardly hearing Lyla and the wounds around her was a challenge, her bison was growing so bad she couldn't hardly see anything either... She as too hurt. She couldn't even move, she could hardly breath.

_I don't want... Anyone in the Guild dying for me... Not like Frea... I have to warn them.. I need to do something..._

Her eyes fell closed as she took in a rattly breath,

_... I can't let anybody else... Die for me..._

_'... warning... warning...'_

_... Those voices... They had tried warning her about this... About Lyla..._

"Come Little Fairies! Let me consume your souls!" Lyla laughed darkly, he voice ringing through the Hall as her power increased exponentially, ramming into Moon and chilling her to the core, the pain all over her body starting to flare again.

"...p...pl...ease..." She breathed, too low for anybody to hear- she hadn't even enough strength to talk anymore. The black on the edge of her mind was creeping faster and faster now,

She was suddenly lurched forward painfully, Lyla making her way across the center of the Hall- the chains in hand and dragging an unmoving Moon behind her.

"... W...wa...rn... T...th...e...m..."

She felt a small, slight breeze curl about her- ruffling her fur slightly, just as her consciousness fell away entirely, and everything was lost to her.

_'... warn... warn...'_

* * *

A sudden burst of wind suddenly swept out through the tunnels and halls of the expanse of the Death Bolt Guild- the noise and shouting of Fairy Tail as they continued to charge in toward the ranks of Death Bolt coming to meet them. They had been running through the tunnels for at least an hour since moving inside of them in the first place, tearing through Wizards and unleashing all their fury on those who raced to meet them, making their way trough steadily and relentlessly. Of every Mage they met- they had yet to come across Tomaru, of which many of them hoped to meet in hopes of laying into him.

All of their action and movement was suddenly interrupted by a low, dull roar of indiscernible noise. The sound of hundreds upon hundreds of softly spoken and unintelligible voices filled the air about them- everything seeming to grown colder as the hearts of the Fairy Tail Mages leapt in sudden shock and question.

In the moments of them sending their Magic out, connecting fists and tearing down walls and clashing head to head with the swarming mass if Death Bolt Wizards- they faltered, their attentions catching on to the sudden chill wind, to the sudden, hardly perceptible whispers and words they couldn't make out. Their eyes grew wide and they stiffened at the low, wispy roar of hundreds upon hundreds of far off and bodiless voices- the voices curling about them and sounding urgent, almost frantic.

"W-wha...?!" Lucy stammered, eyes wide and sweatdropping- the unwarranted noise and the etherealness of it all causing her to tremble slightly.

"What... Is that...?" Gray murmured, eyes narrowed. Beside him, Chase had grown still- blue eyes narrowed and sweatdropping heavily. He felt as if there was a sudden surge of power in the air, something cold, something old... Something powerful. It wasn't the sense of evil he had already been feeling, it was something else- and it was everywhere, swirling, floating... He'd never felt anything like it. And the innate, nearly sleeping power behind all that noise... It was stifling.

"... Tch..." Aisha hissed lowly, eyes narrowing to slits. She recognized this feeling- the feeling of something dark moving, and fast. It was the same feeling she had gotten the moment they set foot in Nvindorr- though the noise was new.

"C-creepy!" Happy stammered, shaking from head to tail.

"They... They sound like voices..." Natsu mumbled, ears straining.

"... Hundreds of voices..." Solana whispered, green eyes wide and glancing around warily.

".. But where the hell are they comin' from...?" Gajeel muttered, sweatdropping heavily. All three Dragon Slayers suddenly looked visibly tense, while everyone else in the Guild seemed able to tell there was something amiss- and the rumbling sent chills through them.

The Dragon Slayers visibly stiffened, being able to hear more clearly the whispers with their heightened hearing- but not enough to make out the words.

"Voices?" Several people echoed, having heard Natsu and Solana murmur about it through the Telepathic Link. To them it sounded nothing like voices, just whispering and rushing noise- like a breeze.

"This feeling.." Erza muttered, eyes glancing about as she felt the chill begin to fall.

"Its foreboding..." Mira replied, having come back to back with the red-head.

"Juvia... Does not like this..." Juvia said lowly,

"Definitely gives you the creeps, huh?" Gildarts grumbled, looking serious.

"Lily?" Gajeel grumbled, glancing backward to see that his Exceed Partner had stopped dead, his back facing the Iron Dragon Slayer and not moving a muscle- he didn't even seem to be breathing. Gajeel's red eyes narrowed, frowning slightly as he moved closer- sending a a crowd of Death Bolt Members flying with a swing from his arm grown into an Iron Club.

"Lily!" He snapped, not happy at not being answered. He sweatdropped, eyes growing wide to see the dark look across his Partner's face, the heavy sweat dripping down the side of his face and the tenseness and sudden flashes of worry sparkling in Lily's eyes. Gajeel himself faltered, mouth slightly agape at such a look on his Partners face.

"What the hell...?"

"... These voices." Lily murmured lowly, head suddenly falling a little as a shadow passed over his face to keep his eyes from view. "... These voices... I heard them, back in Nvindorr..." Gajeel stiffened,

"You mean...?"

"... Right before everything went to hell, and Frea unleashed that dark power." Lily said gravely,

* * *

 

"... Woah..." Bixlow breathed, having come to a pause beside Freed- balancing atop one of his Dolls- suddenly seeming very thrown off by the voices, his other four dancing about his head, muttering-

"Weird, weird!"

"Rather disconcerting, isn't it?" Freed mumbled, his sword glinting in the half light of the tunnel as he swept it out before him- an array of booms following the path of the sword and sending the advancing line of Death Bolt Mages flying.

"... Disconcerting?" Bixlow murmured, his eyes narrowing under his visor as they glowed green. "More like freaking insane!" Freed paused, the light of Chase's and Aisha's Magic glinting not far off from where they were working away. Gray and Lucy were working side by side with Solana and Loke not father down the corridor- which had widened significantly since they had been moving quickly.

Freed glanced toward Bixlow, easily able to see the disbelieving look on his friend's face- and noticing immediately they way in which his eyes seemed to be moving about them, as if actually seeing something that Freed couldn't- and for all he knew, that might have been the case. Bixlow's Seith Magic usually allowed him to see things most people couldn't,

"What's the matter?" Freed asked immediately,

"There are hundreds of spirits floatin' around in here... So much so they're making all the noise." Bixlow replied, earning a shocked look from Freed and a heavy sweatdrop.

"Spirits?" Freed echoed, "... Usually wouldn't you being seeing souls?"

"... Well, right now I'm seeing both." Bixlow replied, "Hundreds upon hundreds of them... A lot of 'um angry." He sweatdropped heavily, looking a little confused and concerned all at once. "... I've never seen so many at once... Nor so many with so much power..."

"What could they be doing here...?"

"... They're trying to say something, but its all jumbled to me." Bixlow replied, shrugging slightly but looking slightly disturbed none the less. "Hey... I'm good at possessing them, but such powerful and free wandering ones like these... I can't understand them too well." Freed sweatdropped,

"Well... This feeling with them, it doesn't spell anything good." Freed murmured, eyes narrowed.

"Totally." Bixlow murmured, ready to start sending blasts toward the incoming Black Wizards- before he paused, something Freed noticed, and quirked an eyebrow at the questioning and slightly confused look Bixlow had on.

"... Hey, isn't that Jynx girl supposed to be a Master Spirit Mage?" Bixlow murmured aloud,

"So I've heard..." Freed replied, lifting a hand as Runes began to dance on the air before them. He glanced sideways at Bixlow, "Why do you ask?"

"The only thing I can make from all these Spirits and Souls is one word..." Bixlow replied, green flow of his eyes flashing under his visor.

"And they're totally saying 'Master'."

* * *

 

" _Master Makarov? What do you think of all this?"_ Erza asked allowed to the Telepathic Link, the conversation between Bixlow and Freed never making it across the Link for everyone to hear- it seemed to be fading in and out with all the new noise, though no one could explain why.

Master Makarov grimaced slightly, his enlarged fists slamming down on top of a small groups of Dark Mages, his eyes glancing about warily as he sweatdropped. He himself was highly disturbed by the sudden rush of noise and the chill that and with it- easily able to feel that foreboding sense that everyone else seemed to catch on to.

"I'm not entirely sure." He replied to Erza, "... This is familiar... But never in this large a magnitude."

 _"Familiar?"_ Mira asked, _"You've had this happen before?"_

"Like, before you were Guild Master, before?" Gildarts asked, glancing toward the Old Man from across the room they stood in. Particles of an adjacent wall streamed out as projectiles toward a band of Dark Mages, the successive boom causing the floor to shake nearly as much as Makarov's heavy fists hitting the floor did.

"Yes, before I was Guild Master." Makarov replied lowly, sweatdropping heavily as the memory came back to him.

Of the wind suddenly changing and all other noise dimming- to where the only thing he heard for moments that seemed like eternity- the not thing he heard was this, the low whispers too indiscernible to make out. The woosh of the breeze, the ethereal feel of it... The sudden cold, as the foreboding. But those 'Voices' as the Dragon Slayers called them, they had never been this loud- not when he had heard them the first, and what he had hoped would have been the last time.

It was these Voices that had reached a high, a certain urgency and potent power in the slow movements- the seconds before... Jynx had defeated that Demon from the Book of Zeref.

* * *

 

_He had watched in transfixation, watching as the Girl's Power grew to eights he beloved unreal- as the world around them seemed to grow colder, slower- the flash of Dark Purple and grey lit up the sky, flaming across the clouds above the Beast- before suddenly flaming a bright golden and white color. Jynx, who was bleeding and broken from the numerous hits she had taken in contending with it-'floated just before it, her black hair streaming in the wind she brought up- and the hot, putrid breath of the Demon glaring at her- its maw open as it threatened to swallow the whole of Magnolia, and everyone in it._

_Buildings and streets around them were shattered and turned to rubble, injured townspeople and those of the guild who had been trying to fend it off littered the streets- glinting in fear and pain, and wonder._

_"The hell... Is she doing...?!" Goldmine growled, standing beside Makarov, holding an injured arm._

_"Oh dear..." Bob murmured,_

_"... She's... Sacrificing herself..." Makarov murmured softly, eyes fixed on her person. Goldmine and Bob's heads snapped around toward him,_

_"What?!"_

_"But she... She can't be, why would she even do such a thing...?"_

_Makarov's eyes narrowed, he had tried several times since Jynx left the Guild to try and stop her in whatever it was she planned to do. Her, and her Magic had always been a mystery to him- but at that moment, seeing her Magic flare up so brightly, as she poured every ounce of Magic she had into it- he didn't know what Spell she planned to cast, but he knew it was this Spell... That she would cast to save the town, and everyone in it._

_And in his heart, in his very being he knew- this Spell would only end her life._

_As if to agree with him, the wind and the whispering on the breeze seemed to reach a climax- just as Jynx's Spell suddenly streamed down from the clouds, a massive Magic Circle appearing under the beast and the streams of Magic seeming to catch it inside a cage._

_'... Down... Down...'_

_'... Shred and... Destroy...'_

_'... Guardian... And Master...'_

_His body seemed to freeze as the words whispered about him, swirling on the air and nearly out of earshot- distant and detached._

_"Move no further, wicked beast!" Jynx's voice rose among the whispers, ringing around them a the Demon roared, the noise shaking the town and its people to the core. Even from here, Makarov could see the scarlet liquid dripping past Jynx's lips, but there remained a burning fire in her eyes... Something odd, a certain light, a certain power- the light of knowledge and deep innate wisdom seemed suddenly to churn inside of her then. The sort of wisdom and knowledge no one so you g should hold, it was as if Jynx was centuries older than she really was just then._

_He stiffened slightly, eyes growing wider as a crack appeared across her face, as if she were made of hardened clay- she flinched slightly at it, pain flashing across her gaze. Another long crack appeared across her upper arm, as she held them out toward the Beast. She... She was shattering...?_

_"You're an incredible, foe... There is no way around that." Jynx growled, we Magic slowly spiraling up around the Beast- it began to struggle, moving against her Magic, trying to break free of if. Another crack spread up across her cheek,_

_"As to be expected, Zeref having created you." Jynx growled, eyes closing a moment as her jaw clenched in effort and pain. Her body was trembling with the effort, "You've devoured so many... Innocent, defenseless people... Destroyed countless lives... Taken so many..." Her eyes snapped open, red and burning. "Its despicable!"_

_One of her hands clenched into a fist, the arm swiping backward behind her, the other remaining before her- plan open and facing the creature. The Beast roared, more of her Magic streaming up from the ground, creating another set of barriers between it and the world around her. The ground shook with the tremendous force her Magic came with, the sky continued to grow darker and dusky- turning to grey and stretch ing out past the horizon._

_"W-woah!"_

_"I never knew that kid was so freaking powerful!"_

_'... Guardian... Master... Yes... It is... Possible...'_

_"There are many who would believe, that being a creation of Zeref- he is the only who can unmake you." Jynx hissed, eyes closing again as a large crack appeared across her chest- bits of grey and purple flashing through from inside of her. The whispering voices on the wind continued to grow louder, they sped up, murmuring over and over the words he had already heard... As if they were hanging._

_The air itself was shaking, and his eyes grew wider than ever to see the buildings around the spot in which Jynx and the Demon were- everything around them was starting to fade, as if their existence was slowly being cleaned away, and left with smoky grey-white light._

_The pain on Jynx's features was easily seen, the error and the strain- the agony of using her Magic in such away was clear. But despite that, she seemed resolute on what she was doing... But what was it she was doing?_

_Her eyes opened, a shadow over passing her eyes and seeming to make them glow- her Magic reaching an all time high as it seemed to seep into everything around it, chilling everything, making it shake and rumble. Powerful waves of immense, focused... Almost ancient power..._

_"But even the likes of Zeref cannot contend with this Magic."_

_Her steely and firm words sent a wave of cold over him, his heart leaping a moment at such a bold statement- completely shocked at the utmost certainty in her voice- the knowing look, for a moment- he truly believed it._

_But what kind of Magic could be stronger than that of the Legendary Dark Wizard...? It... It was impossible..._

_The Demon roared, the noise shaking the town to its roots- as Jynx slowly closed her other hand and returning seemed to slow down around them._

_"For the souls of the damned and the Demonic, there is only one place left for you!" She snapped loudly, voice rising in an authoritative and dictating way. "You shall not remain in this existence any longer, a being as evil and tainted as yours tips the balance of life and destroys what life there is left- lives meant to stay living!"_

_Hundreds of sharp streams of her Magic rose up from the ground and drove down from the sky- which, both having turned a milky grey and nearly white color by now as the building and the destroyed remnants of Magnolia around Jynx and the Demon disappeared from all view._

_"Being of Dark Magic and Evil, be punished for the crimes you have committed here among the plane of the living, and suffer an eternity in pits of darkness and emptiness- ripped of your own life, and destroyed of what Zeref so carelessly created for you!"_

_Her outstretched fist suddenly swung down ward, and the earth itself shook violently, the air bouncing and the whispers becoming a dull roar. The cracks stretching across her body grew larger, pieces chipping off as purple and grey shown through, slowly encasing her entire being._

_"Being Rend and Destroy!" She shouted, the streams of Magic rushing down toward the Demon, its roar was louder than enough in he had ever heard- a roar of pure and utter pain._

**_"Soul- Shatter!"_ **

_The Demon howled, its body suddenly ripping to shreds and flesh breaking down into flirting pieces of pitch black light- the center of its body suddenly glowing an incredible purple, red and grey- as cracks appeared across its entire person, and it shattered into hundreds of pieces with hundreds of resounding booms and the incredible loud sound of down thing shattering._

_The people around him stared in utter shock and astonishment, frozen to their places as the Demon that had been tearing across Fiore relentlessly was suddenly destroyed in a massive series of booms and waves of intense Magical Energy._

_No one had ever known.. That Jynx was that powerful, no one knew the things Jynx could do... And seeing her do this, it was insane, unbelievable... Impossible._

_Amongst the booms and the noise, the whispers died on his ears- leaving with a last word;_

_'... Fallen...'_

_Time came to a stand still, just a moment- as Makarov's eyes trained to the figure of Jynx above them, glowing with the light pouring from the cracks spreading across her person, and she too began to fall away into pieces, and disappear._

_In a small moment, her red eyes met his- and he held the look, his eyes shinning in wonder and disbelief, and perhaps even slight fear... Fear at such incredible power, power he as never felt before, power he had no idea precisely what it was._

_'... Hope... I never return, Makarov...'_

* * *

 

His eyes swept about him, the memory fading as he strained to the rush of disjointed Voices around him- unlike that day, he could not make out what it was these voices were saying. And there were clearly more now, them there had been before- which he could only believe had been a few dozen- the ones sweeping about DeathBolt now must have been hundreds.

In her day... Before she had died... Jynx had been an incredibly powerful Wizard... And no one had known until that day.

But now, he came to realize that those Voices- they spelled something huge, something dangerous, colossal... And the beings hundreds of them now, he felt his heart drop a little.

In the midst of the sudden tumult of voices, those DeathBolt members attacking them drew back a little- glaring darkly as they receded for a moment, leaving the Fairy Tail Wizards alone in the dark of the tunnels.

His eyes landed on who it was he was looking for, and he felt his heart atop beating altogether for a moment.

Jynx had reappeared not long ago, standing off to the side as she watched the battle progress for the group Natsu lead- moving between groups as she explained she would. Suddenly she had come to a dead stop, a shadow falling over her face, her red eyes wide and sweatdropping heavily- the look of utter fear crossing her features.

Unlike the rest of them- she heard those voices easily, and what they told her in frantic, urgent words... She felt herself fall cold, her blood, her heart, everything stopped and she could only stare aimlessly ahead- a large bead of sweat dripping down her face as her body trembled slightly. Seeing such a look of horror on her usually expressionless face, Makarov faltered- eyes wide as his heart began to race.

"Jynx..!" He said quickly, "What is it?! What is the matter?!" He demanded, feeling slightly panicked.

"I-it... Its not... Possible..." She stammered, "... That... That one was destroyed... Erased from this plane... It cannot be here... Its impossible..."

_'... Possible... Possible... Guardian... Warning...!'_

_'... Darkness is here...!'_

_'... Light is falling...!'_

_'... Warning... Master... Master...!'_

"JYNX?!" Makarov roared, very unhappy she was not answering him- especially seeing as how he could tell it was something very important- and probably very dangerous for those fighting here now.

Her face fell, her overshadowing her eyes as she clenched her fists- fighting to regain her bearings and force her horror away.

It could not be possible! And yet- if she truly looked, truly reached her mind out.. She knew immediately it was possible. It was here.

The danger was so very much real... So much more potent then they could have ever believed...

She swept an arm out, red eyes snapping up as she glanced around her- eyes fixed to what no one but Bixlow could see.

"You are correct- the warning is received." She said to the air, voice stern and strong now. "Wandering and tortured, I ask you lend your anger now- to destroy what cannot remain amongst the living any longer! Lend your strength to those here, those wrapped in the Light and fighting the Darkness!"

_'... Yes... Yes...'_

_'... We will... Give Master...'_

_'... will give... the Light...'_

_'... Our power...'_

Jynx's eyes grew hard as she turned to Makarov, her entire countenance one of muffled fear and sudden seriousness. He blinked, sweatdropping heavily.

The tumult of Voices around them suddenly faded into nothing, and the sound of shouting and Battle grew thick on the air.

"Makarov," Jynx muttered lowly, "What sleeps here is more ancient and deep than we could have believed. The Guild is in extreme danger- remaining here would be foolish." She told him lowly, voice stony. "If we remain here, lives will be lost."

He gazed at her in shock, "What do you mean? What is it that is here?"

"A deep an ancient evil I thought had been destroyed, but I was wrong." Jynx replied, "... The darkest shadow you may have ever met." He stiffened, "... And one, that I am now sure was intended to lead us here... That whatever tailored this wanted us here so we may fall into that Demon's clutches..."

**_"Hehe...!"_ **

Jynx's head snapped around at the sudden chilly laughter that echoed over the tunnels and rooms of DeathBolt, a sudden swath of pitch black rising from the ceiling and hurtling down toward her and those around her.

Jynx's arms swung up in front of her, sweatdropping heavily as Magic flashed about her person. An orb of purple light flared in front of her- splitting up down the middle as it moved, seeming to grow teeth and swallowed the mass of darkness whole- before it imploded and she was sent backwards, everyone else knocked from their feet.

"Ah!"

"Shit!"

"What was that?" Gildarts growled, slowly helping Cana back to her feet. His eyes trained to Jynx, who was floating above the ground a few inches- eyes growing wide to see the dark line torn into her arm, leaving it black and seemingly fractured. She was frowning deeply, sweatdropping.

"Damn this form of mine..." She muttered, fists clenched. "... Even a Spell like that was nearly useless..."

Master looked toward her, eyes wide. He hadn't been aware she was able to physically effect anything, or let alone be wounded- if that sudden tear across her arm was any indication, though it didn't bleed.

"We must leave." Jynx said, turning to the Old Man.

 _"We can't! Not without Moon!"_ Lily's voice snapped suddenly, able to hear what Jynx had said as the Telepathic Link opened up again with the voices suddenly gone.

"We still gotta make these bastards pay for what they did!" Natsu snapped, his onyx eyes landing on her. She frowned at him,

"Fools! If we remain here, you will all die!" She snapped back at him,

 _"What do you mean?"_ Mira asked,

"What do ya think is gonna kill us?!" Natsu snapped back,

"Jynx." Master interrupted, looking serious. "Do you really believe our lives are at true risk?" He asked her levelly,

"Entirely." Jynx replied,

 _"You're not seriously thinking about leaving Moon here, are you?!"_ Gray asked,

"What are you talking about?" Several people questioned at once.

"All of you- listen." Jynx said coldly, "This was a trap. We were lead here, by the sleeping evil inside of the Guild. A darkness none of you can contend with, and one that will surely kill you all- should it get the chance."

_"What evil?"_

_"What were those voices anyway? A warning or something?"_

"A warning." Jynx growled lowly,

_"What do you mean we can't beat it?!"_

_"Nothing's gonna kill us!"_

_"What he hell do you think is after us?"_

_"We still can't leave Moon, even if there is something powerful down here!"_

_"We haven't even laid into the Guild Master yet!"_

_"You're talking about that ancient evil here, Jynx?"_ Chase's voice broke through the flurry of questions. He had been listening quietly, sweatdropping heavily at the tenseness he could suddenly feel on the air- and very perturbed by the feeling of that same darkness he had felt this entire time, suddenly growing stronger. _"I've been able to feel it since entering the forest... And its just getting stronger. Like its waiting to strike."_

_"Really?"_

_"You've been able to feel this since before we entered these tunnels?"_ Lucy murmured, eyes wide.

 _"Yeah... I think whatever it is- its what sent that Magic at us earlier. The one Loke and Solana blocked."_ Chase replied,

 _"But if its all that powerful, why was that attack so freaking weak?"_ Solana grumbled,

 _"It may have been playing with us."_ Aisha replied lowly, eyes glinting.

 _"What Magic?"_ Erza asked,

 _"... Shadow Magic."_ Chase replied, _"Much more Powerful Shadow Magic than anyone would expect..."_

 _"Shadow Magic..?"_ Mira mumbled,

 _"Seriously? I thought only low level Wizards used that Magic..?"_ Elfman mumbled,

 _"That's not entirely true though, right? Rogue from SaberTooth uses Shadow Magic, and he's pretty powerful."_ Lisanna responded.

 _"... The more I'm focusing on it... The more its starting to feel like..."_ Chase mumbled, eyes closing as he suddenly broke off- body growing still and sweatdropping heavily.

 _"... Chase?"_ Lucy murmured, seeing him looking so tense suddenly.

 _"You alright?"_ Gray asked,

 _"What? What does it feel like?"_ Erza asked,

Chase's eyes opened, blue and glittering in sudden worry.

_"... Like... Zeref's Magic..."_

_"Zeref?!"_

_"No way..."_

_"Not good..."_

_"But what could that mean?"_

Master's eyes went wide, beads of sweat dripping down his face as his eyes snapped to Jynx, whose eyes had fallen to the floor.

"... This ancient evil, you don't mean to say its...?" He stammered, that couldn't be true!

"I don't know that Demon's true name... but yes." She replied, and he felt his heart nearly stop. "This was a trap." Jynx mumbled, "A true and utter trap... We were lead here, so this would happen... So we'd be caught by it..."

"So what if it's like Zeref's Magic?!" Natsu snapped, "Doesn't matter! We knew this wasn't gonna be easy when we left, we can't just turn tail and run now!"

 _"Salamander's right. We can handle whatever this damned Guild has cooked up for us."_ Gajeel muttered,

_"We still have payback to send out."_

_"And leaving Moon here isn't a choice! Definitely not!"_ Lucy said firmly,

_"We can't just leave!"_

_"And we ain't gonna get ourselves killed either!"_

Master paused, seeing Jynx turn away from him, her head bowed slightly.

"... You've never truly won against this evil, any of you.. Not together, and not on your own." Jynx told the Old Man softly. "... Whatever orchestrated all of this... It did so knowing that. Its the deadliest trap that anyone could have made."

"Leaving a Member of the Guild is not an option, Jynx." A shimmer of Gold appeared beside Jynx as Mavis appeared just behind her slightly,

"First.." Makarov murmured.

"I'm not saying it is." Jynx replied. "That doesn't change the fact... That the Guild is in terrible danger being here."

"Moon is in terrible danger too." Mavis replied, "This evil you speak of... Is it really something no one here can defeat?" Her eyes shone a little, "Even with how much they have all grown?"

"... I really doubt it." Jynx replied, "... Energy Dragon... For all her power... She didn't manage to defeat this foe..." She paused.

"But now we are aware of it." Mavis said firmly, "We are warned and aware of it- and will not be caught off guard. Even if you do not think the Guild can contend with this new Danger, you may be wrong. The power in this Guild is strong, very strong. Now that we know of the danger, we can prepare ourselves for it- and face it head on." Mavis said firmly, her eyes turning to Makarov, who nodded at her slightly. "After all- it was a warning. Not an order to retreat." She pointed out calmly,

" _The First is right."_

_"Course she is."_

_"We got this! Whatever gets thrown at us we'll get past it, no problem!"_

_"We're gonna show DeathBolt whose boss!"_

"All of you- keep yourselves alert." Mavis spoke, "Look out for one another, do not take any battle lightly."

_"Got it!"_

_"Aye sir!"_

Jynx nodded slightly, still not looking to either Mavis or Makarov. "... if that is your wish, then so be it. I have very little Power as I am now- so I may not be able to do much, but at least... I can help provide extra strength to the rest of you." She mumbled, "... This was a _trap."_ Jynx said suddenly, her voice a bit louder, she didn't give them time to question what she said first. Mavis and Makarov blinked,

"You've mentioned that." Mavis told her softly, Jynx shook her head a little.

"This was a trap that lead us here, that was tailored to make sure we would end up meeting this evil." Jynx said, her head lifting a little, still not turning to look at them. "We were lead here, all of us... But we were not the ones fighting to keep Moon from being taken."

"What do you mean?"

"This was all a plan to wound and hurt us, but it began... As a plan to wound, and even kill someone else in particular. To bring them here and to kill them, specifically." Jynx said, sounding slightly panicked now as the thoughts began to click in her head- Mavis and Makarov sweatdropped. "Whatever it was that purposely made Energy Dragon lose... Did so, so Moon would be brought here."

Mavis and Makarov stiffened in shock, eyes growing wide as they realized what Kunx was trying to say.

"You mean..?"

"The intended purpose, was to lead _Frea_ here, not just the Guild...?!" Mavis stammered,

"... But she's in Magnolia." Gildarts grumbled, most everyone listening in.

 _"... Right...?"_ Lucy mumbled,

Jynx had turned to look at them, her red eyes glinting as as suddenly growled.

"Warren!" Master snapped, suddenly realizing that they had heard nothing from everyone in Magnolia for some time. "Are you listening to all this?!"

 _"Master!"_ Warren's voice broke through, sounding panicked- the hearts of everybody in Death Bolt suddenly dropped. Jynx sweatdropped, looking serious as everyone else froze- not liking the panic in his voice.

 _"Master! I'm sorry! We had no clue, they just took off!"_ Warren stammered frantically, Master's eyes grew wide, Mavis froze beside him.

 _"They took off?"_ Erza questioned immediately,

 _"Frea took off before we could stop her!"_ Max stammered, his voice coming into focus.

"Didn't Laxus try to stop her?!" Master snapped, fists clenched.

 _"He went with her!"_ Warran shouted, everyone listening in suddenly blinked in shock, jaws dropping a little. _"So did Carla and Wendy! They're headed straight to you!"_

Master stood still a moment, the floor under his feet seeming to spin for a moment as he stared straight ahead, with whited out eyes.

_... What the hell... Are those brats... Thinking...?!_

_"Laxus went with her?! Why?!"_

_"Is he an idiot!?"_

_"And Wendy and Carla too?!"_

"How'd you manage to miss them leaving, Warren?!" Natsu asked,

 _"They went out the Infirmary window..."_ Warren mumbled, sounding exasperated and slightly ashamed.

"Frea's going to be right where they want her." Mavis stammered, her eyes flicking to Jynx- whose eyes had trailed up to the ceiling, expression tense.

"... Though we try to avoid it... Something's still happen..." Jynx murmured, eyes narrowing a little. "... Now, I'm beginning to wonder... If this is one of those times...?"

"One of what?" Mavis asked,

"... Those moments we can't alter, or avoid." A distant look suddenly coming into Jynx's eyes.

"Well then? We just gotta finish all these bastards before she gets here!" Natsu shouted, fire erupting around his fists. "Save Moon and destroy DeathBolt before she manages to get here!"

 _"The Pyro's right... That's the only choice we got."_ Gray muttered,

 _"If we defeat Death Bolt and rescue Moon before Frea arrives, she won't be walking into any danger."_ Erza murmured, _"We'll have limited time."_

 _"But we can do it."_ Mira replied,

 _"We can't let anyone or anything get their hands on Teach."_ Chase growled,

 _"And we'll get to Moon long before she makes it halfway here."_ Solana muttered, smirking just slightly as she watched the members of DeathBolt begin to slip from the shadows again, a new array of enemies moving to charge once more- just as a new fire began to been in the hearts of the Fairy Tail Mages, despite the Danger Jynx spoke of, and despite the worry of a trap.

"We're gonna get you bastards!"

"Moon! Fairy Tail's Here and Coming for you! Can you hear us?!" Natsu's voice rose, louder than the rest as he prepared to meet the new wave of Enemies coming their way- blocking their way.

"YEAH!"

"BRATS!" Master boomed, suddenly growing to his Giant Size an looming over the new wave of enemies. "SHOW THESE FOOLS THE POWER OF OUR FAMILY!"

"Aye Sir!"

The bands of Fairy Tail Wizards ran back into the gray, Magic flying and Members Death Bolt being sent soaring trough the air as Fairy Tail cheated in with newfound vigor and urgency. They began carving their way through, nobody was going to stop them, nothing would keep them from making sure Moon was back and well- and keeping Frea from running into whatever danger had been set for both her, and the Guild.

Jynx remained standing where she was, her hand loving up to slowly hover about the dark line in her arm, eyes still fixed to the roof. What a foolish girl... She knew where Frea was, still very much a aware her Magic Limiting Seal was placed on the Energy Dragon Slayer. What a fool... Coming here while not being able to use Magic, and so heavily wounded no less... She could try and stop Frea from coming, knowing where she was- her eyes narrowed, she was powerless in this Form... The power she had mustered to block that Spell from earlier was just about as much as she could physically do, and it wouldn't be enough to stop Frea at all.

"... Warning, Shadow is coming..." She repeated the words softly, before she growled a little, eyes glittering as she turned and faced the sight of Master and those around him clashing with Death Bolt- Natsu's Flames dancing around, Juvia's Water spinning, Cana's cards flying through the air, Gildarts sending a large group sprawling with a simple gesture of a hand, and Elfman tearing through enemies in his Beast Form.

"Warning... Shadow is here..."

* * *

 

_"If you're looking for trouble, you better turn back around." Wakaba warned lowly,_

_"Please, that's not why we're here." The first voice replied evenly,_

_"We're here to help, that's it." The second voice elaborated._

_"What do you mean, help?" Laxus grumbled lowly, face neutral and much more restrained than everyone else- but eyes glinting in slight distrust. "And who the hell are you, while we're at it."_

_The both of the new arrivals gave the Fairy Tailers firm looks, lifting their arms and laying bare their shoulders- the emblazoned symbol of intertwined, ferocious feline heads, their mouths open to reveal sharp teeth, and tails curled about eachother stretching down- one in black, and the other in white being shown._

_"I'm Uno." The first introduced herself evenly, yellow eyes scanning over them slowly, before landing directly on Laxus- whom she addressed nearly directly._

_"I'm Iki." The second said lowly, his teal eyes glinting calmly._

_"We're the Leaders of the Twin Cougars Guild. And we're here to help our fellow sister."_

_Exceeds...?!_

Wendy and Carla sweatdropped, eyes wide as they looked over the two new arrivals. They were most certainly Exceeds- though no two that they recognized.

Uno- the first one to have spoken, she was Carla's size- her fur a pale shade of brown, her paws, tips of her ears and the end of her tail a creamy white color. On her forehead just above her nose was a marking reminiscent of a diamond, also in that same creamy white shade. She wore a long red dress with no sleeves that slit up the sides, and leather boots to go with it- about her neck was a black collar on which a small, golden hell was attached- it jingled slightly as she moved, her yellow eyes scanning the Fairy Tail Mages, and for a moment, pausing on Carla- before she looked back up to hold Laxus' gaze steadily.

The Exceed beside her was a tom-cat, Iki as he had announced. He was slightly taller than his companion, and of a darker brown color, like the she-cat- his paws, ear tips and the the end of his tail were colored in a darker chocolate brown. Along is tail rain stripes, and two stretched up his cheeks- a strip of white reaching up above his nose, very similar to the sort of marking Uno had. He wore a lavender button up shirt and tan pants, a dark colored scarf wrapped about neck- on his wrist was a black bracelet, to which a small bell was hung- the same bell the other Exceed had. His teal eyes swept over toward Wendy a moment, blinking once before he let his eyes close and he crossed his paws over his chest.

"Fellow sister?" Many people echoed, sweatdropping a little in uncertainty. Uno nodded firmly,

"Twin Cougars Guild?" Macao murmured, "Never heard of it."

"We're an Independent Guild." Uno explained, "Iki and I started it a few years back- most of our Members are other Exceeds."

"An Exceed Guild..?" Carla murmured softly, she received a nod from Iki- whose eyes opened as he glanced to her.

"Yes. Once the other Exceeds from Extalia arrived here on EarthLand, they went looking for those 100 eggs they had sent here. In that search they found us, and since then we have been working with them."

"Then... That means you two, you were a part of those Eggs sent here so long ago...?" Wendy asked,

"Yes." Iki and Uno replied in unison. "We're actually brother and sister." Everyone in the Guild hardly blinked, pretty much able to see the resemblance between them.

"... But why are you here?" Alzack mumbled, "You said you're here to help your 'fellow sister'...?"

"And why are you asking for Frea and Moon?" Bisca jumped in,

"Is it true that the Death Bolt Guild attacked both Miss Frea and Miss Moon?" Uno answered the questions with one of her own. "And that Miss Moon was captured by that very Guild?"

"... Has news really spread that fast...?" Laki mumbled, sweatdropping slightly with the rest of them.

"One shouldn't be surprised." Iki said softly, "The scene that met the people of Magnolia so early in the morning, it was... Shocking." They sweatdropped a little more.

"Why do you want to know?" Laxus said firmly, eyes glinting slightly in distrust as he faced the two. Iki glanced toward him, Uno set him with a firm stare. Laxus set the sort of daunting look on the two Exceeds that would usually make anyone quiver a little, but Uno just looked back at him in the utmost calm, her eyes glinting and not at all deterred by the look nor the distrust in his voice.

"We want to help you." She replied lowly. "Miss Moon is a fellow Exceed- and we have made a promise to help any and all fellow Exceed's when they need it. Seeing the situation she is in now, our only aim is to assist your Guild in saving her."

"You're a little late for joining the warparty." Wakaba muttered,

"Most of our Wizards already left hours ago." Macao confirmed.

"That matters very little." Uno replied easily. "If you would tell us where Death Bolt is located- we could go there and provide assistance."

"It'd take you hours to reach Death Bolt," Carla murmured.

"That is- assuming we're just gonna tell you where Death Bolt is." Jet muttered,

"Yeah, why would we? We don't even know if we can trust you two." Droy put in,

"It wouldn't take us that long to reach it, I'd wager." Iki replied, earning a confused look from Carla. "And we've heard the stories of Death Bolt- of how dangerous they are. Wouldn't your comrades already fighting appreciate all the help they can get?"

"Does that mean you two can fight?" Max asked, looking unconvinced.

"Or would you just be getting in the way?" Jet muttered.

Uno's ears twitched slightly, an unhappy look passing across her face at the comments. She glared slightly, bristling.

"Of course we can fight." She growled lowly. "Probably better than you two idiots!" She snapped, pointing a paw at Jet and Max, who scowled.

"Hey!" They snapped in unison.

"Uno..." Iki murmured, sweatdropping slightly at his siblings flaring temper.

"Even if you can fight, Death Bolt is supposed to be really dangerous." Wendy said, eyes shinning. "Why would you two risk going into such danger, for someone you don't even know?"

Iki and Uno exchanged quick glances,

"Exceeds stick together." They said at once, expressions firm.

"Besides, its our duty as Mages- Independent or not- to help protect Fiore from such Evil Guilds as Death Bolt, isn't it?" Uno pointed out, "It shouldn't be allowed to go unpunished the things people in Guilds such as Death Bolt do, especially not such awful things as they've done to both Miss Frea and Moon." Her eyes glinted slightly as her brother nodded silently. Uno's eyes swept about them calmly, before they landed on Laxus- who had fallen silent.

"Wouldn't you agree?" She said evenly, his eyes narrowed slightly.

"... That's a lot of bravado ya got there..." Max grumbled,

"... Doesn't make much sense to me, risking getting yourselves hurt on the part of people you don't even know." Droy mumbled,

"... But in the end, I think that's rather admirable of the both of you." Levy murmured, smiling just faintly.

"Foolish..." Carla muttered, "... But kind." Wendy smiled slightly at her friend, nodding slightly in agreement.

"Besides," Iki shrugged, settling the whole of the Fairy Tail Mages with a firm stare. "We ain't gonna take no for an answer. We're gonna help take Death Bolt out, wether or not you want our help." A sudden steely firmness made its way into his teal eyes. Everyone blinked in slight shock,

"So? Will you tell us where Death Bolt is?" Uno asked, paws on her hips as her tail swished behind her a bit.

"Oh, and another note..." Iki said, looking as if he just remembered something. His teal eyes turned toward Carla and Wendy, glinting in too many emotions to place. "... Having heard what happened to Miss Frea... Is she alright?" He asked, his tone soft. Fairy Tail stiffened, Laxus' eyes closed a moment.

"What's it to you..?" Max murmured,

"I'm simply asking." Iki replied calmly, "Its natural for me- being a fellow living creature, and a fellow Mage- to be concerned for Miss Frea's well being." They sweatdropped, "It's a simple question." He added again, more gently.

Fairy Tail stood in assembled silence for a few long moments, trying to let the new interruption and information sink in. It was very hard for them to wrap their heads around what was being told to them- the odd way in which these two had appeared as their odd request. It made little sense for two people with little to no stake in anything that was going on- to be so willing and driven to try and help... It didn't make any sense, as they weren't sure what to do about it.

They felt like they should remain wary and guarded, though it didn't appear that either of the new arrivals meant any harm- but the Guild itself was still tense and on guard from all the things going on, so they hesitated.

"She's heavily wounded, but should be done if given time to rest."

Their heads snapped around toward the new voice, now finally aware that Porlyusica had made her way out of the Infirmary, expression neutral and red eyes trained to the two new arrivals as she's de her way toward the door.

"Granny..." Wendy murmured, eyes wide as she realized they had been listening to both the Exceeds for some time- time enough that the Old Woman had finished her job on Frea.

"The key is resting- which I'm sure she will be opposed to doing." Porlyusica muttered a little hotly, "You two are quite curious, for Members of a different Guild." She pointed out, Iki and Uno sweatdropped slightly.

"We weren't trying to pry..." They started,

"It matters little." Porlyusica cut them off. "You two are hardly any real threat, and it isn't hard to understand you would be concerned."

Fairy Tail around her sweatdropped slightly, hearing the truth in her words- and exchanging glances between them.

"Is she really gonna be ok, Porlyusica?" Warren asked,

"Yes." The Old Woman replied, a little unamused she had to repeat herself. "Just don't let the fool go running off and getting out of bed, got it?" She growled,

"Y-yes, Granny..." The Guild mumbled, nodding slightly. Despite the obvious tension, and the ever present worry- they seemed a little relieved at the confirmation.

Porlyusica growled under her breath, pushing through the crowd and heading toward the door.

"I'll return later, I need to fetch some supplies from my home." She announced, glancing over her shoulder toward Wendy. "Don't try using your Healing Magic anymore, child. Let Frea heal on her own- you've done enough already. And don't let her move around too much- no use in letting her pull any of those stitches out, and reopening wounds."

Wendy nodded slightly, looking serious as the rest of the Guild sweatdropped with slightly wide eyes.

".. Stitches...?"

"Yes, I'll do my best. And keep an eye on her until you get back, Granny."

"I expect there will be plenty of wounds to handle when the rest of those fools return from their battle." Porlyusica murmured, "Expect me then... And hope that idiot doesn't decide to fight with you about staying in the Guild." She sighed, a small vein ticking on her forehead a moment at the thought. "... It's a damned miracle she's stayed this still already..." She murmured to herself, only Wendy with her heightened hearing being able to catch the words.

Though in reality, it didn't surprise the Old Lady too much... The amount of agony that Frea must be in, with the extent of her wounds and the sheer damage... She may not be able to move very well at all, even if she did really try to get moving.

Porlyusica sighed slightly, she had a feeling that leaving now may be a mistake... But she did need more supplies from her home to deal with the injuries she was sure to see when the rest of Fairy Tail returned from Death Bolt.

With that she made her way outside the doors, a few people calling out thanks as she left.

Iki and Uno exchanged small glances with one another, for a moment looking a little uncertain. As if there was something else they meant to say, but they stopped themselves. Laxus narrowed his eyes at the look, he had frown silent as the rest of the Guild talked around him. His eyes narrowed to slits as he crossed his arms over his chest, head tilting slightly as seemingly distracted for a small moment- before his attention turned back toward the two Exceeds in front of him.

"So..." Warren murmured, calling attention back to the two Exceeds.

"You two, you really wanna go and help..?" Macao asked, Iki and Uno nodded firmly.

"Well... I guess there ain't any harm in it." Max mumbled,

"They maybe could use some more help." Levy pointed out,

"Yeah, and you two say you're some serious Mages, right?" Warren asked,

"Yes, we are." They replied in unison.

"Then there isn't any harm in it, we may just appreciate any help you can give." Macao decided,

"Hmm..." Wendy hummed under her breath, head tilting a little as her eyes widened slightly. Carla glanced up at her, eyes narrowed.

"So you'll tell us where Death Bolt is?" Iki asked,

"We should hurry, so we can help out as much as we can." Uno said, the fire of sincere determination in her eyes. For a small moment, many in the Guild wondered why they had been wary- because in that small, split moment- it was clear in the eyes of both Exceeds that they meant no ill will, that they truly wanted to help.

"Yeah, we'll tell ya." Max murmured,

"I should contact Master and the others to let them know you'll be coming." Warren announced,

"Thank you, that'd be good." Iki told him,

"We don't have a definite location... But I can try and narrow it down on a map for you." Levy told them, smiling slightly.

"Thank you." Uno grinned,

"Of course, we should be thanking you for the offer to help." Levy replied,

"uh..." Wendy mumbled, sweatdropping a little more as she glanced over her shoulder, hands to her chest and seeming a little unsure about something.

"What's the matter, Wendy?" Carla asked, noticing the odd behavior.

Laxus' head fell a little as a shadow fell over his eyes and a he tensed a little, frowning a little unhappily.

"Well... Its just..." Wendy started, the murmur of the others in the Guild nearly drowning out her small voice as Iki and Uno raised both their paws- settling the Fairy Tailers with a determined expression.

"We promise to do our best, in effort to aid your members, and to help to save Miss Moon." They promised together, looking absolute. A few of the other members smiled slightly at their determined looks, "You have our word, of the Twin Cougars Guild Masters!"

**Bam!**

The group all came to a complete stand still at the sudden noise- a flash of white streaming past them as a paper airplane streaming through the air by Magical means suddenly rammed into the back of Laxus' head, sticking in his hair. They stared with wide, whited out eyes- sweatdropping heavily as the Lightning Dragon Slayer's shoulders hunched slightly and a vein ticked on his forehead, lightning cracklings about his person slightly and immediately training the paper airplane into a pile of ash. They leaned back, sweatdropping heavily.

"Wha-?!"

"Where the hell did that come from?!"

"Tch..." Laxus hissed, looking considerably annoyed. "... I heard you.. The first damned time, woman...!" He snapped lowly, to seemingly no one in particular. Wendy was smiling nervously, a bead of sweat dripping down her face and looking flustered at what happened.

Laxus' eyes moved to rest on the both of Iki and Uno, steady and glinting slightly. They looked up to him in slight confusion, the same as the rest if the Guild- who weren't sure what had happened, or where that Paper Airplane had even come from- let alone who Laxus seemed to be talking to.

"You two," he grumbled lowly, "She wants to talk to you, before you go anywhere." He said, his head tilting toward the back of the Guild.

"She...?"

Iki and Uni shared small glances between them, eyes glinting as a sudden look was shared between them- and they slowly nodded to Laxus.

"Lead the way." They invited softly,

Laxus started off, arms still over his chest and looking annoyed as Iki and Uno followed closely- Wendy and Carla falling into step behind them. The rest of the Guild blinked, looking confused as they headed away.

"Huh...?"

"I guess... I'll just... Draw up the map then...?" Levy stammered,

"And I'll... Try to get a hold of Master..." Warren mumbled,

"Wait, what are you talking about?!" Macao called quickly, looking unhappy they had been left out.

Wendy turned to them as Laxus continued to walk away, and smiled nervously.

"Frea was telling us she wanted to talk with Uno and Iki." Wendy explained, "I guess she thought Laxus-San didn't hear her the first time..."

They all blinked, looking shocked as the small group disappeared down the hallway to the Infirmary.

"Wait... She's awake...?!"

* * *

 

"Tch... You didn't need to throw that damned thing at my head." Laxus snapped lowly, stopping inside the door to the Infirmary as his eyes landed on Frea- who was sitting up and hunched over slightly, holding lightly on the arm of her injured shoulder- eyes glinting in unmistakable pain, and annoyance.

She glowered at him a little, a vein ticked on her forehead as she simply stared at him a moment.

She had been paying attention to what she could of the conversation happening inside the Hall- at least, what she could manage through the nearly unbearable pain that had sprouted as Porlyusica worked away- her back and body felt as if it was on fire.

She had nearly immediately become aware that there was something that neither these 'Uno' and 'Iki' characters were saying- something about the nervousness she could feel sparking off the pair that made her wonder... What was it they didn't seem to say out loud to the Guild?

And more over, she had the feeling there was a little more to their interest in wanting to help the Guild save Moon than what they had told of 'duty' and obligation to their fellow Exceed.

So, she had called out not long after Porlyusica had left- knowing full well that Laxus would hear her with his Dragon Slayer ears. And immediately she had become aware that he had been ignoring her- since there had been a lack of an answer. With her patience already running thin, she had sent that enchanted piece of paper- folded it into an airplane- and sent it straight for him. A way to grab his attention more than her voice seemed to be.

"If you hadn't ignored me, I wouldn't have sent it at you." She muttered lowly, silver eyes glinting. She huffed a little, breaking off into a wince as she scrunched her eyes closed to try and stifle it- body tensing in pain.

Her entire torso up to her neck was wrapped up in bandages, and nearly half-way down her arms. She had replaced her shirt, and her legs remained covered by the bed-sheet as she crossed them, not really able to sit up straight as she felt the new stitches across her back pull uncomfortably with it- nor did she really have the energy to, with as exhausted as she was, and the amount of pain she was in- she was having a hard time moving at all.

Wendy, Carla, Uno, and Iki all flinched slightly at the sudden show of pain- the eyes of the two Twin Cougars Members glinting in shock and worry at seeing the state that she was in. Laxus stiffened a little, eyes narrowing and lips pulling into a frown.

"Miss Frea..." Iki and Uno mumbled under their breath, sweatdropping.

"Tch... Whatever." He grumbled, deciding it best not to argue with her- at least for right now.

"Frea... You should be laying down.." Wendy said softly, moving inside the room and toward the bed. Frea's eyes opened a little, glancing toward Wendy as she shook her head slightly, letting out a small, exhausted sigh.

"... Mm... Nah, its fine..." She mumbled, "... I'll be ok for awhile, don't worry about it Wendy."

"Still stubborn as ever I see..." Carla sighed, Laxus silently agreed- though he knew her stubbornness had yet to really flare just yet.

"What the hell did you wanna see these two for anyway?" He grumbled, leaning against the wall just beside the now closed Infirmary door. Wendy took a seat at the end of the bed, sitting on the edge near to Frea and eyes flicking between the Energy Dragon Slayer frequently- Carla remained at the foot of the bed, paws on her hips.

Iki and Uno exchanged glances between them, as Frea's silver eyes switched from him- toward the pair silently.

"I think its more along the lines... Of what didn't they mention to the rest of the Guild?" She murmured, the both if them sweatdropping a little, eyes growing wide at her words. Wendy and Carla blinked in surprise, while Laxus narrowed his eyes. He was faintly shocked Frea managed to pick up on the same thing he did- while being so far away from the two Exceeds when they had been talking.

Like Frea; he had gotten the feeling that Iki and Uno were not telling the full story on why they wanted to help- and the nervous, nearly defeated look that the both of them shared was a clear indicator to that being right.

"What do you mean?" Wendy asked softly,

"... The things we've heard... About how observant and perceptive you are, are clearly very true..." Iki mumbled, eyes narrowed.

"... Its impressive you picked up on it so fast... I was betting you wouldn't figure it out until much later." Uno told her, paws crossing over her chest- the bell on her collar tinkling.

"Well... Honor and duty and responsibility to your own species is all well and good." Frea replied softly, "But it'd take a bit more than just that to be willing to risk your lives for someone you don't know, so it must mean there was something you didn't mention to the rest of the Guild."

"Is this true?" Carla questioned immediately, earning small sighs from the pair.

"Well, yes..." Uno murmured.

"What?" Wendy stammered, "Why wouldn't you tell us?"

"It isn't anything bad, or at least- its not a reason that's gonna threaten your Guild. That's a promise." Iki replied. "Its... Its just that, we didn't think you'd all get it..."

"Get what?" Laxus grumbled,

"Look- as you guys know, there were 100 Eggs sent to EarthLand from Extalia. 100 Eggs spread out around the continent, 100 Exceed's with no ties to family or anyone else they may have belonged to in Extalia." Uno explained, earning a sweatdrop from Carla. "Iki and I- we were found and raised by a man living in the far north- who had found our eggs up high in a tree upon a mountainside. He kept us safe and fed and helped us to learn Magic, we never had any doubt that we were siblings- the resemblance alone is a good indicator, and the fact we were found in the same spot made us believe."

"... That man that raised us, he told us that when he had found our eggs up in that tree- and tried to get to them- there hadn't been just two eggs, there had been three." Iki took over, earning blinks from everyone else. "But by the time he'd climbed the tree, one of the three eggs had fallen out and rolled down the mountain- he couldn't ever find it again."

Frea's eyes narrowed slightly, Wendy and Carla blinked in slight surprise.

"... It doesn't really make much sense, nor does it seem too possible... But, we think that Miss Moon... May be our sister." Iki told them softly, earning shocked looks from everyone else at the words.

"We know it isn't much to go on, but we've been thinking about it quite awhile." Uno cut in, suddenly lifting a paw and pointing at the white marking on her forehead, Iki doing the same thing as a firm gaze passed over their faces.

"She has one of these right?" They said together, "A white marking? And another on the end of her tail?" Frea blinked once, while Wendy and Carla sweatdropped a little.

"We just... Have a feeling, and you were right- we aren't just here for the reasons we gave... We're here, and we want to help because we think... We think Miss Moon may be our sister, we wanna help save and protect her, because Family means a lot to us." Uno told them softly,

"And even if she isn't really, that doesn't change how we feel about trying to help her. We may never know if she's truly related to us- but that burning in our hearts, the want to protect her- that isn't going to go away. Even if she isn't technically Family... We still think she is, and will do the same to help her no matter what." Iki explained, fists clenching slightly.

"... The burning fire in our hearts, to protect out sister, to save our Family. That's why we're here, and that's why we won't back away from wanting to fight Death Bolt." They said together,

"... We just... Didn't know if you would all understand this feeling. The want to protect a sibling." Uno added in, sweatdropping slightly as Frea simply looked at them- eyes calm.

"... We may not have any true relation to the people in the Guild, but we still consider them Family." Carla told them softly, "We do understand that feeling, in our hearts I'd bet it burns just as strongly as it does for you." Both Exceeds blinked in slight shock at the words,

"Everyone in Fairy Tail is Family." Wendy smiled slightly, "And we'd do anything to protect anyone in the Guild." They gazed at them silently, looking a little caught off guard. Frea's eyes remains glued to the two Exceeds a moment longer, before she glanced away, letting out a silent sigh as her eyes fell closed.

"... I understand why you thought we wouldn't get it." The Energy Dragon Slayer said softly, catching their eyes but hers were still closed. "... The people here, we've all grown to know one another really well... We've had time to grow close and love eachother, while you may love Moon... You've never had the chance to meet her, to know her. The thing that drives you is what only true siblings ever really feel, something deep down inside of you that just knows- a burning passion that makes you want to protect your siblings against anything and everything. Undying love... Even if you haven't been allowed time to know a sister or a brother. Even if you've never met them, or had the time to start knowing them... You just do, deep down inside. The true and innate power of siblings, its a powerful thing- and you can't help but feel that way." Iki and Uno's eyes grew wide at the soft words, eyes shinning slightly. Wendy and Carla blinked in slight shock,

Frea's eyes opened slightly, resting on the floor a moment, expression neutral.

"Its that feeling you two have... The sort of undying devotion and deep love only siblings ever really feel at such a level, the feeling only siblings can get, even when they do not know one another." Frea said softly, Iki and Uno stared- nearly captivated by the words, their hearts beating a little faster at the severity of them- and at the true and utter honesty they could hear in Frea's voice.

Wendy and Carla exchanged small glances, quite unsure why Frea seemed so... _Sure_ about it, why she seemed to know so much about such a feeling. It was almost as if...

"You... You...?" Uno stammered,

"... You really, understand that...?" Iki breathed, "Just... By listening to us...?"

"But how could you...?"

Frea's eyes moved up toward them, catching everyone off guard by the sudden flash of pain and true sadness that glinted in her eyes. She smiled, just faintly, looking a little pained at whatever it was that seemed to float through her mind just then.

"Yes, I understand that feeling- a lot better than you can imagine." She replied softly, "Not only can I feel it from the both of you... I've felt it before myself." She smiled a little more, while everyone's eyes widened in slight astonishment. Laxus' eyes narrowed, eyes glinting in question at the sudden way in which her demeanor seemed to have changed, she was much quieter now... And the emotions swirling in her eyes for a small moment, it looked almost to him as if... She seemed to be remembering something. As if her thoughts had suddenly swirled to some long lost and tucked away corner of her memory that was riddled with sadness, sadness that shone in her eyes clearly- but small flashes of happiness too... But she didn't give them time to ask how-?

"And because I know that feeling first hand, I know how much power and strength and dedication can come with it." She smirked slightly, Iki and Uno straightened up a little, looking a little shocked.

"Which is why I'm glad you're here to help. And I'm gonna take you with me to go save Moon." She announced, rather matter of factly. The sureness in her voice caught them all off guard, as Wendy and Carla stiffened in shock and Iki and Uno blinked rapidly in confusion. Laxus' eyes fell closed as he grumbled under his breath a little, not looking thrilled with the affirmation.

"But... Miss Frea...?" Iki started,

"Aren't you supposed to be here, resting..?" Uno finished, both of them sweatdropping.

"Frea!" Wendy said quickly before the Energy Dragon Slayer could reply. "You can't be leaving the Guild! You're too hurt, Granny said if you moved around too much you might reopen your wounds again!"

"You simply cannot! It would be utterly foolish! Or did you forget that Master confined you to the Guild?" Carla said sternly, though in both her and Wendy's was could be seen the apprehension. They knew they had little chance of convincing Frea so easily.

"... I honestly don't care what either Master or Porlyusica say right now." Frea replied lowly, "I'm not about to sit here and twiddle my thumbs for everyone to bring Moon back, I can't wait here." She growled,

"Like I'm letting you go running off with these two." Laxus said lowly, suddenly speaking up as his eyes rest on Frea- expression hard and unflinching. Frea's eyes snapped toward him, her hands resting on her knees as her silver gaze flickered in anger,

"And you're gonna stop me, Lightning boy?" She growled lowly, her voice dripping in the challenge. He simply stared back at her, "Is that the only reason you're here anyway? Because the Old Man ordered you to _babysit_ me?" She frowned, fangs flashing a little in a small snarl. "Good luck with that- their ain't no way in hell I'm sitting on my hands here. I'm going to lay into Death Bolt, whether or not anyone likes it."

"But Frea!" Wendy argued, "You're seriously wounded, you can't be running around- and besides, I bet you can hardly even move! Am I wrong?" Wendy said firmly, eyes suddenly turning hard. Frea glanced her way, looking no less resolute on her decision, though she did sweatdrop a little. "I can see how much effort sitting up is for you, and the amount of pain you're in too. You're in no condition to even be thinking about running off!" the Little Dragon Slayers voice and expression were suprisoingly harsh for someone usually so gentle and calm. For a moment it cuaght them all off gaurd, especially so considering it was Frea that Wendy was talking to in such a way, where she usually wouldn't.

Wendy's hand moved to gesture toward the black crescent moon mark on Frea's arm, eyes glinting in determination and concern.

"You don't even have any Magic," Wendy pointed out.

"Wendy's right, how do you expect to fight anyone without Magic?" Carla questioned seriously, Frea's eyes narrowed as she growled under her breath.

"I'll have you know, I'm very capable of kicking people's asses even without any Magic!" She snapped back, anger bubbling quickly.

"That still doesn't mean we're just gonna let you go running off!" Wendy replied, eyes wide but looking resolute. Frea frowned, looking very unhappy, her fingers digging into her knees slightly as a dark glint came into her eye. It was very clear she wasn't going to take no for an answer, despite the sense they were making, despite her own injuries and the detriment it would be to her own health.

"You really can't just tell me that and expect it to keep me here!" Frea growled lowly, "There is no way in hell I'm staying still... Not when Moon's still out there, and the rest of the Guild are fighting!" It wasn't in her nature to sit still, over anything really and especially not over this. Frea's jaw clenched, feeling her pain beginning to flare again now that she was arguing, but she sweatdropped a little.

There was something wrong, something wrong about the air- it had been getting thicker since she woke up, and it wasn't from her wounds. She had felt this before, this feeling- a sense of urgency, the same sort of sense she had felt just before she had passed out. It was the feeling that there was something very wrong, and it only got stronger the longer she sat there... It put her on edge. It was a dangerous feeling, like something dark and foreboding was... Laying in wait.

More than ever she felt the danger to Moon- and now the members of the Guild who had gone to retrieve her- had grown significantly worse, and she couldn't shake the feeling. All it did was make her agitated, she wanted to get moving now- and her patience was running thin.

"You're not running off by yourself." Laxus told her lowly, she bared her fangs at him- eyes glinting in potent rage. The look on his face made it clear he wasn't about to let her go, and it only pissed her off. She hated that he had been kept at the Guild to keep an eye on her, and she hated that he was refusing to let her go- because with that insane knack he had for pissing her off, her fury just grew more and more at him telling her she wouldn't be going anywhere.

Wendy and Carla sweatdropped, knowing full well that this was about to get violent, they tensed- Uno and Iki glanced quickly between the ever more furious Energy Dragon Slayer as she glared defiantly at Laxus, who stood facing her with a glare of his own, arms crossed over his chest and seemingly looming. It was almost as if you could feel the tension prickling the air between them.

Frea shifted, suddenly standing up from the bed, tilted slightly at an angle as pain flashed across her back and her body- but she refused to wince at it, standing with her fists clenched, body wrapped in the bandages about her torso, arms, shoulder- and a few on her legs, easily seen with the shorts she had on. Several bruises and cuts littered the rest of her bare skin, where there was any, her wrists still darkened and bruised from the chains- her hair falling about her shoulders and face- overshadowing her eyes a little and making them seem to glow. Despite the pain she was in, she didn't show it outwardly- other than the glow of it in her eyes as she glared at him, trembling slightly in rage.

"... Frea..!" Wendy warned as she got up, getting to her own feet.

"You fool...!" Carla growled, floating up next to Wendy's shoulder. Iki and Uno sweatdropped, backing up a little to stand to the side of the line that Laxus' and Frea's gazes made.

"They aren't... Gonna fight... Right...?" Iki mumbled,

"Dunno..." Uno replied softly,

"Try and keep me here all you like, Laxus." Frea growled lowly, eyes burning. "I don't need Magic to beat your ass to a pulp, I'm leaving. There ain't no way in hell you're stopping me." She bared her fangs at him, her anger nearly enough to be potent- even without her Magic, it nearly felt like power began to radiate from her. Her tone dropped dangerously low, almost to the point where her tone seemed... Murderous.

Laxus' head tilted down a little, a shadow over passing his eyes and keeping them from view. "I told you, you're not leaving by yourself. The Old Man told me to do whatever I had to to make sure you stayed safe. Running off on your own sure as hell isn't gonna do that."

"Tch, then you better be ready to stop me!" She snapped coldly, "Making sure I'm there to do wherever it takes to get Moon back means more to me than whatever you say or do, I'm not backing down!"

"... Tch..." Laxus growled,

Everyone in the room stiffened as Laxus suddenly swept forward, crossing the room toward her as his arms uncrossed and his palm opened, filling with a crackling and glowing orb of lightning. Iki and Uno's eyes grew wide, jumping back a little.

"Laxus-San, please don't hurt her...!" Wendy said suddenly, worried that the fight would only end up doing worse things than it needed to. Laxus seemed to ignore it, and just continued to step toward Frea with the orb of Lightning in hand, eyes still shadowed.

Frea tensed, bringing a fist backward, flinching a little as the movement caused pain to flare in her back and shoulder- sweatdropping slightly she braced herself, biting down on her tongue and instinctively grabbing her injured shoulder lightly, eyes scrunching closed a moment without her meaning to. She realized what she was doing nearly immediately, and her eyes snapped open- expecting to see Laxus making his move to keep her still and in the Guild.

"I said you're not running off alone." He grumbled, voice surprisingly calm and low... Exasperated almost.

Frea's eyes widened slightly, seeing he had come to a stop in front of her, expression neutral and eyes calm- as he held his palm out toward her, with the orb of Lightning flickering in it. She stared, her mind immediately unsure as to why all his anger toward her had suddenly seemed to disappear entirely, in fact... She got the feeling he didn't plan to come after her at all... _Wha..?_

Everyone else blinked in utter confusion, not sure what was going on. Frea sweatdropped a little, eyes fixed to him and anger lost to her confusion.

"The Old Man told me to what I needed in order to keep your dumb-ass safe." He went on evenly, "So I'm not letting you run off by yourself..." He sighed slightly, gaze unflinching.

"Which is why I'm going with you." He said calmly, she stiffened in complete shock- eyes growing a little wider and expression falling blank, eyes glinting. Everyone else reeled back a little, eyes wider than ever.

"Huh?!"

"I'm gonna let you go to Death Bolt, since I know you're gonna be stubborn about it. But I'm coming with you, and making sure you stay out of trouble." He told her, his gaze never wavering as hers didn't either. "But you're gonna need some thing to keep you going, you're half-dead though you don't care- I don't wanna have to drag you around once we're there. So eat it." He said, gesturing toward the Lightning in his hand.

Frea's eyes grew wider, looking absolutely stunned at what he said- because in a million years, she would never have guessed for that to be his answer to the situation. She had expected to have to actually fight the idiot... He wouldn't ever agree to let her do what she wanted, and yet... He freaking just agreed...!

Her eyes narrowed slightly, sweatdropping a little in uncertainty- her eyes never leaving his as she tried her best to understand what he was playing at. He couldn't be just agreeing to let her go to Death Bolt, could he? And to even go so far as to give her some of his Magic to eat... Was he trying to get her to drop her guard long enough for him to knock her out again?

She stayed still a moment, instead focusing on what emotions she could see in his eyes... And found she couldn't place any of them, at all. Nor could she focus enough in her utter shock and confusion to place the ones that may be dancing off of him.

The one thing she was immediately sure of, was the honesty she could hear in his voice. The surety, the resolution... He couldn't be serious? ... Was he..?

"You can't... You can't be serious..?!" Carla gasped,

"Laxus-San, are you really gonna take her to Death Bolt?" Wendy asked, "I thought Master wanted her to stay...?!"

"... What's the catch?" Frea mumbled after awhile, it being the only response she could manage for a long while. She was still trying to understand... What prompted this sudden change in the Lightning Dragon Slayer. He hardly blinked at it, still looking so calm and... Stoic she supposed.

"You're not allowed to go fighting anyone." He said, a firmness creeping into his voice. "The Old Man wants you safe, and fighting anyone isn't gonna keep you safe. Besides, you're in no condition to be going head to head with anyone." Her eyes widened again at the sudden flash in his eyes, was that... _Was that worry I just saw...?_

_N-no way!_

"... And what? You think anyone in Death Bolt who sees me is just _not_ gonna try and attack me?" She mumbled lowly,

"They won't touch you." He said simply, she nearly reeled.

She felt her heart jump a little at the simple phrase, her mind racing as she tried her best to understand the sudden turn in events. This was no what she had expected, and certainly not from Laxus. The fact that he was willing to let her to was crazy, the idea that he would only let her go if he came with her was insane... And now he was pretty much saying he wasn't going to let anyone come near enough to fight with her.

Is it because of him trying to keep good on the promise he made to Master to keep an eye on her? If that was the case, he wouldn't be letting her go at all... So what was it then?

 _Is this... Actual concern? Or is it sympathy? That can't be right... The Lightning Idiot doesn't care that much about me..._ But, it seemed a little like... Well, protectiveness, when he said he wouldn't let anyone touch her. There had been a matter of fact way he said it- and yet there had been a small edge to his voice, barely noticeable... That's not right, it can't be...

_... So why is he telling me this? Offering me this?_

Her thoughts and questions swirled as she tried her best to come up with an answer for what he was doing, and every time she tried- she couldn't explain it. She didn't get this at all, didn't understand what he was doing at all... And deep down she hated that.

But even deeper down, she felt something start rising inside of her... _Appreciation._

Her gaze softened a little, body relaxing slightly as she cocked a hip, a bead of sweat dripping down her face.

_... Why is he being so... Nice to me...? Willing to help me...?_

He simply held her questioning gaze steadily, nothing about him not his expression giving any clue as to what he was feeling at all. He was a complete damned mystery... How did he do that?

_... What the hell is going through that head of yours, Laxus?_

Her eyes glinted slightly, reflecting the golden glow of his a magic still held out toward her. For a few moments time seemed to slow as their gazes held steady, and on his face she saw pure determination. He was _serious_ about what he was offering, and very willing to help her with what she wanted. And he was very serious about keeping her out of harms way too, though he didn't say so out loud. It was just... A feeling she got, when they locked eyes. She felt her heart flutter slightly at a flurry of mixed emotions, her cheeks tinting slightly pink a moment; before she slowly nodded.

"... Yeah, sure. I can go along with that." She murmured, he nodded a little. He handed the Lightning over, as she held it in her hands a moment- them glowing slightly silver a moment despite the Limiter Seal still on her arm. Frea's eyes dropped away from Laxus, to the Magic she held in her hands, still looking a little uneasy, and even slightly flustered.

_... Is it possible...?_

"You two, can you fly with us both?" Laxus said suddenly, addressing both Iki and Uno- who jumped slightly at the unexpected question.

"Huh? Well... Yes...?" Uno replied,

"Yeah... But, uh..?" Iki mumbled,

"We're not just going to let you all leave!" Carla snapped, a little irritated that they're words had been ignored on not being willing to let Frea leave the Guild Hall.

"Laxus-San, please- you must realize this isn't a good idea." Wendy said, eyes shinning. "Frea really shouldn't leave the Guild..! She's hurt already, traveling will do her no good, moving could reopen wounds." Laxus glanced down toward her, expression neutral.

"Too late to go back on it now." He said evenly, earning a worried look from Wendy.

"But..."

"If you're that worried about it, just come too." He said simply, both Wendy and Carla looked shocked. "You can keep an eye on her dumbass, I'm serious about not letting her fight anyone." He said firmly, almost reassuringly. "But if you're gonna get so worked up, just come with so you can make sure she doesn't overwork herself."

"Well..." Wendy mumbled, looking unsure but she seemed to see she wasn't going to get him to change his mind. She slowly nodded, knowing she'd just have to settle for coming with and sticking close to Frea- since she immediately realized she would have no luck keeping her at the Guild. "... Ok. I'll make sure she doesn't get hurt, and I'll give whatever aid I can- for anyone who needs it."

"... This is a foolish idea." Carla muttered, sighing slightly. "... But, I do suppose... We don't have any other choice." She relented, earning a nod from Laxus. His eyes moved to Iki and Uno,

"So, you alright to fly us there?" He asked again, they exchanged quick glances between them. They were still rather unsure about what had just happened, but after a moment they nodded firmly.

"Yeah. You got it." They replied,

"Good... We'll have to go out the window. The Guild won't be letting us go easy... And I don't wanna have to waste time fighting them." Laxus grumbled,

"Master is not going to be happy..." Wendy mumbled, looking a little worried.

Frea slowly looked up from the Lightning still cradled in her hands, the feel of the warmth and the power dancing against her skin slightly. Her eyes trailed up to look over the small group as Laxus addressed them, before they landed on Laxus himself, sweatdropping and eyes glinting a little,

_Is it even a possibility...?_

Her eyes narrowed a little,

_... That doing this... Letting me go, coming with me.. Giving me some of his Magic..._

Her hold around the Lightning tightened a little, eyes glinting a little.

. _.. Is this just something that means to show me.. Laxus cares, in his own way...?_

Her heart jumped a little at the thought, a flurry of flustered emotions dancing inside of her a moment, before she smirked, just slightly, almost softly.

_I really don't get that idiot... But... I think I kinda do, or at least... I'm starting to anyway._

His eyes moved over to catch her gaze, as he blinked. "What's with the stupid grin? Ya gonna eat it already, so we can get going?" He muttered, a slightly annoyed tone making its way into his voice as a bit of the Laxus she was so used to surfaced again.

She smirked, "Oh shut it, Lightning-for-Brains." She shot back, earning an unamused look from him- as she tipped her head back, and chomped down on the orb of lightning whole. She sighed slightly at the unbearably pleasant taste and the warmth and strength that spread through her as it traveled down her throat, immediately feeling her pain lessen, and her exhaustion wear off a little.

She's remember this, for a long time.. What he was doing. She wondered if he realized she wouldn't be forgetting it, that she'd hold on to it...

"Alright, lets go." She smirked,

_... Hmm... I guess I can appreciate some of the things that bull-headed, arrogant, fool-hardy bastard does. Sometimes he really isn't all that bad..._

_Who'd have guessed?_

* * *

 

"Oh, its been a long time- hasn't it, boy?"

Chase's head snapped around at the sudden voice, fists clenched in immediate anger and eyes flashing furiously. He recognized this Energy Signature with little issue- and feeling it made his blood boil fiery hot under his skin.

"Tomaru!" He snapped lowly, blue gaze resting on the man as he balanced atop and overhanging beam.

In their running through the tunnels of Death Bolt, and tearing their way through the waves of Black Wizards trying to halt and kill them, the teams following Chase and Natsu had erupted on opposite ends of a large atrium- to which they had met nearly 300 or so Mages looking to take them on, and now Fairy Tail and Death Bolt clashed furiously against one another.

Where it was the group following Gajeel was, they hadn't a clue. But guessing from the rumblings somewhere below their feet, they guessed that they were engaged in a battle just as furious as the one they are in now.

Chase growled under his breath, wincing slightly at a wave of pain passing over his body, and he sweatdropped a little. Fairy Tail had been making considerable progress against Death Bolt, but they had her fighting for a long time now- and it was true these Mages were dangerous, and not to be trifled with lightly. Though they were seemingly winning, they were still getting hurt, several times over and it was beginning to wear on them the longer they continued to fight- this battle was not easy, and it sure as hell wasn't getting any easier. Many of the Fairy Tailers were already wounded, not severely no- but enough, and they only continued to take hits the longer they were there.

They had yet to face Tomaru, or even this 'Darkness' that Jynx had warned them about- and many of them were beginning to worry how long they could last if this war lasted much longer, they were growing exhausted, and their Magic wouldn't last forever...

"Tomaru?" Natsu growled, hearing the name as he threw a Mage away with a solid punch to the face, and came to an immediate halt. His onyx gaze picked out Chase, before finding Tomaru himself, fists clenched and fire erupting around him as he moved over. "So that's him, huh?"

"That's the bastard who started all this?" Gray growled, also immediately catching on to the name in the midsts of the fighting.

"Don't look like much to me." Solana growled lowly, Tomaru smiled, eyes glinting at the furious flares that were suddenly set on him.

 _"What?!"_ Gajeel snapped across the Telepathic Link. _"Why do you idiots get to lay into him?!"_

"If you were here, Iron-Head, you'd be able to get a piece out of him." Natsu replied lowly, knuckles cracking.

_"That's bull-shit! You're gonna get all the fun!"_

_"This really isn't something to be arguing over."_ Erza said firmly, _"And you four- don't underestimate the man, he did defeat Frea. He's a force to be reckoned with."_

Tomaru smirked, head tilting slightly as he held an arm out and a sword materialized in his hand.

"You should listen to Titania." He said, catching them off guard. "And, if its any consolation- Black Steel." They sweatdropped, sudden hearing the words go through their heads- Gajeel stiffened. "You'll be plenty busy at the hands of one of my best Mages- who did help me steal our precious kitty back."

_"Shut it you damned bastard!"_

The fact that Tomaru could listen in on their Telepathic Link shocked them- but it wasn't entirely unexpected, seeing as how he had used Telepathy back on Tenrou.

Tomaru grinned evilly, "So- you two, Salamander and the Ice-Mage... I hear you were part of the Rescue Mission that ended in my Partner's demise." He muttered, Gray and Natsu blinked in slight shock and question, while Chase just growled. "Same thing with you, Blondie." Tomaru murmured, his eyes trailing toward Lucy- who stiffened when he addressed her.

"... Partner...?" Juvia mumbled softly, eyes glinting from where she stood close to Gray.

"Titania as well." Tomaru growled. "Pity you aren't here to pay for your interference back then... I trust the Flash of Death will have to suffice for you." Erza stiffened, eyes narrowing at the threat.

"What Partner?!" Natsu snapped,

"Yeah, what the hell are you talking about?!" Gray hissed,

Tomaru crouched, elbows resting on his knees as he glanced down at them, eyes filled with sudden hate and anger.

"I'm surprised, I realize you never properly met one another... But to not have heard about it?" Tomaru muttered, before he smirked darkly. "... Well, perhaps I'm not so surprised it was never mentioned... I expect the Shade Demon never liked to talk about it, the things that my dear Partner must have done to her in her time..." He grinned, Natsu, Lucy and Gray stiffened a little.

"... I realize it was haunting, terrifying... Though the Shade Demon would never have let any of you see that, hmm?"

"Shut your damn mouth, Tomaru!" Chase shouted, his anger rising by the moment.

"... His old Partner...?" Lucy mumbled,

"... It wasn't... Her, was it..?" Gray muttered lowly,

"Kasumi...?" Natsu growled, eyes burning.

"Ah. And there you have it..." Tomaru growled, we glinting darkly. "I've repaid the Shade Demon for what she did to her, and now I have you to play with, eh?"

They all stiffened as Tomaru suddenly disappeared from where had as been crouched on the rafter, Chase's eyes grew wide on disbelief.

Tomaru is a hell of a lot faster than he used to be..!

"Stone Sword: Flurry Bombs!"

They felt the small concentrated blasts begin to erupt all around them before they had any time to react- but before the blasts could make contact with the Fairy Tailers standing against Tomaru- an arc of white flashed about them, surrounded in darker blue.

"Full-moon: Ward!"

A massive Wall of white erupted about them, falling into the ground with a crash as Dark blue swirled above them- fending off the explosions and cracking a little where it was hit. The wall was nearly the size of the Guild Hall itself, and their eyes snapped around to see who had placed it in a moments time- seemingly anticipating Tomaru's attack to where she had been the fastest to react.

Natsu, Gray, Cana, Bixlow, Freed and Juvia stared in shock- they hadn't ever really seen Aisha use her Magic before, and seeing it now.. They could tell she was very powerful. Gildarts and Master, who continued to blow away Mages on the other end of the hall simply glanced back, eyes narrowed.

"Quite the Mage, isn't she...?" Gildarts murmured to the Old Man.

"Indeed..."

Solana frowned slightly at the cracks appearing across her sister's shield, and seeing the effort it took out of her to cast it- because being down here in these tunnels, it was hard on the both of them.

For two people who drew their power from the two Celestial Powers in the sky- being underground and detached from it with no sense to whether it was day of night was very hard on them. They weren't able to draw power from their Cosmic Powers, and were feeling rather drained and groggy for it. It was clear that erecting that Warding Spell had taken a lot of effort to do, and she growled a little.

_If only we could see the damned sky... I hate being underground..._

"Thanks, Aisha!" Natsu grinned, just as Aisha allowed her Spell to fade, breathing a little harshly.

"We owe you one." Gray smirked,

"Juvia agrees." Juvia murmured, with a nod to her.

"Shut it and just kick his ass already!" She snapped back lowly, though not very angrily.

"You ok?" Chase asked immediately, seeing the weariness on her face and the way her breathing had grown hard- he felt her Magic wasn't very strong anymore either. It had been getting worse the farther they traveled in, which he knew was because they were underground- Aisha's power was waning and it was getting harder for her to fight, though she didn't seem to care.

"Yeah." She muttered, taking in a breath.

"Impressive!" Their eyes snapped toward Tomaru, who stood before them suddenly, sword resting on his shoulder. "I think I have heard of you!" He said, his eyes landing on Aisha- who frowned, glaring slightly. "Quite a bit of things actually, a great and powerful Wizard renowned in a small country near to Fiore... Adgnei, was it?" Aisha growled under her breath, Chase blinked in slight shock- his eyes snapping toward her.

"Mistress of the Moon?" Tomaru smiled, Aisha's eyes flashed angrily.

"Screw you." She snapped lowly.

"Enough talking, we're here to kick your ass- not have a conversation!" Solana's voice suddenly rose up, suddenly jumping through the air toward Tomaru, who glanced up at her in slight surprise.

"Sun Dragon Wing Slash!"

She flipped in air, orange and yellow flaring about her and crashing down on Tomaru's head- the air shaking from the force, she landed on her feet a bit away from where he had been- frowning profusely to see he had managed to move.

"Oh! What a treat!" He laughed, "Not only the Mistress of the Moon- but the Sun-eater as well! The fiery Dragon that spent years destroying Dark Guilds all on her own!" Solana's green eyes glinted in slight fury,

"Seems like they both made a name for themselves, huh?" Gray smirked,

"Just goes to show how awesome they are!" Natsu smiled, "But we better not get left in the dust!"

"Right." Gray smiled, Chase's eyes narrowed, arms raising as he fixed his gaze on Tomaru, Solana's fists clenched, all of them now circling the man slightly. To air simply grinned at them and their angry expressions. Freed and Bixlow backed off with Cana, driving back the other Mages and giving the group behind them room to deal with Tomaru alone.

"Get ready to get your ass beat!"

"Fire Dragon's Roar!"

"Ice Make: Arrows!"

"Water Slicer!"

"Sun Dragon's Roar!"

Chase and Aisha stepped uptogther, their Magic blazing about them as their hand swung forward at once, Magic blazing.

"Energy Beam!"

"Moonlight Beams!"

All the Magics swung out toward Tomaru in a giant wave, several of them converging and spinning into a tornado of several colors. The atrium shook violently with the force of the spells, the ground thrown up and the spot in which Tomaru had been standing suddenly a giant crater-

Chase's eyes snapped upward, immediately feeling Tomaru's Energy Signature above them- eyes narrowing once he realized they would need to be faster, Tomaru was nearly too fast for them.

"Ricochet Shield!" He snapped lowly, the pale blue wall erecting in front of him and Aisha as Tomaru appeared before them and swung his sword out- the edge catching the wall- as all force he put into the attack suddenly bounced back at him, sending him reeling backwards in slight surprise.

"Sun Dragon Iron Fist!" Solana growled, her fists swinging around with insane speed as she appeared behind the man, he whipped about- his sword raising as her fist made contact with it- and again he was sent skidding backward in a sudden burst of orange and yellow Magic, his eyes glittered when he saw small hairline cracks appear across the Weapon's surface. Solana's green gaze glittered, smirking toothily once she saw the weapon fracture a little.

"Stone Sword: Explosion!" He snapped, the blade enveloped in grey Magic as it detonated around him and the Sun Dragon Slayer- who was thrown away, flipping in mid air as she landed in a crouch, sliding back a little and growling as she held her arm- it breaking away into bits of wispy golden haze.

"Solana!" Loke and Lucy shouted,

"I'm fine." She muttered,

"Moonlight Rays- Strike Storm!" Aisha snapped, dozens of streams of white and dark blue hurtling toward Tomaru in an instant, he jumped back, avoiding the first ones as they destroyed the ground- and e swung out with his sword, slicing through a few- causing them to explode on contact, and he hissed as he hit the ground from the back lash.

"Little brats." Tomaru grumbled, getting to his feet immediately. "Think it's gonna be that easy? I'm not Guild Master for nothing." Tomaru growled, raising his sword before him slowly as it's grey Magic began to blaze wildly.

"Stone Sword: Cyclone."

Everyone around them let out shouts of pain as razor sharp wind rammed into them, sending many of them flying across the room, their skin cutting and clothes tearing as they hit the ground hard and slid back, no chance of blocking the attack or moving out of the way. Many of them struggled to their feet, eyes snapping up to seek out Tomaru- only to find he wasn't anywhere close, and they couldn't see him at all.

"Wha-?!" Several of them started, before Gray stiffened- Tomaru appearing in front of him in a blur, leg swinging around to catch the Ice Mage across the side and send him flying.

"Gray!" Juvia shouted, her eyes wide, before Tomaru moved quickly- flashing between the lot of them, sending them all skidding to the ground with precise, intense hits, their yells of pain ringing around the hall. He moved too fast to see his movements, kicking and growing and punching and slamming them all away- this way and that in rapid succession, their clothes all. Fatter and skin becoming bruised and bloodied- bones aching and heads spinning from the sudden intense beat down- they hadn't a chance to try and block nor defend against the hits, he was going too fast.

"Damn it!" Natsu growled, on one knee and wiping away blood from the corner of his mouth.

"This guy's seriously fast..!" Gray growled,

"We can't even see him moving..!" Lucy coughed, Loke beside her, eyes glinting.

"We don't really stand a chance if we can't move as fast as he does.." Loke grumbled,

"Or if we don't slow him down somehow..." Solana grumbled, getting to her feet, green eyes scanning around as she waited for Tomaru to make his next move.

Chase helped to pull Aisha to her feet, his body aching from the swift beating Tomaru had placed on them- seeing the man now standing in the rafters above their heads, smiling wickedly.

"They're right..." Chase mumbled lowly, "Tomaru's faster than he used to be... Unless we speed up- or find a way to slow him down, even with all our Magic between us we won't stand much of a chance..."

"... Question is how, to slow him down...?" Aisha mumbled, breaking off to wince a little, holding her arm as he saw it begin to bruise darkly. He sweatdropped a little at seeing the pain flash in her eyes, and at the ragged state she was in already. Aisha had taken more than a few good hits since coming into these tunnels, and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't concerned.

Chase's eyes moved from her toward where Tomaru stood, sweatdropping a little and eyes narrowing. For a minute he wished he was nearly as good as Frea was with Spell Creation and coming up with new moves... He hadn't nearly as many moves in his arsenal as she did, and at the moment- he was at a near loss on what to do about Tomaru.

He figured if he could manage to catch him, it might keep him from moving too much... But it wouldn't keep him from being too fast for any of them to land a blow. His eyes narrowed a little more,

_I wonder... If he'd fall for the same Spell... Twice...?_

His eyes fell closed a moment, Aisha glanced his way- eyes glinting and looking a little confused at the sudden pondering look he seemed to have. She wasn't sure what as going through his head at that moment... But he seemed to be deep in thought.

"... I might have an idea." Chase told her quietly, his blue gaze resting on her calmly. "You're gonna have to keep him busy though, alright?" She blinked, eyes narrowing at him a moment.

She of course knew Chase had managed to defeat this guy at one point- though as far as she knew, he had already been wounded at the time. She wondered what was going through his head in that moment, especially being able to see that firm look on his face- it was the look someone held when they were brewing up a plan, a good one at that.

She nodded slightly, deciding it better to trust him than to question him for now. "He won't be paying any attention to you." She said lowly, and Chase nodded.

Aisha moved away quickly, as Chase jumped back a few paces, eyes glinting as he suddenly crouched, placing a hand to the floor and eyes closing.

Aisha held a hand out, fingers curling slightly behind her as her Magic flared- and the dim of the atrium suddenly lit up with dark blue and white. Tomaru's gaze flicked to her as she started moving, eyes narrowing.

"My dear Mistress of the Moon, surely you know you have no chance of hitting me?" He called down, her eyes burned in sudden anger. Everyone around them blinked in slight shock to see her moving so quickly, before they stiffened and started to- Tomaru noticed all of them getting ready. "What do you plan to do?" He asked, "Waste all your Magic, throwing it at me to no avail?"

"We're gonna kick your ass!" Natsu snapped back, fire erupting about him. Aisha moved straight in front of the spot in which Tomaru stood over their heads, her Magic blazing about her furiously- her hand reaching back a little as she stopped, her purple eyes locked to Tomaru- who frowned a little at her, easily able to feel her Magical Pressure rising suddenly.

"Moonlight-Make:" Aisha growled, catching everyone off guard by the sudden words, Gray stared- knowing precisely the sort of Moonlight Magic she using at the moment, and shocked because he hadn't been aware she could use it.

MoonLight Magic consisted on Maker Magic too?!

"Is that... Maker Magic...?!" Juvia stammered slightly, eyes wide.

Aisha's hand behind her swept forward, up toward Tomaru where he stood- her Magic streaming from each of her fingers in sudden insane speed.

"Lunar Beasts!"

Glowing dark blue and white light engulfed the areas as her Magic swirled and formed into the figures of dozens of animal-like figures, furious animalistic roars and shrieks filling the air as they launched through the air toward a very shocked Tomaru with so much speed they were nearly as fast as he was. He stiffened, faltering slightly at the sudden waves of power he could feel- eyes growing wide as the space he stood suddenly fell to large booms and howls, light engulfing everything and making the air shake.

"Holy crap!" Natsu stammered, eyes wide.

"That's Maker Magic all right..." Gray mumbled,

"That... Was really impressive..." Lucy murmured, not far from her Solana smirked slightly.

"That's my baby sister for ya!" The Sun Dragon Slayer grinned, her fists clenching as orange and yellow flared about her. "But hell if I'm letting the moon show the sun up!" Aisha glanced backward toward her sister a moment, looking a little less than thrilled her sibling had taken it as a chance to compete with her.

Tomaru broke through the cloud that had risen up, clutching on to his sword and arm bleeding from several long scores down his skin. Solana's gaze locked on to the man the moment he was visible again, just as everyone else saw him- and the Sun Dragon's Magic flared about her highly, her arms lifting and palms open toward him, yellow spiraling about her arms and bright orbs of fiery orange and yellow swirling before her hands

"Sun Dragon's Cosmic Photon Cannons!" She snapped, smiling all the while as dozens upon dozens of compact glowing orbs of incredible power suddenly launched out toward Tomaru with a successive boom- ramming into the man and the space around him, burning holes in walls and dealing through stone- exploding on impact and sending a wave of pure heat through the atrium, Solana's hair sticking on end a little and tinged or age near the ends a moment. Tomaru let out a shout of pain, not being able to dodge as he was falling through the air.

"Awesome!" Natsu grinned, rushing forward with Gray in tow.

"Splendid, Solana!" Lucy smiled, eyes gleaming, Solana gave her a small smirk in response, her Magic fading. "Solana really is one powerful key.." Lucy mumbled, smiling faintly.

"What else would you expect, from a Dragon Slayer and a Cosmic Soul?" Loke replied with his own smile, "It isn't often a Key made via a GateSentry is so powerful... Solana easily rivals the Gold Keys." Lucy nodded, fists clenching.

"Yeah." She agreed, eyes shinning. "Come on! We can't let all of them have all the fun!" Lucy grinned at him, her hand moving to flare out her whip, and he smirked.

"As you wish," he replied, the both of them rushing forward as Natsu and Gray did the same, Juvia following closely.

Tomaru landed back on the ground, now scorched and burned to add to the scores across his arm from what Aisha's Magic had done to him. He frowned profusely, his gaze snapping toward the incoming Wizards immediately. He swung his sword out, waves of blazing grey streaming brought the air toward them.

"Ice-Make: Wall!" Gray snapped, hand slamming into his fist as a wall of ice appeared in front of them, meeting the waves of Magic head in as they jumped over it, still advancing.

"Fire Dragon's Wing Slash!" Natsu snapped, jumping into the air and sending a flurry of flame down toward Tomaru- who barely missed it.

He tried to move, only to be slammed into his back by Lucy's whip- sending him skidding forward, right into the hammer made of Ice that Gray swung toward him, and stumbling back again at the wash of water ramming into him painfully from an attack from Juvia.

He coughed out in pain, skidding backward, sword still in hand and eyes glinting angrily.

"Regulus: Punch!" Loke's fist swung forward as he appeared behind Tomaru, catching the man across the face and sending him forward, whipping about at the last second and swinging his sword with him- Loke's eyes went wide at the blade, there being no room to move out of the way.

"Sun Dragon Wing Shield!

Flickering red, orange and yellow magic flared up around Loke as it shifted to look like great wings; and they wrapped around Loke- who's eyes widened in utter shock as Tomaru's sword bounced off the Magic. Loke glanced back, seeing Solana behind him with her hand held toward him, eyes narrowed in concentration. The Spell faded and he jumped backward, landing beside his fellow spirit with a nod to her.

"Thanks for that." He said softly, and she nodded, breathing rather hard now and looking worn out. "You ok?" He asked,

"Yeah... I'm just not really used to using so many Spells..." She told him in between her panting. His eye glittered a little, knowing full well Solana wasn't a person with a lot of Magic Energy to begin with- using Spells took a lot out of her, she was better at hand to hand combat than anything. And seeing how long she had remained here in this world, she must be pretty drained- and wondered if she was relying on Lucy's power to stay around now... He figured she was, and knew though Lucy was exceptionally strong, not even the blonde could keep a Spirit in the Human World for a very long time.

"You're all annoying!" Tomaru shouted furiously. His Magic flared about him, knocking them backward with a powerful that of pure force. His Magic rose about him, glowing wildly. "Stone Sword: Ground Sha-!"

He was cut off along with his Spell when five light blue Magic Circles appeared around him in the floor, lines appearing between them to form the shape. Tomaru's eyes snapped down toward them- his Spell dying in his tongue as his eyes widened, looking suddenly furious and perhaps even a little concerned. Just at that moment he realized he hadn't seen Chase moving to attack him like the rest had.

"Energy Pentagon: Activate!" Chase snapped, standing not far off with his hand together and another Magic Cricle between them. "Strike, One, Two, Three, Four!" He snapped, the streams of Energy rising up and ramming into Tomaru with immense force, sending him off balance and tearing skin.

Tomaru sliced his sword across the floor, tearing through the Magic Circles- causing them to explode as he jumped up toward the rafters above their heads. Chase smirked slightly, hands coming apart as he snapped his fingers.

"Energy Fall."

A large wall of pale blue erected across the rafters, blocking Tomaru from jumping onto them- and suddenly bending to slam down into the man with incredible force, flowing down over him like a great wave pouring over their heads.

Tomaru slammed into the ground hard enough to make the ground shatter and shake around him, letting out a yell of pain and blood sprinting into the air as he coughed it up. He slowly sat up, trembling with effort and rage, his sword lifting over his head before anyone else could try and send an attack his way.

"Stone Sword... Cyclone Fury...!"

Grey Magic streamed out across the atrium, the win bursting into hundreds of hurricanes spotting razor sharp wind, the Fairy Tailers around him let out shouts of pain- hundreds of waves of wind shredding their bodies.

"Brats!"

Makarov's enlarged hands came down, cupping around Lucy, Loke, Solana, Juvia, Natsu and Gray- all of which who had been standing close together when Tomaru let the attack loose. Makarov crouched behind them in his Titan form, eyes scrunched closed as he held against the torrent of wind, his skin being cut and clothes torn from the wind, trying his beat not to budge against the invisible blades tearing out at him.

"Gramps...!" Natsu and Gray mumbled, looking up at the Old Man. Freed, Cana, Bixlow stood behind Gildarts- whose hand rest against a Crash Wall in front of him, holding the wind at bay. The other Mages of Death Bolt who had been in the hall were frown by their own Master's Magic hitting the ground and being torn to shreds, many of them didn't get back up not move again.

"Master?!" Erza's voice rang in their heads,

"Hey! What's going on?!" Gajeel snapped,

Chase and Aisha were thrown back, being in the opposite side of the hall from everyone else. Chase hissed, hands swiping forward to place an Energy Shield in between Aisha and himself and the wind. He hit the ground skidding backward, hearing Aisha hit the ground with a thud behind him. He sweatdropped at hearing the familiar sound of cracking, the Energy Shield beginning to shatter.

He crouched on his knees, a pale blue Ricochet Dome appearing around himself and his Partner, growling and shaking with the effort of keeping the razor sharp blades of wind at bay as it bounced against his dome, bouncing back into the sudden flurry and coming back again with more force.

"You really thought you could defeat me so easily, boy?!" Tomaru's voice rose above the sound of the wind, moving toward where he and Aisha were, eyes glinting madly and sword raised, moving through the wind without hinderance. "That Spell may have worked 7 years ago, but I am on a different level now- its something you and your damned teacher don't seem to understand!" Chase stiffened, "The light side of Magic may grow stronger, but it will never grown as fast nor be as powerful as the Dark side. Look at you all, even with all of you together you're still unable to beat me." His angry glare turned into an evil, twisted grin. He held his sword out to his side, the wind never ceasing and only growing stronger around them. Chase's heart dropped to feel Tomaru's Power grow to an all time high, waves of it radiating from the man, it was nearly stifling.

"Stone Sword: Rapid Strikes."

A massive wave of Magic washed out toward them, turning into finely pointed bursts of Magic that tore through his shield nearly too easily. The swirling jagged grey of the Magic came toward them in small thin streams of pure power, ramming into their bodies and breaking and beating skin as both he and Aisha yelled out in pain, being blown backward again as not only the new attack but still the flurry of wind battered them. They were separated, Chase skidding backward and struggling to stay in his feet as he let his Magic move up around him wildly, trying to fend of the attacks.

"Chase! Aisha!" They heard the other Fairy Tail members shout, before Master was pushed back- his grip on his Members not failing as he skidded backward, ramming into a wall as Tomaru sent the same attack at him- the Old Man kept them safe in his grasp, taking the Spell full on. "Gramps!"

Aisha smashed into the far wall with a yell of agony, falling to her knees and trying to put up a shield, her Magic imploding several times as she keep trying, and them it failed all together, and she fell forward as a wave of dizziness and exhaustion suddenly flowed from her and rammed into him, eyes glinting in pain and silver hair falling about her bruised and bloodied shoulders.

"Aisha!" Chase yelled, eyes wide to see how exhausted she seemed all the sudden- she must have been being drained faster than he had imagined.

"Light Mages never really win in the end." Tomaru went on, earning a heated stare from Chase- who quite frankly, despised listening to his Dark Mage supremacy lectures. But in his body he felt a burning begin, a rage-

"I've taken your mentor from you." Tomaru smiled at him, the wind never letting up even as the Spell faded. "I will take your Guild... But first, how about Mistress of the Moon?" He grinned darkly, Chase's eyes blazed. "You seem to care for her, fitting I think- to watch me kill her before your very eyes!"

"Don't you dare, you damned bastard!" Chase yelled, just as Tomaru's sights fell on Aisha- his sword lifting and pointing in her direction, the Moonlight Mage still on the floor, eyes dulled a little from exhaustion, she struggled to sit up- leaning against the wall for support, blood dripping from the edge of her mouth slowly.

"Stone Sword: Explosive Blast."

A huge orb of wildly spinning grey Magic streamed out toward Aisha, who blinked in shock and slight fear- knowing her body wouldn't let her move, nor would the wind continually buffeting her body. The sheer amour of power coming from the attack was nearly chocking, waves of it radiating around the atrium and rushing trough the bodies of everyone around it- nearly making their hearts atop.

"Aisha!" Several people yelled,

"Damn it!" Gildarts snapped, about to move forward- but he knew it was too late to do anything, he couldn't get over there fast enough.

"Shit!" Cana growled,

"That blast may kill her..!" Freed stammered,

"Goodbye, Mistress of the Moon." Tomaru smiled darkly,

"Aisha!" Solana yelled, eyes wide and glittering in sheer panic at seeing her sister about to be lost to her again.

Aisha's legs nearly gave out as she tried to move, she really hadn't been all that fine when Chase had asked earlier. She wasn't used to being underground like this for any reason at all, and she was feeling considerably weak being cut off from the sky like this. The extended fighting and the amount of damage she had taken- with the large amount of Magic Energy she had used wasn't helping.

Her body wasn't listening to her anymore, after the beating Tomaru had given her. She was in no small  
amount of pain and hand the strength to move out of the way now- nor to erect a shield. Her purple gaze glittered, before he shut her eyes, black dancing across her vision suddenly at a bout of lightheadedness. She was resilient, but even she could not take so much. That Rapid Strikes Spell had done quite the number on her.

 _Damn it... So it is a Dark Guild that'll be the death of me..._ She could feel the heat of the Explosion now as it neared her.

"No you don't!"

Her eyes snapped open, widening in utter shock and slight astonishment. _How did he...?!_

Chase had appeared next to her, his arms sweeping up from behind him as he stepped in front of her from her right, a wave of concentrated pale blue Energy Magic washed forward along side him like a fast flowing river- it rammed into the side of the incoming grey of Tomaru's Magic. Chase's right arm followed the movement of his Magic as he turned toward her slightly, the Explosive Magic catching across his arm and tearing it up, he turned his back to Magic as he stifled his yell of pain and suddenly pressed her up against the wall behind her. His arms hit the wall behind her, keeping her locked in place as his eyes scrunched closed as the backlash of whatever Magic his own couldn't push away tore away at his back- he stayed where he was, keeping her from the Magic and jaw clenched in pain.

The river of pale blue managed to sweep most of Tomaru's Magic away, and it crashed down away from them, the explosion causing the air and the floor to shake violently. Chase panted, still firmly planted in front of her, his tank top shredded- fell to the floor at their feet, steam rising from his body at the cuts and veins he received across his back and shoulders.

Crimson spilled from the numerous deep tears scoring across his right arm, the droplets hitting her shirt and running down her arm, her eyes never leaving him as he stood there panting, his head lowered a little and eyes closed. Her eyes glinted, wide and hardly able to process what just happened- the feel of his blood dropping against her shoulder and arm managed to snap her from shocked stupor.

"What the... What the hell are you doing...?!" She stammered lowly. "... You... You idiot... Why... Why did you do that..!?" She flinched when he hissed in pain, suddenly his forehead leaned against her own and a small smile spread across his lips. She blinked, still trapped by his arms pressing against the wall behind her- and face heating up a little at such close contact, eyes shinning a little and heart pounding in nervousness, and worry. She hated seeing him hurt like this... They were no minor wounds, and he only got hurt because he jumped in front of her.

He chuckled slightly, lowly- earning a small grunt of pain as agony flared across his back at it.

"Ah... Don't be so angry about it," he murmured. She blinked, "... Its just, what else was I supposed to do? I can't let you get hurt or killed by that bastard... We're Partners, that means I look out for you no matter what, Aisha." A few more drops of his blood fell on to her shoulder, dripping down her chest and streaking trough the blue Fairy Tail Mark on her skin. "... Besides... I did make a promise. I promised I wasn't gonna let any Dark Guild, or any Dark Mage hurt you badly ever again." Her eyes widened, taking in a small breath of shock.

"You... What...?" She stammered, he chuckled again and winced. How can he still be laughing? Smiling even?!

His smiled grew a little wider and his eyes cracked open, his bangs mixing with hers as their foreheads remained pressed together, his deep blue gaze sparkling with pain, sincerity... And... And caring.

"I didn't say it to you, no." He replied, "But I promised myself that, just after we started working with one another. I always guessed you'd had a bad way with that Dark Guild that destroyed your home, and I could always feel the pain and the sadness in you when you thought about it... I don't like feeling that from you, so I promised to never let any Dark Guilds or Mages make you feel that way again. We're Partners, we're friends... And though you may be stubborn, and a hot-head and a little hard to get along with... I still do care for you. And I protect those people I care for, no matter what." He smiled a little bit more, while her eyes just kept growing wider, and shinning more. "Aisha... I'd do anything to keep you safe. Just remember that ok, before you get pissed at me for this, ok?" He smiled and she just stared.

There was a deep and profound sense of honesty about him, she knew he truly meant the things he said... And though he had said some of this before, hearing of the promise he made... It shocked her.

He did this, let himself get hurt. He could have died, and he did it be used he wanted to protect her? To make good on the promise he made?

She suddenly realized he must have guessed at her past with Dark Guilds a long time ago, though he had never questioned it until that day. He'd been silently keeping an eye on her, making sure she was ok without prying into it- he had cared for her enough to notice the pain and sadness she felt when thinking back to her past, and he cared enough to hate feeling any of those negative emotions from her...

... She... She never knew... He cared that deeply... She felt her heart flutter, before it plummeted to her stomach to see him stiffen in pain, their locked gazes breaking away as she hit down on his tongue, body growing rigid in undeniable pain.

"Chase...!" She murmured quickly, her hands moving up to rest against him in case he started to sway, eyes wide and glinting, sweatdropping heavily.

He broke a small, slightly teasing smile at her, one eye cracking up to land on her as he pulled their foreheads apart. "Hehe... Worried about me?" He asked, though he honestly didn't need to- he could feel the worry coming off of her in waves. Her eyes narrowed at him in slight anger for his joking, it didn't faze him though.

"Shut it." She growled, he smiled and pulled away, clutching to his heavily bleeding arm and stepping to the side a little. His eyes rest in her a moment, a sea of calm, serene pale blue- shinning in so many different emotions she couldn't even begin to place them.

She sweatdropped a little, eyes narrowing slightly as she just looked him over a minute, eyes sparkling.

"How did you manage that, boy?" They both stiffened slightly to hear Tomaru's voice next. Aisha's gaze snapped past Chase to see the man standing where he had been, eyes glinting in cold fury, a sneer pulling at his lips. Chase's eyes narrowed, glancing around his shoulder toward the man.

Master Makarov let go of those he had been holding on to, shrinking back down and cut and bruised all over, looking considerably worse for wear though he stayed standing.

Solana's green eyes glinted, looking straight toward her sister to see she was still left standing and no worse for wear than should have been expected- before her gaze, a lot with everyone else's landed on Chase- who, even from where they were standing, they could see had taken considerable damage from that attack.

"Bastard..." Natsu hissed, first clenching a little.

"Are you two alright?!" Lucy called quickly, eyes wide and worried.

"Just fine." Chase answered easily, turning toward Tomaru and his eyes never leaving the man. Aisha's eyes snapped toward the Energy Mage, sweatdropping a little at what was clearly a lie- he was not alright. And as he turned his back on her, she felt her heart clench painfully at the wounds stretching across his back, and more specifically the amount of blood dripping from the arm that had taken most of the brunt of the attack.

Chase's eyes locked to Tomaru, who glared back darkly. Chase's blue gaze sparkled in rising fury- pure anger and raw hatred that nobody would have ever see from him- Chase never glared at anyone as darkly as he was to Tomaru just now, his lips pulled into a snarl and Aisha stiffened.

Chase's Power was thickening around her, waves of it radiating around him, and pale blue swirling about his feet almost wildly. She felt the immensity of his Magical Pressure suddenly ran into her, almost as if she had been pushed up against the wall behind her again by invisible hands- her hair started to shift on it own as did Chase's as his Magic rose around him, turning him into a glowing blue beacon before her.

Her body tensed at the feel of it, eyes widening slightly. Chase had always been a skilled and powerful Mage- he always had plenty if Magic Energy to spare, his attacks always packed a punch... But Aisha honestly couldn't remember ever feeling that much raw Powerflow off of him all at once.

Chase never liked fighting, he had said so on many occasions. He preferred to talk things through when it came to conflict- something that spurred from his calm and laid back nature. When violence was inevitable, he did only what was necessary- and he never aimed to truly hurt. It was not in his better nature to hate anyone, and he didn't really feel rage- pure, unchecked rage- but in this moment... All his anger seemed to pour out, rush forth in a great wave of pure anger and emotion. A river of anger that seemed to fuel his Magic to all new heights, and all of that rage was directed at one person.

 _His emotion... Its nearly as portent and powerful... As..._ Aisha's eyes grew wider, feeling her heart beat a little faster.

"Hurting people I care for, Tomaru..."  
Chase growled lowly, "That is the worst mistake you have ever made." Tomaru blinked, eyebrow raised at the sudden surge in power.

Everyone jumped, Tomaru especially when hundreds of Magic Circles appeared across the ground, the walls, and even hung in the air all around Tomaru- the unnatural dim of the room suddenly shinning in cool blue, everyone bathed in the feel of Chase's Magic rising to heights they had never expected from him. Streams of blue stretched out to connect the Magic Circles, making dozens upon dozens of Sara all around Tomaru- the lines overlapping and mixing into an intricate and complicated array of pentagram a running all around him across walls and the floor, and hanging in the air next to and above him- all brining in cold fire. Tomaru was caught inside a small space completed surrounded by Chase's Magic Circles, the air inside the space around him humming and vibrating with the sheer amount of power Chase was putting forward.

The nearby Fairy Tailers looked on in slight shock, unable to believe the sort of power they were feeling- or the immensity of what the young Energy Mage was doing.

Chase lift his arms before him, hands clapping together as another Magic Circle appeared between them- his blue gaze locked to Tomaru in barely contained rage.

"Energy Pentagrams:" Chase growled, Tomaru grimaced.

"Minefield."

The streams of Magic writing from the Magic Circles streamed toward Tomaru all at once, exploding in contact with he man as the Magic Circles themselves exploded with unbelievable and unprecedented power and force. The air and the floor and the roof around them rumbled as shook violently with the Magic, pieces of the ground thrown up and tossed about, walls around them crumbling and rubble flying. The roof over the space that Tomaru had been suddenly caved in, large bits of it falling into a huge heap among the blazing blue cloud of dust that had risen- a rush of air from the outside falling in on them with the scent of trees and rain.

Everyone around them gazed in complete shock, jaws dropped and sweatdropping. They had never seen Chase let off such a powerful Spell in all the time they had known him, and to do so after taking such a blow as the one he blocked for Aisha- they could hardly believe what they saw, before they smiled a little.

Solana's head snapped up toward the far sight of the sky above them, Aisha's eyes moved toward re hole on the roof too- after being transfixed to Chase's power a moment. They both blinked up at it, feeling the fresh air coming down as they caught sight if the dark, hazy grey of the sky above them. "Its twilight..." Solana murmured.

"Looks like that kid picked up a lot more from Frea than just the Magic alone." Gildarts smirked,

"For someone who doesn't like to fight... Its a bit of shock to realize he is so good at it." Master murmured. "I knew Chase was strong... I hadn't realized just how strong until now." He smiled slightly,

All eyes snapped toward Tomaru as he struggled to make it out of the way of the rubble falling from the roof, battered and bloody from taking the full brunt of Chase's Magic, his sword no longer with him.

"You're turn!" Chase called, smirking slightly as he tilted and suddenly stumbled back against the wall, panting heavily and looking considerably worn out. Aisha's gaze snapped toward him, he grunted in pain when his back hit the wall- and the silver-haired Moonlight Mage beside him grabbed his uninjured arm, just as he slid down to sit, covered in sweat and breathing harshly, not having the strength left after that Spell to stand anymore. Aisha crouched next to him, eyes narrowed and glinting.

The other Fairy Tailers across the room looked to him, blinking once or twice as he continued to smirk at them despite the pain he was in.

"Finish him off, you wanted to make him pay yourselves- didn't you?" He called to them, earning smirks in return as Aisha simply blinked, her hand resting on his shoulder lightly.

"Oh hell yeah!"

"Ready guys?!"

"Throw everything we've got at him!"

"This is our chance to finish this!"

Fairy Tail swept forward, Magic blazing as they all prepared to send their attacks in Tomaru's direction, eyes gleaming and looking determined. They knew this was their chance, thanks to Chase Tomaru wasn't moving as fast as he had been, and of they're everything they had at him- he'd be finished and this fight would be over.

"Aisha!" Solana called suddenly, earning said MoonLight Mage's gaze from where she was still next to Chase- who glanced sideways at her, still trying to steady his breathing. Aisha blinked, seeing the small smile on her sister's face as she gestured up toward the hole in the ceiling, "It's twilight." She told her, Aisha sweatdropped slightly. "The border between night and day- half way point between the rise of the sun, and the fall of the moon." Chase blinked slightly, head tilted a little- he didn't seem to understand the significance.

"Just this once, sister- would you like to work together? As equals?" Solana smiled, and Aisha stiffened slightly, eyes shinning. The Moonlight Mage glanced toward Chase, seemingly unsure about what she wanted to do- before he gave her a small reassuring smile.

"Go- you want a piece of him, don't you?" He said easily, and her eyes narrowed.

A piece of Tomaru? Yes... For several reasons, but for one reason in particular at that moment as she saw the state he was in, and felt the stickiness of his blood still painting her skin.

She nodded slightly, getting to her feet and starting toward her sister slightly. "I'm gonna lay into you for being such an idiot later, I hope you realize that." Aisha growled over her shoulder lowly, catching him a little off guard. She didn't look back his way, he heard there was nearly no conviction in her voice when she said it. He smiled lightly,

"Noted.." He sighed,

"Fire Dragon Roar!"

"Regulus: Impact!"

"Prayer's Fountain!"

"Ice-Make: Cannon!"

"Water Nebula!"

"Fleuve d'etoiles!"

"Rain of Light!"

"Crash!"

"Dark Ecriture: Slay!"

"Baryon Formation!"

The powerful immense of Magic from the Fairy Tailers wing out toward Tomaru individually, the ground quaking under the sheer force of it as the streams and waves of Magic tore out toward the man, who was struggling to even stand.

Aisha and Solana moved up to stand on either side of the attacks thrown out, their hands lifting toward the sky and eyes closing as their Magic began to blaze about them- feeling strength flow into them as the sky was left bare to their sights.

Their hands raised above their heads, palms open and fingers bent as they took in a breath.

_"Twilight hour,_

_Time of the two worlds,_

_Time in which both Cosmic powers reign true,_

_Divide between the light and dark,"_ Solana murmured under her breath.

_"When shadow fails and light returns,_

_The moon nearly fallen,_

_The sun about to rise,_

_Let both remain as equals within the sky,_

_Even for but a few brief moments,"_ Aisha murmured lowly, Streams of orange and yellow began to fall through the roof from the east, showering over Solana. Streams of dark blue and white fell through to a however over Aisha, before both streams of Magic seemed to halt a moment,

 _"Burn bright sun of the east,"_ Solana growled,

 _"Forever fight, moon of the west,"_ Aisha muttered,

Their eyes snapped open as their palms closed as they swept their arms down toward the Magic sent by the other Fairy Tailer in front of them, the air shaking violently as a massive Magic circle of orange and dark blue appeared over the hole in the roof. The streams of Magic over their heads shot out toward the other Magics, spinning around them and pulling them all together so they combined into a massive beam of pure, raw Magical Power.

 _ **"Cosmic Melting: Equinox!"** _They shouted at once, the spiraling visage of stars suddenly flashing about the glowing beam of Magic, it gaining more speed as power as both Aisha and Solana brought their fists through the air in the direction Tomaru lay in, a glowing outline of the sun and the moon appearing on the enter of the beam of combine Magics a split moment- before it hit its mark and the atrium was shaken to its roots, rubble and debris flying everywhere as smaller bits of the roof crumbled down and Tomaru was caught in the center- his yell of pin ripping at the air, before he was thrown into a wall, and crumpled to the ground, not moving again.

The Members of Fairy Tail let out small sighs, some of them smiling to themselves.

"Yeah!" Natsu shouted, breathing fire in his sudden triumph.

"Master...!" The Mages around them gasped.

"Master Tomaru has been defeated!" The Dark Mages still left standing around them suddenly backed up in slight fear, eyes glinting in disbelief at the show of power they had seen.

"That's how you get it done!" Gray smirked. "We sure paid that bastard back for all the shit he's done!"

"Finally, its over..." Lucy breathed, Cana leaned on her shoulder a little, smiling.

"Hell of a fight, huh?" The brunette grinned.

"Juvia is glad it is over.." Juvia mumbled,

"Well, this fight is done anyway." Cana replied, "Still got a ways to go before its really over."

"And with a new day- comes more Power for me!" Solana smiled, seeing the tiny shred of light over their heads turning a pale yellow. She tilted her head up toward the gap, sighing slightly. "About time... I was relying too much on Lucy's power anyway." Her green eyes glanced sideways toward Aisha, who held a hand to her chest, trying to steady her breathing. Her eyes softened slightly, "Hey, little sis." Solana called quietly, Aisha's eyes snapped open immediately- she hadn't been called 'Little Sister' since they had been separated, and hearing it now confused and shocked her a little. Solana smiled softly, eyes glittering. "You've become a fine Mage." She murmured and Aisha blinked, not expecting the compliment. "And you've grown up... Into a very fine person as well." She said, smiling a little more. Aisha just stared a moment, not sure what brought on the words...?

"I'm glad you have people you care for, and care for you back." Solana added in quietly, turning away from her. "We may have gone different ways... But in the end, we both found family again, huh?" Her green eyes moved toward Natsu, who was grinning like a little kid, his arms around Lucy as she told him to get off- though she hardly meant it.

Aisha glanced from her sister, to glancing over her shoulder toward Chase, who had gotten to his feet, sighing slightly as he cradled his arm. She blinked, before her eyes closed a moment, a small, faint smile pulling at her lips- feeling a sudden warmth on her forehead, as her hand came up to clench about the part of her shirt stained in crimson droplets that were not hers.

"Yeah... I suppose we did." She murmured, Solana smirked a little- Aisha turned away and headed toward Chase, who smiled at her approach.

"Heh..." Solana chuckled lightly, moving toward Natsu and Lucy- Loke standing close by.

Aisha's smile faded the moment she turned from Solana, and in her eyes suddenly glinted a fiery annoyance and anger that Chase hadn't been expecting- he faltered slightly, w had been planning to move toward her but he stopped a moment. He sweatdropped, eyes growing wide a moment.

"Aisha...?" He murmured,

_**SMACK** _

He hissed as her hand slammed against his face, leaving a red mark as she stood before him, purple gaze glittering in anger. He blinked, looking a little dumbfounded, before his eyes softened and he fell silent.

Several people glanced over, sweatdropping slightly at the action. Master sighed slightly, while Gildarts smirked a little smugly. "Lovers quarrel?" Gildarts chuckled under his breath,

"Leave them be, Gildarts." Master murmured, sweatdropping a little.

"Don't you ever do something as stupid as that again!" Aisha snapped coldly, his eyes never leaving her as she pointed an accusing finger at him. "You're a dumbass! That blast could have killed you!"

"And it was going to kill you." He replied easily, she glared slightly.

"Tch... Didn't mean we both needed to die." She growled lowly. He sighed slightly, eyes falling closed a moment. He had figured she was gonna be unhappy about it- he just hadn't expected to get slapped.

"Remember what I said?" He asked lowly. "I meant it- be angry if you want Aisha, it doesn't change how I feel."

"You really are dumb." She growled. "If you feel that way- at least be smart enough to realize you shouldn't be willing to die for people. You should want to live to protect them another day." His eyes opened on slight surprise, seeing she had moved up toward him, and had cupped her hands on front of her, her own eyes closed. "Moonlight Make..." She mumbled under her breath, her hands pulling apart to reveal softly glowing white bandages in her hand, made entirely of Magic. He blinked in slight shock,

"Don't get yourself killed trying to protect other people. Make sure to stay alive so you can keep on protecting them for many years to come, that's what I mean." She said lowly, reaching forward toward his arm, still not meeting his gaze as he simply looked at her in silence. She began to gently wrap the length of bandage around his right arm- which still had not ceased bleeding, he sighed a little at the coolness of it against the burning feel of the wounds.

She tightened it and tied it off, earning a small hiss from him as she closed her eyes at his pain, he went to pull the arm away but found she had her arms still around his lower arm, head lowered a little and unusually silent.

"... But, thank you- anyway." She said lowly, nearly to where he couldn't hear her. "And... Ditto." She glanced up toward him, purple gaze locking with his own. Her tone grew soft, a sort of tone he hadn't yet heard from her. It was soft, gentle, nearly wispy- he felt his heart tug just a little.

And when she said ditto, he couldn't help but smile at her.

"Course." He grinned and she sighed,

"You good to walk?" She muttered, "Those wounds on your back look pretty deep... I could wrap that too." She said, her hands finally leaving his arm as she folded them together again.

"You don't have to." He said, but she circled him, murmuring under her breath again as more Moonlight Made Bandages appeared in her hands.

"I didn't really say you had a choice." She replied lowly.

"Those are made from your Magic... Doesn't that drain you?" He asked, glancing over his shoulder toward her.

"Not really." She replied shortly, promptly beginning to wrap them about his torso, earning a hiss of pain from him, she blinked, sweatdropping a little.

"So... 'Mistress of the Moon', eh?" He said at length, hissing as she suddenly pulled tight at the bandages, feeling immediately the annoyance start to spark from her.

"Its a long story, and one I sure as hell won't be getting into with you- or anyone else." She replied curtly,

"You two are so cute!" Lucy smiled, having walked up with the rest of Fairy Tail in tow- Master, Gildarts, Freed, and Bixlow lagging a bit. A vein ticked on Aisha's forehead, her purple gaze snapping toward Lucy and looking a little cross.

"Shut up." she growled and Lucy only smiled,

"You alright, dude?" Gray asked, stopping in front of them, hands on his pockets as he looked toward Chase-who smiled a nodded a little.

"Yeah, its not as bad as it looks." He smiled,

"Are you alright, Gray?" Juvia asked, leaning toward him. He sweatdropped a little and smiled slightly,

"Yeah, I'm good.."

"Never pegged you to be the protective type." Cana smirked, leaning in toward Aisha- who turned a dirty look on the brunette.

"Bug off."

 _"Master? Have you defeated Tomaru?"_ Erza asked, the Telepathic Link firing up again.

"Yes. He is defeated." The Old Man replied,

 _"That's a relief."_ Mira sighed.

 _"Now all we have left to do is take down the rest of the Guild."_ Lisanna murmured. _"And find Moon."_

 _"We still haven't faced that Darkness the First and Jynx mentioned earlier."_ Erza pointed out.

"Stay on the lookout." Master replied immediately.

" _Master- we're currently facing considerable droves of enemies inside a long corridor that seems to be a sort of entrance hall."_ Erza told them. _"We've unfortunately, been split up from Gajeel."_

 _"Lily and Happy are gone too."_ Mira added in. Natsu's head snapped up at the words,

"What?! Where did he go?!" He demanded.

"How did you get separated from Gajeel?" Master asked immediately.

"We... Aren't exactly sure."


	51. In My Mind, In Yours

**Chapter 51**

**In My Mind, In Yours**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and** **Ideas**

**.:+:.**

_Slightly earlier-_

"Gajeel, what of Moon's scent?" Lily called down to his Partner, their group rushing through the tunnels quickly, blowing past stray Wizards that came their way. They had just broken away from a larger battle, leaving many of them hurt in some way or other but still burning with a fire to keep pushing forward as fast as they could.

"Its gettin' stronger- I think we're almost there." Gajeel called up, red eyes trained ahead. Lily's heart sped up a little at the news, a greater sense of urgency hitting him.

"Then we need to hurry." He growled.

"That ain't all." Gajeel grumbled, looking suddenly serious. "There's somethin' else mixed in with her scent... Something dark, and it smells rank..." Lily stiffened a little. "I think its whatever the hell that ghost-chic was talking about."

"The Darkness Jynx mentioned?" Lily murmured lowly, his heart leaping a little- if it was mixed with Moon's scent, that probably meant she was close to it- even with it. And that meant she was in very serious danger, and his sense of urgency rose again.

"That's really bad..." Happy stammered, eyes wide and worried as he flew beside Lily.

"Still no sign of Frea?" Mira asked softly,

 _"No, we haven't seen her."_ Cana's voice filtered through for a moment.

"That's a good thing." Erza muttered. "Lets hope the others take care of Tomaru quickly- then we have less to worry about."

"I wonder what he meant," Mira murmured. "The Flash of Death? That Tomaru mentioned?"

"I suppose we'll find out." Erza muttered, "Gajeel. You said Moon's scent is getting stronger?"

"Yeah- it shouldn't be far now if we hurry our asses up." Gajeel called back to her,

"You also said you believe this Darkness is ahead of us as well?" She went on, earning a stiff nod. "Everyone be on your guard."

"Right!"

"Looks like we got company." Gajeel growled, suddenly skidding to a halt as they entered into a larger hall- that seemed to lead toward some heavy doors on the far side, underneath a large stone arch. The other members came to halts behind him, now facing a hall full of Dark Mages- enough to have composed a small army.

"Damn Fairy Tail idiots." A man near the front growled,

"What makes you think you can just storm in here like that?!" Another snapped angrily,

"Do you know who you're messing with?!"

Erza stepped forward, a blade Requiping into her hand as she raised it toward the lot of them, gaze hard and steely. "We are here to take a member of our Guild back from your filthy hands- and to pay the debt that is owed for the things you have done!" She growled, eyes glinting as a shadow passed over her face.

"Tell us where Moon is this instant- and let us pass. Or you shall feel our wrath, tenfold."

The Mages sweatdropped, looking angry at the threat. Most of them didn't seem deterred by it at all, and some of them just smiled.

"Hehe, who do you think you are, red-head?" The first man smirked. "You may have been able to defeat those underlings you passed on the way here- but beating us won't be so easy." His eyes gleaned in a suddenly dangerous light, a shadow falling over his features as a twisted grin spread across his face.

"And if you do get past us, Lady Lyla will destroy all of you. There won't be shred of you left for anyone to find."

Erza stiffened slightly, perking a little at the name- eyes narrowed, the rest of them seeming to wonder just who that was. The Mages before them seemed to stir slightly, all them smiling wickedly as they thought to their supposed benefactor- Lady Lyla.

"That is, if you get to her. Besides us you still got the Dark Crimson Bolt to contend with. And he's nearly at the edge as it is!" That comment earned a chorus of dark laughter ringing about the hall,

"Dark Crimson Bolt..?" Mirajane murmured, eyes narrowed and glittering.

"This is your last warning!" Erza snapped, "Will you not surrender?"

"Over your dead body sweetheart!"

Fairy Tail stiffened, the mass of Dark Wizards sweeping toward them in a blaze of various Magic. The entry hall lit up with the light of the Magics sent out, the sound of metal clashing as Erza, Lily and Gajeel crossed blades with other Wizards, the rumble of Magic hitting other blasts, or running into walls and the floor. Shouts echoed over the space as Spells were called out, others yells of pain as Fairy Tail began to fell their enemies one by one- but slower than they had been managing. The group of Wizards was exceedingly stronger than the ones they had been coming across so far- if they didn't know any better; they'd have believed the full fighting force of Death Bolt lay in that single hall.

"Keep advancing!" Erza ordered above the chaos, "These forces are here to prevent us further passage! We knew we were already close to retrieving Moon- and this confirms it!"

"Give up looking for that stupid cat!" The man from before hissed, "Lady Lyla's already done away with her- she's been made into cat food!" He grinned,

"Say that again!"

Lily's sword swiped across the floor, the force of it cutting the stone under their feet and sending the man flying across the hall- to smash into a wall with enough force to shatter it. Erza nodded to him a bit, before clashing with more Dark Mages as they advanced on her.

_"Erza!"_

Erza's head snapped around at the voice, expecting to see someone coming up behind her- or to catch sight of whoever had called her name, the voice was eerily familiar- but she couldn't place it just then.

Her eyes went wide, seeing as soon as she had whipped about- the visage of the hundreds of enemies about her clashing with her friends suddenly faded to dimly glowing blue, the stone Lacrima surrounding her suddenly engulfed in the blazing and burning light- a beam of light headed straight for her, just as someone stepped in between herself and the blast that would surely kill her.

A blast that... That had killed him..!

"Simon!" She gasped, seeing her lost friend fall before her- the pain and the rage and heart wrenching agony that fire though her the first time suddenly invading her being again, just as raw as it had been the first time. She felt her heart breaking in two once more, felt the tears start to flow as her blood ran cold and she felt the life of someone she had cared for deeply suddenly be extinguished right in front of her.

Her gaze snapped toward the man who had killed Simon, the man who had killed her friend- and she found cold dead eyes, blue hair, a familiar tattoo over his eye.

For a split moment in time she forgot all about where she had been. She forgot what she knew now, what had happened since this time, all of it. All that raced though her mind in that moment was heart-breaking agony and grief, and a deep, burning rage flaring up inside of her- her tears streaming from her eyes as her hold on her weapon tightened. She launched herself toward him, letting out a furious scream of rage as she swung at him with every ounce of her strength and might.

Her target met its mark, and just as it did- the all too familiar face of Jellal from that night so long ago atop the Tower of Heaven faded, and before her materialized the stricken face of Evergreen- to which she had barely managed to stop her blade barely an inch from the woman, who looked rather shaken.

"W-what the hell...?!" Evergreen stammered, stiff and not willing to move unless she somehow set Erza off.

Erza moved her sword away from Evergreen, eyes wide and sweatdropping heavily as she felt the tears fall from her eyes. The grief and pain of that night faded slowly, and she tried her best to shake off the memory- feeling her heart still breaking and blood still boiling.

"What were you doing?!" Evergreen snapped, Erza stepped away, eyes narrowing as she rubbed the tears away quickly.

"... I believe... Someone was in my head." She growled lowly,

"What?!"

"Mira...?!"

Erza's and Evergreen's head snapped around toward the disbelieving shout from Elfman, seeing now that Mira had entered her Satan Soul form- and she was heading straight toward him, eyes burning in righteous fury- her eyes not seeing him, but dulled and clouded with whatever memory that had been forced to the surface,

"Mira!" Lisanna snapped, eyes wide as she called to her older sister- who didn't seem to hear her at all. Erza swept forward, lifting her blade and meeting the claw of Mirajane's Satan Soul- the ring echoing around them as the red-head stepped between Mira and Elfman in an instant.

Mira's eyes blinked, the recognition returning in a split moment as her expression fell, as she switched from her Satan Soul, looking slightly mortified.

"E-Erza..." She stammered, "I thought... I thought you were Freed, that day of the Harvest Festival..." Her eyes flicked to Elfman, who blinked in shock.

"Someone is messing with our memories, turning us against one another." Erza muttered,

"But who...?" Elfman muttered, still a little shaken that his sister had come after him like that.

"He's here!" The Mages around them exclaimed, a sudden flurry of laughter erupting around them.

"And he's only playing with you for now!"

"Prepare for the worst hell you've ever had to experience!"

"So some bastards messin' with our heads, huh?" Gajeel growled, throwing away a row of Mages in front of him. His head snapped around toward Lily, who hadn't moved for a long few moments. "Yo, Lily! You still here?!" He asked,

Lily shook his head furiously as if to clear some haze, his grip around his sword tightening as one hand raised to place itself over his chest- the sudden agony of feeling a shot race through him in Extalia rising to the surface, though no wound existed now- he still felt the full brut of it. He hissed, body tensing at the pain.

"Yeah... I'm still here." He replied, having heard Gajeel ask him the question.

"What kind of Magic lets someone show people their memories like that? To feel everything they felt the day of those memories?" Happy mumbled, "Moon's Magic doesn't do that..."

They glanced around them, eyes narrowed as their attention snapped toward a sudden arc of black and crimson light fleeing above their heads, seemingly like some form of discolored lightning. The crowd of Mages split apart slightly, as the figure of a man appeared before them, standing with his hands over his chest and dull eyes locked on to them silently.

"Dark Crimson Bolt: Hikien!" Fairy Tail stiffened, this man was one of Tomaru's best Mages...?

Hikien sighed slightly, running a hand through his hair a bit and eyes closing. "You Fairy Tailers have been making quite a mess..." He mumbled, almost in a bored tone. "How annoying of you..." His hand fell down his face, his eyes opening as they suddenly glinted in a strange light, and his neutral expression turned into a manic grin.

"Goody that you all have such awful memories, that's what makes it fun."

"You're the man Tomaru mentioned." Evergreen grumbled.

"How dare you mess with people's memories like that?!" Erza snapped coldly, not at all happy with the man for having been forced to re-see the death of Simon, tears still pricked at the corners of her eyes.

"Oh?" Hikien murmured, "Why so cross Titania?" He grinned. "Is it because you have some of the most painful memories of all?" She stiffened slightly, "The things I could do with you..."

"Like we're gonna let ya mess with us!"

Gajeel swung his hand out toward the man, it erupting into a long lance as Hikien blinked, materializing into red and black lightning to move away. The other Dark Mages around them suddenly swarmed forward, clashing again with the other Fairy Tail Mages

"Gajeel!" Erza snapped, "Be careful! If he's been able to get into our heads so easily, he could turn you against any one of us!" She wanted,

"Don't gotta tell me that!" He snapped back, his arm elongating again as Hikien materialized back into his regular form, and moved again in a flash of black and crimson to avoid the hit. "This guy ain't gettin' in my head so easy, just worry about yourselves!" Erza nodded stiffly, eyes narrowed.

"Black Steel Gajeel, is it?" Hikien murmured, his expression suddenly very emotionless once again. Gajeel growled as he whipped about to face the man, his arm reverting back to normal for a moment. "You have done a lot of nasty things in your time... Now haven't you?" His lips pulled into a twisted grin, and Gajeel stiffened.

"Did seeing the Energy Dragon strung up like that bring back memories for you?" Hikien chuckled lowly, Gajeel's jaw clenched in anger and fury. "I bet it did... I can feel the regret and anger flowing through your mind... How did it feel? That rage, the bloodlust you felt that night?"

"You enjoyed stringing those fools up to that tree, didn't you?"

"SHUT UP!"

Gajeel's arm moved forward, transforming into a razor sharp sword as he cut through Hikien's now smokey body- a vein ticked on his forehead and red eyes blazing in rage and fury.

He ran forward, arm moving back to him as he jumped forward toward the man the instant he returned to his normal form.

"Demon Logs!" He snapped, thrusting his arm forward as dozens upon dozens of iron spearheads tore through the air toward the man, who blinked at the incoming attack.

Just as the hits were about to make contact, his body melted away into flashing black and crimson, and streamed out toward Gajeel as he skidded to a halt, sweatdropping slightly as Hikien began to return to his regular form, hands clamping down on either side of Gajeel's jaw, nails biting at his skin.

Their eyes met, seeing the dull color was starting to shine again in the other man's gaze, Gajeel stiffened at the contact.

"So much I could do with this head of yours... Its quite tempting." Hikien growled, "I could teleport it right off your shoulders... How fun would that be?"

Gajeel growled, in the next instant- Hikien was arcing over his head- his hands still clamped under his jaw, as the man flipped and sent Gajeel flying with tremendous force before he could try to retaliate. He smashed into the floor hard enough to wear a trench through it, hissing in pain as his red eyes glinted in fury, quickly climbing to his feet. Hikien landed on his feet lightly, hands in his pockets and eyes going dull again.

"You're too easy." He muttered, Gajeel growled.

"Quit playing you damned bastard!" He snapped, Hikien's head tilted just slightly, looking bored.

"But then it'd be over too quickly." He replied flatly, "And there is no fun in that." Gajeel let out a growl of anger, slamming a fist into the ground as it elongated into a club, dozens of others springing up from the ground itself where Hikien stood- the man pushed off one of them lightly, flipping backward, hands still in his pockets.

He blinked in slight shock to see Gajeel suddenly in front of him, his arm a sword and inches from himself- too close to dodge, the blade seconds away from running him through.

Suddenly Hikien melted away into a small, blue-haired Script Mage, who looked to him with wide, terror filled eyes- her hands moving up to block his incoming blow as she scrunched her eyes closed against the inevitable onslaught of pain he had heading toward her.

Gajeel stiffened, his actions faltering despite himself- and the fact he knew it was a trick. He couldn't stop himself from suddenly pulling his attack, aiming it to Levy's left so he would avoid hitting her- his heart dropped at seeing such fear on her face, and the memory of the look she had when he attacked her and her friends that night oh so long again suddenly washed over him in a powerful wave, and the guilt and regret he tried so hard to keep hidden rammed into him full force.

_He couldn't ever hurt her again... He couldn't..._

Almost as quickly as it had happened, Levy melted away into the twisted smile of Hikien, who was now just next to Gajeel as his momentum carried him forward past the man.

"Soft spot?" Hikien growled lowly, almost tauntingly. The man's hand swung up toward Gajeel- who immediately activated his 'Iron Scales' to lessen the damage of the blow coming his way. Hikien seemed to blink at the action, before smiling wickedly again. "That was a dumb move, Black Steel.."

Hikien's hand suddenly glowed with the dark light of black and crimson electricity bursting from his palm, Gajeel's eyes widened in slight surprise at it- before the man thrust the Lightning-encased hand into his side- immediately a torrent of electricity coursing through Gajeel's body, burning and sending waves of agony through him as his muscles twitched involuntarily, the lightning sped up by his Iron Scales. He let out a shout of pain as he was sent flying across the room, barreling through several Dark Mages around them, and hitting a wall- blood dripping from his ears, nose, mouth and the corners of his eyes, cringing and jaw clenching at the pain.

"Gajeel!" Several people yelled,

"Enough!"

Lily suddenly swooped down on Hikien, swinging his sword at the man and running straight through his body as Hikien materialized into black and crimson again. Lily glared, his expression dark and entire countenance burning in rage, his eyes set to Hikien as he came to a pause not far from him, the man's eyes settling on him silently.

"You're one of the bastards that took Moon prisoner." Lily growled, lips pulling into a snarl. He didn't need to have heard it, he simply knew it was true- he could feel it deep inside of him.

"Definitely was." Hikien replied flatly, his lips pulling into a grin- "Ooohhh... Should I show you? The fun we had with the little kitty earlier? Master Tomaru put me in charge of zapping her awake every time she passed out from the pain and the beatings." Lily's jaw clenched, fangs grinding down on each other, his grip about his sword tightening, fire raging inside of him ever brighter. "What a delightful stretch of six hours... So enjoyable to watch."

"... S... Six hours...?" Happy stammered, eyes growing wide and tearful at imagining what sort of pain could have been inflicted on Moon for such a long amount of time.

_Six hours... Six hours of torture...!_

Lily moved nearly too fast for Hikien to react, sweeping toward in a sudden burst of unbridled anger toward the man, swinging his sword out to catch him across the arm before he managed to fade into his smokey form and avoid the rest of the attack.

"You're gonna pay for that, bastard!" Lily snapped,

"Damn right!" Gajeel snarled, having gotten back to his feet, blood still dripping down his face but no amount of weariness in his red gaze.

"... She's already dead, you know." Hikien murmured, "The cat... Lady Lyla's been in there with her for a long while now... And she is always so very hungry."

His words made everyone stiffen, feeling a cold weight of fear drop into their stomachs as they suddenly wondered how true the mans words could be...

"You're lying." Lily growled dangerously, his eyes burning in hatred and rage.

"Oh, but I'm not." Hikien replied, his hand grasping the wound in his arm that Lily managed to inflict. "If that cat still breathes... It won't be for much longer. I can feel Lady Lyla's bloodlust rising."

Lily's eyes widened when Hikien's dark eyes suddenly flicked across the hall and the swathes of battling people toward the heavy stone arch and the doors set underneath it. His grip on his sword tightened, body tensing as he prepared to move again- sharing a small look with Gajeel, who had also noticed where Hikien's eyes had went.

Lily launched forward, but didn't go after Hikien- instead he lunged across the hall and over the heads of battling Wizards toward the heavy metal doors, behind him he could hear the beat of Happy's wings as he followed him toward the doors, seeming to sense what Lily had- that way was the way to Moon.

"Tsk, tsk... Where are you going?"

Hikien materialized in front of Lily, hand raised and palm filled with glinting black and crimson electricity. Lily stiffened, lifting his sword to strike down at Hikien instead of trying to avoid whatever hit was coming for him- Hikien melted away as Lily's blade passed through him, the man's hand darting forward to ram into his chest, a course of pain and agony sweeping through him in an instant as he was electrocuted.

"Lily!" Gajeel snapped, jumping up next to them and swinging his arm in the form of an Iron sword toward the man, causing him to back off and move away from Lily, who held a hand to his chest and teetered in air, black flitting across his vision.

"You aren't going anywhere." Hikien muttered, snapping his fingers as he landed atop the stone archway over the doors.

A great large sphere of crimson and black materialized in front of him, dropping down onto the archway with a core shaking boom. The stone crumbled and began to fall, burying the door.

Lily's eyes widened in shock and slight fear, seeing his way to Moon about to be destroyed.

"No!" Happy yelled,

Gajeel growled, launching toward Hikien in an instant and much faster than he had been- coming down on the man, his leg swinging down in the form of a club and propelling the man down into the floor hard enough to make it shake and shatter. Gajeel's crimson gaze snapped up toward Lily as he began to fall toward the ground,

"Go!" The Iron Dragon Slayer snapped, "Don't worry about this Bastard! Just go get Moon!"

Lily hesitated a small moment, before nodding, his eyes growing firm as he sped off at near top speed toward the crumbling archway- Happy on his tail.

He raised his sword, swinging down with incredible force to completely slice a piece of falling stone in two- dodging the rest of the stone falling and bursting through the small opening in the door just as it was buried completely, Happy at his shoulder as they flew into a large hallway, bordered by grand pillars and sickly glowing purple fire hanging in basins strung up from the roof.

The two tom-cats came to a halt, eyes scanning the corridor and fur standing on end at the great wash of insane power they could feel on the air, the evilness seeping into everything... The dark.

"W-what is that..?" Happy stammered, eyes wide and sweatdropping.

"It must be the Darkness Jynx spoke of." Lily murmured lowly, eyes narrowing as he too sweatdropped.

"You think its... That Lyla woman Hikien mentioned?" Happy asked uncertainly. "The one who has Moon..?"

"We must hurry." Lily said, not answering the question, and grip about his sword tightening. His eyes glanced back toward the shut doors. "We're on our own now, its up to us to rescue Moon." Happy nodded, looking frightened but determined none the less. He clenched a paw in front of him, tail swishing once.

"Aye!"

* * *

 

"Gajeel!" Erza called, seeing the Iron Dragon Slayer going head to head with Hikien above their heads, moving quickly and darting about- Iron and electricity clashing over and over. Her eyes grew wide to see Gajeel suddenly engulfed in the swirling black mass of shadow and crimson electricity, the expanse suddenly sweeping him up into dark nothingness and promptly disappearing completely from view.

"Gajeel!" Erza called louder, her eyes snapping back and forth trying to fond any sign of him, or Hikien.

"They disappeared..." Lisanna murmured.

"Teleportation Magic?" Mira suggested. Erza growled under her breath,

"We just lost our guide to Moon." The red-head hissed, her eyes flicking toward the fallen debris of the stone archway across the room from her. "And our path to her, it would seem."

"Lily! Happy! Can you hear me? Are you two alright?" She called through the Telepathic Link, slicing ahead of her to throw a small group of Mages away in a sudden rush of pure force of air.

 _"We're... Toward... Room... Link... Being... Blocked..."_ Lily's voice reported, fading in and out of actually being heard as some unknown Force suddenly distorted the Telepathic Link between the two tom cats and the rest of Fairy Tail. Effectively cutting them off from the rest of the Guild, and leaving everyone in the dark about what may happen- or if they would even find Moon at all.

"Damn it." Erza hissed, looking a little concerned. Very much aware that Happy and Lily were on their own not only in finding Moon, but also in facing whatever Darkness Jynx and Master alike had seemed so worried over.

"... Be careful."

* * *

 

"Hehe... So, my appetizers have arrived. Finally... I've been holding myself back too long."

Lily and Happy stiffened, fur bristling at the sickly sweet voice echoing out over their heads. They faced a large set of doors at the end of the long corridor, the doors swinging open on their own as they looked out into a large room filled with tables and chairs, lanterns and basins of fire strung from the roof. It could have held hundreds of people all at once... And yet it was empty.

Empty- apart from the figure of a tall, slender woman with pitch black hair and deep red eyes- smiling wickedly at them as she stood atop a small flight of steps on the opposite end of the room.

"Oh, such small and tasty looking souls..." The woman smiled, fingers tapping lightly against her lips as the light of hunger made its way into her red eyes. Her eyes swept over Lily, and landed on Happy- who froze under her stare, sweatdropping heavily as shivers ran up his spine.

"Its the blue fluff-ball... How many times I've imagined eating you..." She smiled, Happy shivered.

"Wha... What...?" He stammered, looking a little confused. She acted like they had met before...

"... Tch... Be prepared." Lily growled, growing rigid. "The power coming from this woman... Its insane..." And it was. It was as if he power had taken hold of the air itself, making it feel heavy, and their fur stand on end despite themselves, ears twitching at some sort of current of strength pricking at the air. The space seemed to grow colder, and darker around them... She was radiating pure, insane power... And pure blood-lust. Malicious intent so deep, they hardly believed she was... Human.

Happy nodded slightly, "This is her huh...?" He mumbled. "Lyla. The one all those other Mages were talking about...?"

"It seems that way." Lily replied, eyes narrowing as he quickly searched the room for any sign of Moon. His eyes glinted slightly as his gaze passed over the strange woman, seeing the small flicker of light bouncing from a length of metal chains wrapped about her arm.

"Are you two looking for this?" Lyla smiled, her grin twisted and eyes dark as she suddenly lift her arm from behind her back a little- the sound of chains clinking together filled the air as their hearts dropped into the pits of their stomachs.

"M-Moon!" Happy gasped, eyes wide and trembling- a look of utter horror passing over both his and Lily's faces.

"You... How dare you?!" Lily snarled,

Lyla held Moon up by the collar around her neck, the she-cat was broken and bloody, more crimson stained her fur than her natural gray coat shown through. Slashes and cuts ran across her body, some of them still bleeding freshly, bruises littered every inch of her. She was beaten too no end, wounded and burned and stabbed and cut... she looked nearly dead... And she wasn't moving, for all they knew she could...

They felt terror run through their hearts, they couldn't even begin to imagine the torture Moon must have endured to look like that, and then they felt anger bubbling inside of them.

_How dare they do that to Moon?!_

Lyla's fingers gripped about the collar around Moon's neck, the chains unraveling from around her arm as she lift the unmoving she-cat before her, eyes glinting in malice.

"I kept myself busy by playing with dear Moony here." Lyla chuckled, before promptly tossing Moon away like a rag doll, the Exceed smashing onto the floor with a sickening thud and rolling away, a small moan escaping her though she didn't move nor open her eyes. Lily and Happy stiffened at the action, Lily's grip about his sword tightened as his eyes began to burn in pure and utter rage.

"Moon...!" Happy gasped, trying to see if she could even hear them anymore. He flew forward, against Lily's warning as he dropped down next to Moon, his paws trembling as he shook her slightly, eyes wide and tearful. "M-moon...? Hey... Moon, please... Wake up..." He didn't get a response.

Lyla hardly glanced Happy's way as he moved, her attention was fixed to Lily's suddenly enraged expression.

"You're going to pay for what you've done!" Lily snapped coldly, "How dare you hurt our friend like that?! You won't be getting away with your brutality, I'll make you pay tenfold for the things you've done to Moon, you're never going to hurt anyone ever again!"

"I invite you to try, my tasty little snack." Lyla replied easily, her arms opening up as she invited him to come at her, not at all bothered by the sheer and utter rage flaring inside of the black tomcat. "After I devour your souls, I'll be moving on to eat the rest of your Fairy Friends... I have been waiting so long for this day after all." Her smile faded, lips pulling into a twisted and devilish smirk, a shadow passing over her gaze as her body suddenly engulfed in waves of pure black.

"Just don't forget who you're talking to, you little brat." Lyla growled dangerously low. "No mortal has ever destroyed me, and no mortal ever will."

Lily stiffened, feeling her power increase tenfold and ram into him in chilling, core rattling waves.

_... That look... What is this woman...?_

"Hehe... I'm gonna eat you all." Her voice became... Not her own for a moment, it was louder, lower, echoing even... As if she was some creature and not a girl at all. Her fingernails grew longer and sharpened, her teeth sharpening and growing into fangs, pupils turning cat like, as the shadowy Magic around her person moved, shaping itself into some colossal, giant beast.

"... N...no way..." Happy stammered, looking terrified. Lily's attention snapped toward him, seeing the haunted look pass across the blue tomcat's face. "T.. That... That can't be right... She... She was... Killed...!" Lily stiffened, sweatdropping a little, as Lyla glanced sideways at the blue Exceed, grinning darkly.

"... Frea... And... And Winter... They... They beat you..!" Happy argued in a shaky, horrified mew. Lily went still, eyes widening at the pair of names he heard mentioned few times before- and never in a good context.

"As if those cowards could kill me." Lyla grinned, or was it really right to call her Lyla?

"Even a fusion of Energy and Light can't destroy me. Nothing can." She hissed, Lily sweatdropped, feeling a sense of dread creeping over his heart.

"You mean to say, that you are...?!" Lily hissed, ears pressing against his head.

Her blood red gaze moved to land on him, a wicked smile pulling at her lips, her fangs poking from under them and the pitch black about her body growing ever thicker, the visage of the beast amongst the Magic suddenly growing larger as her Magic Power increased exponentially, it was so potent, choking...

"Different body, different looks, but same old me... Same Power..." She smiled evilly, "Same hunger... You Fairy Fools are about to realize your mistake. You're all in my domain now, you're going to die." Her eyes hardened, glinting in blood list unlike any other.

"But I think I'm going to play with you first, hehe..."

"... Its... Really her...?" Happy stammered, tears pecking at the corners of his eyes.

"... Shadow. The Dark Demon once inside of Frea..." Lily grumbled, feeling a sudden flurry of worry inside of him. Frea's words came rushing back to him then,

_'I don't really remember a lot about it... But I do remember getting really mad, and then everything went dark. I woke up at the Guild, and half of Magnolia was destroyed. More than half of the Guild was hurt too... From what I figured out, I had changed into Shadow and gone on a rampage, destroying and hurting everything and everyone in her path. They couldn't stop her for a very long time, and in the end it took the efforts of Erza, Mira, Master and Gildarts to stop her.'_

Shadow had managed to destroy the Guild, and half of Magnolia.

It had taken the efforts of the Guild's Master and a good portion of its S-Class to stop this Demon all those years ago... And even at the time, Frea had been keeping her at bay. He couldn't imagine Shadow had been at full power during the time she was a part of Frea, simply because he knew the Energy Dragon Slayer must have been actively keeping the Dark Demon under lock and key.

But now... Shadow didn't seem like she was being kept under the hold of someone else. That Demon was in full control, and at full power... If Master as the Guild's S-Class had taken hours to stop Shadow when she had been weakened... What were the chances he could contend with such insane, dark Power now that Shadow was at full strength? When the combined force of Frea and Winter- a Demon herself- hadn't been able to destroy Shadow at all?

After hearing of Shadow, he had been very glad he had never met her... And now, he was facing her. She had her sights set on him, and he was alone.

Jynx had said there was a large likelihood that the people in the Guild may die, when face to face with the Darkness she had mentioned... He realized only now how very true her words were.

He faintly wondered if the Guild could hear what was being said, that they were aware that Shadow was alive- that she had survived and was in Death Bolt... But the Telepathic Link was still being blocked, and he realized immediately it was probably Shadow (or Lyla?) that was causing it to not work.

He stiffened, his features pulling into a deep frown as he readied himself, raising his sword as his steely gaze resting on her steadily. He refused to show his fear, and he wasn't about to back down. He meant what he said when he told her he would make her pay for what she had done to Moon. He couldn't let such a thing pass, such brutality and sheer torture that had been inflicted on Moon... It was unspeakable, and it lit a raging fire inside of him that no fear or worry over his opponent could quell. He may very well know how whole-heartedly outmatched he was against Shadow... But he would do everything to defeat her. To repay the damage and suffering that Moon had endured, and to make sure that she couldn't do anything like this again- ever.

His chances were slim, but he hardly cared. His emotions burned too brightly, too powerfully to back down or be concerned with his chances.

He wondered if this was what the Power of Emotions felt like...

"You aren't getting away with this." He snarled, "You need to be stopped, and I'm going to stop you."

"Such bravado." Shadow chuckled lowly. "What are you gonna do, with only that little blade?"

Happy stared, shaking slightly as his gaze rest on Lily and the utterly resolute expression on his face. The anger and the rage... He couldn't remember the last time he had seen Lily looking so angry, or determined. It shocked him when he couldn't seen any shred of fear in Lily's eyes, despite his opponent, despite the very real danger, and despite what he had already seen of what Shadow could do.

Lily must have heard of Shadow from the Guild, and maybe even from Frea. Even if he had never met her before this instant, he must know how powerful she really was... And still he wasn't going to back down, nor give in. Lily was intent on paying her back for the pain and suffering Moon had endured, he would repay tenfold for the state Moon was in now. Happy blinked, Lily was so angry... Because he cared for Moon and her safety. They were Family after all... Happy blinked the tears away, forcing himself to stop shaking as he steeled himself against his own fear.

Lily had the right idea, they couldn't back down- not even against Shadow. And the suffering Moon had endured, that couldn't go unpunished.

"You can do it, Lily!" Happy said suddenly, voice firm and eyes filled with determination. He may be useless in a physical fight, he knew- but he had faith in Lily, and his feelings. "You give her everything you've got, I believe you can do it!" Lily glanced to him momentarily, nodding once, firmly. "I'll look after Moon- you focus on beating her!"

"Right!"

"You're both full of such bravado suddenly." Shadow chuckled lowly, "What are two little kitty's gonna do against me? The most powerful Demon you've ever laid eyes on?"

"You know- I was one of the first Demon's Zeref ever created. I've been on this earth for centuries, and in all that time I've only ever gotten stronger." She went on, "I'm immortal you fools, you can't kill me. Its impossible." Lily stiffened,

"Its not impossible."

Shadow stiffened, her red eyes narrowing as a flash of dark purple appeared beside Lily, and Jynx appeared- her own red gaze settled on Shadow, her expression neutral but eyes burning in fury and hatred. Lily blinked in surprise at her sudden arrival, and in shock at such a hateful look on her face.

Shadow frowned, growling lowly. "You..." She muttered,

"Even the darkest evils can be overcome, the seemingly impossible can be proven false. Being a Demon of Zeref, many would believe you can only be destroyed at his hands." Jynx's gaze grew flinty, "That is a lie. Demons are living creatures, no matter how strong. And all living things can die... Even you. I have proven such a thing before." Shadow sweatdropped slightly, looking agitated.

"You're just a damn puff of smoke." Shadow snarled, "You may have managed to destroy one of us before, but you can't do a damn thing now!"

"I can't." Jynx agreed lowly, Shadow smirked a little. "But he can." Jynx gestured toward Lily, Shadow frowned deeply.

Jynx's eyes flashed, an odd and ancient light seeming to light in them. Something powerful... Something dangerous appeared in her eyes for a moment, and for a small second, everyone in the room tensed at the unknown look- their skin crawling.

"And there are hundreds of Spirits here who are more than happy to lend their power in effort to destroy you."

There suddenly arose a powerful wind that swept through the room, buffeting them as tables and chairs were sent flying at the unexpected force. The air shook with hundreds of whispered and rising voices, whose words remained unintelligible- but it was clear they were very, very angry. They felt a chill fall over them, body's growing rigid at the ethereal noise and sudden flux of power that came with it.

Shadow stiffened visibly, her red eyes moving around the room quickly, fangs bared and tense. Lily and Happy stared with wide eyes around them, before they looked to Jynx and the murderous glare on her face.

"PantherLily, I have little power in this form- but I will help to give you the power these souls hold." Jynx said suddenly, catching Lily off guard as he stared. The murderous look on her face faded, instead she just looked cold and angry. "You must do all that you can to destroy this Demon, do you understand? If not for the sake of the innocent, or the balance of good and evil... Do it for the reasons you already gave." She blinked and he gazed at her steadily.

"Do it for your Family."

Lily nodded firmly, "Understood." He replied stonily, and Jynx let her eyes fall. Her hand suddenly lift toward him, her middle and index finger pressed together.

There blazed a dark purple mark on his shoulder suddenly, a crescent moon symbol that matched the one that appeared over her eye. He tensed slightly at it, her eyes opening as she gazed not at him, but at the deadly stare on Shadow's face- the voices around them still raging and shaking the air in a roar.

And then suddenly he felt unimaginable power begin to flow into his very being, cold and yet burning so brightly... It was utterly powerful, and he could only describe it as true and utter anger. Deep set anger.

"There is true power in this. And even more so in your own heart." Jynx murmured lowly, her hand falling. "Strike hard, and strike fast. This extra power will not last forever." He lift his blade again, Magic glinting along the swords edge. Shadow stiffened, looking increasingly outraged.

"How dare you, you little witch?!" Shadow snarled,

"Focus on me!" Lily snarled back, suddenly launching forward at an insane speed- his sword cutting through the air with a whistle as he swung down toward Shadow.

She lift her hands toward him, a rush of pitch black steaming toward him as he sliced his sword straight through it- the shadows destroyed as a powerful wave of force sent Shadow flying back into a wall, her face pulled into the utmost rage- the voices falling silent as the air rushing up from Lily's attack buffeting Happy and Moon.

"Woah!" Happy breathed, eyes wide. "He sliced right through it!" He clenched a paw, smirking slightly. Happy got to his paws, gently picking Moon up and flying farther away from the two, eyes humming in sudden hope.

Lily could do this!

Jynx faded from sight, the purple crescent moon mark on Lily's shoulder still glowing slightly.

Shadow moved away from the wall, about her feet swirling her Magic as she skidded toward the center of the room, eyes burning in fury. Lily swung around, face still pulled into a snarl- nearly as potent as the one on Shadow's face.

"You little brat..." Shadow hissed,

"For the pain you caused Moon..." Lily growled, "For her suffering... You're going to feel the full wrath of the Guild! And my full wrath!"

Lily leapt forward, clashing against Shadow as they moved around the room in a large blur, the walls being destroyed, the ground shattering- blows and Magic sent around as they went toe to toe in utter and insane fury, power, and speed.

Happy backed off as far as he could, settling down and holding Moon's limp form to him, eyes wide as he watched the showdown and the sudden clashing of two insanely powerful opponents. Lily had never been so strong before... As now driven by the Power Jynx said she would be lending him, and his own emotion... He was amazing.

"... H... Happy...?"

Happy's attention snapped away from the battle at the weak, and barely audible voice. His eyes went wide to see Moon's eyes cracked open slightly, unfocused and groggy as she looked up at him, trying to get a better look.

"Moon...!" He said quickly, letting her sit down and lean against the wall behind them- ever aware of where Shadow and Lily were battling in the room. Moon moaned at being moved, small tears pricking at her tired eyes as she winced harshly. His eyes shone in sudden relief that she woke up, and then worry when he saw her pain.

"W... Wha...t...?" She hissed, barely able to get the words out.

"Its ok, Moon. The Guild's here to rescue you." He assured quickly, his voice gentle. Her eyes fluttered, opening a little more and filling in unbearable pain... And fear. There wasn't even a slight glint of hope, or relief at his words that the Guild had come to get her.

"... W... Wait... Ly... Lyla... Sh... She's... You... Guys... You're... In... Danger...!" Moon gasped painfully, nearly frantically. "... She... She's...!"

Happy shook his head a little, laying a paw on her shoulder to try and get her to stop talking. "We know... We know its Shadow." He said, seeing the she-cat's eyes light up in fear at the name. He clenched a paw in front of him, putting on a determined smile that he hoped would reassure her. "Don't worry Moon, we're going to get you out of here. We won't let ourselves get beaten- we're gonna make these guys pay for what they did to you!" He grinned a little more, seeing a small flash of appreciation appear across her face a moment. "Lily's fighting Shadow, and he can win! Don't you doubt it!"

Her eyes narrowed in slight confusion, "... Lily...?" She breathed, and he nodded- stepping aside enough to let her see past him and toward the center of the room- where Lily was still going head to head with a very furious looking Shadow. For a minute she looked shocked, and then maybe a little relived... Before fear sank in again, and concern glinted in her gaze.

Moon's thoughts were racing, all of them blurred and indiscernible in her pain and weakness... But slowly, very slowly her thoughts and her grip on reality was coming back to her, and she was more able to focus on what was going on around her. In her blurred and unfocused vision she saw Lily facing Lyla with more ferocity and strength, speed and power than she had ever seen him have. She saw the rage on his face, and the purpose he seemed to hold when he swung out at his opponent.

She felt a little relief in knowing the Guild had found her, and now that she was with Happy and Lyla's attention had turned away from her- but then she felt fear grip at her heart again.

Lyla- or rather, Shadow- she was an enemy unlike any other, and she hated to think what may happen to Lily as he fought with her. She didn't want to doubt in Lily's strength or power... But she couldn't help herself. Shadow was just that dangerous... Just that powerful.

In her years in Death Bolt, Moon had never seen Lyla lose at anything. She had seen her destroy enemies with little effort- her power was off the charts, her strength immeasurable... And now it all made sense as to why. Lyla had never lost a battle, and the losers... She felt an icy chill fall over her at the thought.

Moon hissed, eyes scrunching closed as she did her best to try and move, lifting a heavily bleeding arm and paw closing around the collar about her neck. She didn't want to just sit there, helpless. But moving was agony and she was having a hard time doing it at all.

"Don't try to move too much, Moon!" Happy said urgently, seeing the pain flash across her features, his heart leaping at the blood and the wounds again. "You're really hurt, please just stay still..!"

"... Take..." Moon hissed, coughing a little at how rough and hoarse her voice was at all the yelling she had been doing in her torture. She caught her breath, her blue eyes glittering in weariness and pain as she settled Happy with a surprisingly firm look- he blinked in shock, he hadn't thought she could look so... Well put together, at least mentally, after the ordeal she must have been put through. But his heart ached at seeing the tears in the corners of her eyes,

"Get this damn... Collar off of me.." She growled, the metal chains about her bloodied wrists clinking softly. "And these too." She grumbled, tail tip flicking toward the chains. He faltered a moment, shocked at how commanding her tone was... And how bright the fire in her eyes seemed to burn still, even through her pain and suffering.

"... Ok." He replied, "I'll try." He promised, she winced harshly as her paw fell away from holding the collar, her body shaking at the effort of moving at all. He was very shocked she was managing to stay awake...

"... Where is... Everyone else...?" She asked slowly, her eyes falling closed a moment as he began to tinker with the chains and the collar, eyes narrowed in concentration.

"... The door got blocked. Lily and I are the only ones who made it in here. Everyone else is still fighting the rest of Death Bolt elsewhere." Happy replied,

"... And... Tomaru...? And Hikein...?" Moon whispered, ears pressing against her head. She knew the power of the both of them... She knew Death Bolts power, and they were strong... But it was Lyla, Tomaru and Hikien she was worried about Fairy Tail having to face.

_After all... It was Tomaru who... Who killed... Frea..._

Her tears spilled over and down her cheeks at the thought, despite how hard she tried to stop them. She bit her lip at the sharp pang of sadness that swept through her heart at the thought, that itself was more painful than the beatings and the torture she had had to face.

Happy paused in his work, eyes widening and ears falling at seeing her tears flowing. He had never seen Moon cry before, and he honestly had never wanted to.. Granted, he'd never seen her beaten and wounded so badly either. The things that Death Bolt and Shadow must have done to her... He shuddered at the thought, and his heart clenched painfully.

She looked... _Broken._

"... When we left, Gajeel was fighting against Hikien." He replied. "He's with Erza, Mira and a bunch of others in the Guild... And Natsu, Gray, Lucy, Chase, Aisha, Solana and Juvia are fighting Tomaru, as far as I know." Moon's eyes opened to settle on him, glinting slightly. "I don't know what's going on now... The Telepathic Link isn't working for some reason... We're cut off from the rest of the Guild."

"... And... As far as you know... Everyone's... Ok..?" She asked slowly, suddenly looking rather concerned for the Guild- he blinked in shock. How could she be worried about everyone else, as wounded and hurt as she was herself?

"... Yeah, I think so." He said, and she looked away, her eyes fixing toward Lily.

"... I... I'm sorry for all this..."

Happy blinked in utter shock, his head snapping up toward her as he heard the words, jaw dropping a little.

"Why... Why are you sorry?" He asked, seeing her eyes close again and her paws clenched.

"I got you all.. Dragged into this mess..." She growled, shaking a little. "... This was my problem... Tomaru was after me... And now... Now the Guild, and Frea..."

"Don't say that!" Happy said hotly, tail lashing a little as small tears pricked at his eyes upon seeing Moon so beaten up and genuinely sorry for all of it. She sounded guilty, and pained, and scared... And he hated it.

"None of this is your fault Moon! Just because the big old meanies came after you, and now the Guild's fighting them- its not your fault!" She retorted, sounding a little angry, and he was. "They hurt you, they hurt you really bad! You're Fairy Tail, Moon, and we protect our Family no matter what! We fight for our Family no matter what! We wouldn't ever let these guys get away with all the awful and horrible things they've done to you- ever! The Guild is here and fighting because we want to- because we want to payback all the had things they've done! This isn't your fault, don't think that!" She blinked at him, her tears still running down her cheeks steadily.

"The Guild can handle these guys! Shadow, Tomaru, all of them! We aren't losing!" Happy said firmly, "Lily can do this, we're gonna beat Death Bolt, and we're gonna beat Shadow- and then we're all going home. Believe that." She could only stare, she'd never seen Happy looking so resolute before...

"Prepare to have all the pain and suffering you've inflicted on Moon he sent back at you!" Her attention snapped away toward Lily's yell of pure anger, seeing the black tomcat with his word raised above Lyla's head- Magic swirling about the sword and wind picking up inside the room at the sheer power of it.

"Try your best you little pest!" Shadow snarled, her arms raising as a wave of pitch black streamed toward him. Lily sliced his sword through the Magic, only to be hit square on by an insanely powerful ball of jet black that slammed into his body- exploding on contact and sending him flying, where he smashed into a wall, coughing in pain.

Moon's eyes grew wide in horror, seeing that during his fighting Lily had been taking hits- he was bruised and bloody. He looked ragged, though he still kept on. The orb of black he had been hit with left an angry red mark across his body, dripping slowly with blood- it was no surprise he was getting injured fighting Shadow. But he didn't seem to be slowing down, he just kept going- but seeing him getting hurt made Moon's fear rise anew, and her tears flowed faster again as a look of horror appeared across her face.

She couldn't bear the thought of people getting hurt on her part, even dying. After what happened with Frea, she wasn't sure her broken and shattered heart could take it- and it hurt all the more seeing Lily being hurt.

"Lily!" She yelled without even thinking about it, her terrified shout echoing across the room and immediately catching the tomcat's attention. Happy had looked up when Lily had been hit, eyes glinting in worry.

"Are you alright?!" Happy called quickly, while Lily's gaze remained fixed to Moon- looking shocked and completely dumbfounded.

"Moon..." Lily breathed, eyes wide and sweatdropping heavily as he saw the tears sparkling in her eyes, and the look of horror on her face. He saw her pain, the extent to which she was injured- how broken and beaten she was... In her eyes he saw terror, and a haunted shadow in her eyes he had seen several times before now. It was a look of haunting, of hurting he had seen pass over her face at times when she fell silent, or when she was alone in the Guild. It was the same look that had made him wonder what had happened to her in her past.. Because he had seen how much it hurt her, how haunted she was of it- and now he knew why she had that look. And the reality was horrifying, it was awful- and he wished more than anything now that he knew, that she had never had to live through all that suffering back then. And he hated it all the more that she was reliving it again now.

He saw in her eyes, on her face... She was seeing all that pain and suffering she had lived through happen again, and it terrified her more than anything. She was seeing people hurt and wounded, while she was powerless to do anything... And it horrified her.

_She... She's been hurting so much... All this time..._

_Moon... She's... Crying..._

Inside of him a new fire began to burn, and he suddenly realized- he never wanted to see that look on her face ever again. Never again.

She didn't deserve all the pain and the suffering she's had in her life!

She was so hurt and broken on the inside... How... How had she managed to smile? To laugh and to love? How could someone who had gone through any of that manage to... Manage to trust in other people? To live and work and remain in Fairy Tail, to be happy and be strong against everything haunting her from her past?

He'd never realized... But Moon was much stronger than people gave her credit for. Not with her Magic, or her knowledge... In her heart and in her mind, she was probably stronger than any of them.

His gaze ripped away from hers toward the blood red eyes of Shadow, and her snarl she had set on him. Maybe it was foolish to think he had a chance against her... As it stood he had barely scratched her, and she was dealing him more than a few wounds. And, he was already tired and frayed from all the fighting he had been doing to get to this point.

But hell if he was going to lose to that Demon... Not after seeing Moon looking so... So horrified.

"Oh?" Shadow grumbled, seeing more rage and a newfound sense of determination appear on his face. "What's the face for? You realize you can't win?" She smirked darkly, "Or did seeing little old Moony cry make you angry? I'll be sure to give her more reasons to cry."

"You will not!" Lily snapped, "I will not let you put her or anyone through any more pain and suffering ever again!" Shadow growled slightly as Lily came at her again, Magic blazing alongside his newfound anger. "Moon has held on to the pain and the suffering she's felt for years! She's lived with her past haunting her, following her like a shadow- and now its hanging over her head again! You've brought back all those painful memories for her, and added more! No one deserves the terror and the pain you have caused, ever! Especially not someone as kind and brave as she is- not someone who has stayed so strong after everything you put her through!" He swung his sword out in front of him, the wave of pure force that spiraled from it sent Shadow skidding backward as she tried to block it.

Lily was in front of her in an instant, the butt of his sword slamming into her side as she manifested a wave of black Magic to counteract it, her red eyes locking with his furious orange ones.

"I will not allow you to cause her anymore pain than you already have! For the suffering she's endured because of you- you will never leave this place alive! I will repay every pain you have given her, and make sure she never has a reason to cry because of you and your wickedness- ever again!"

Lily's leg swung around to catch Shadow, sending her crashing away into the tables still left in the room-she let out a small hiss of pain as she flipped in mid air, hand slamming down on one of the tables and righting herself again.

Moon watched in awe, eyes wide and completely taken off guard by Lily's words... But his rage and pure emotion. It shocked her to hear him say any of that, she hadn't realized he had thought so much of her- nor cared so much about how she felt, about how she suffered. She remembered it was Lily who had prompted her about her past before now, and told her that if she ever needed to talk, that he'd be willing to listen.

He had also at the time, admitted he was concerned with how she felt... She just hadn't realized how much he meant by that until this moment. She had never seen him like this.. So angry and driven, so sincere... She blushed faintly, her heart skipping a beat.

To think, she had started out disliking Lily for his ties to Extalia...

Shadow held her arms out to her sides, fingers curling over her palms as the black engulfing her figure flared bigger and stronger than ever before, the sheer immensity of her power making the air shake.

"Tch... You don't have a chance at beating me, you little pest." Shadow hissed lowly, "I haven't even begun to show you my power... And I've had my fill of your yapping."

Her body began to change, her bones moving and snapping under her skin as she was engulfed in complete shadow- her form suddenly shifting to a gigantic beast. She took the form of a gigantic jet black wolf with two tails, her fangs wickedly sharp and claws tearing into the stone floor as if it was butter.

Moon stared in utter shock, beside her Happy shuddered. Lily stood his ground, tensing as he prepared for her to make her move.

"You say you won't let Moony cry anymore?!" The beast growled, her hot breath shaking the air as shadows wrapped about her massive form, shredding the ground apart and lashing deep scores into the walls. "I'll give her plenty to cry about! She'll be balling her damned eyes out once I kill you!" Moon stiffened, a pang of fear tearing at her heart.

"When I'm done with you pests, I'm gonna devour the whole of you Fairy Fools!" Her voice rose, pounding at their ears and shaking the walls and the floor around them.

The entirety of Death Bolt's underground headquarters began to shake violently around the rest of those fighting in other areas, all of them sweatdropping at the quaking under their feet and eyes darting about in sudden worry.

Shadow lunged at Lily, jaws snapping as he swung his sword toward her, slicing her nose open- but it only made her the more angry. One of her tails swung around and rammed into Lily's body, sending him crashing into a wall as he coughed out. Moon heart leapt, body trembling at the scene.

".. Lily...!" She hissed, sweatdropping heavily. Her eyes snapped to Haply, who was shaking in sudden fear and apprehension. "Happy! Get these off already!" She snapped, gesturing to the chains and collar he was still working on.

"Y-yeah...!"

Lily winced, flying up into the air and slamming the edge of his sword into Shadow's side- only for the blade to he stopped by the Magic streaming around her. Nearly immediately that same Magic spiraled toward him and began cutting at him like dozens of sharp knives. He swung his sword out to try and counteract the Shadow Magic, his skin being cut and running red as he was wounded dozens of times over in seconds.

Shadow's body whipped about, slamming into Lily with bone crushing force- he hit the ground and skid backward, wearing a small trench into it, and yelling out in pain. He thrust the top of his sword into the stone under paw, struggling to get back to his feet- red running into his vision from a deep gash across the upper part of his face. With the change in her form, and the insane increase of her power- Lily was losing ground in seconds, even despite the exponential strength flowing into his body from the glowing purple mark Jynx had placed on him.

Moon could feel her heart thumping in her chest, fear coursing through her veins at the scene. At this rate, she wasn't sure Lily could hold out much longer- at this rate... Shadow was going to kill him! Her teeth gritted, ears falling against her head and paws clenching.

_Nobody else... Nobody else can die for me!_

"Where is all the determination now?!" Shadow snarled, "All that bravado?! Better get ready to die, you damned cat! I've had enough of you!" Her jaws parted into an animalistic, sadistic smile. "But you don't get to die quickly, what would be the fun in that?"

"Lily!" Happy and Moon shouted.

Shadow's jaws opened as she lunged forward, her wickedly sharp teeth clamping down onto Lily's body with a sickening SNAP. He yelled in pure agony, her teeth puncturing his chest and stomach as she held him in her jaws. She shook him a little, his hands pushing against her lips and teeth as his jaw tightened in pure pain- before Shadow threw him away with incredible force.

Lily slammed into the hard stone floor hard enough to shatter it, yelling out in pain as he bounced a few times, leaving smears of red behind him. His sword clattered away from him, and he shifted from his Battle Form unwillingly. He curled in on himself as he lay on the floor, paws pressing against the deep puncture wounds, a pool of scarlet forming about his trembling body, a stream of the crimson liquid falling from the edge of his lips.

"You're an idiot, you damned cat." Shadow growled lowly, her Magic streaming up around her in waves. "You never stood a chance at beating me- even with that witch helping you. Now I'm gonna make Moony watch as I torture you, long and slow." Her head raised, tails flicking behind her rapidly as her Magic suddenly swirled into hundreds of sharp, powerful streams- all pointed toward him. Lily hissed, trying to move but his body only trembled, too weak and too wounded to move at all.

_Clink..._

The collar and the chains about Moon's person crumpled to the ground, Happy finally managing to get them to unlock- now they stood in shocked, terrified silence. They shook all over, horrified faces and gasping in panic.

"L-lily...!" Happy gasped, Moon's ears pressed against her head. She was on her knees now, pushing herself to her feet and swaying dangerously- her mind racing and heart falling into the pits of her stomach. Shadow was going to torture Lily... She had already hurt him so bad, he couldn't even get up. He was fighting to protect her, to repay all the pain she had suffered through... He... He was going to die, trying to save her.

_I... Can't let anybody else die for me! Not like Frea! I can't let Lily die!_

"A hundred fold, Piercing Shadows!" The Magic around Shadow suddenly streamed out toward Lily at terrifying speed. He stiffened, teeth gritted and ears present against his head as he prepared for the world of pain about to be inflicted on him, fists clenching as he hung his head.

"Damn it..." He hissed, he was failing, he was losing... He was so damned pathetic...!

"LILY!"

His eyes snapped open, sweatdropping heavily and eyes growing wide in horror as Moon suddenly appeared between himself and the onslaught of Shadow Magic coming toward him. Time itself seemed to slow down as he watched on helplessly, seeing the attacks nearing her as she faced them, her paws held out on either side of her, pale blue eyes glinting in fear and steadfast determination.

"What are you doing?!" He yelled, his heart plummeting. "You can't! Those attacks will kill you! Moon!"

"Nobody else is going to die for me!" She snapped back, her voice resolute, and so strong and firm it caught him off guard. Despite how wounded she was, despite how much pain she was in and how hard it was to move at all- still she had planted herself in front of him like a shield without any hesitation.

"No one is dying for me! Not ever again!"

* * *

 

The cool air rushed past them as rain buffeted them on all sides; their hasty movement not at all deterred by the drenching they were receiving- eyes narrowed against the onslaught of wind and rain. They flew forward at a speedy pace- much faster than they usually would go, the land rushing by below them in a gray and brown blur.

"I hate rain..." Uno grumbled as she held on to Frea, blinking the rainwater from her eyes continually.

"... Deal with it." Iki replied, though he looked nearly as unhappy as his sibling did- his paws holding on to Laxus firmly.

"It isn't good to be getting soaked. We could catch cold." Carla huffed, sweatdropping a little.

"Catching a cold is the least of our worries I think..." Wendy mumbled, her eyes glinting slightly as she glanced toward the unusually silent Frea. The Energy Dragon Slayers eyes were narrowed into slits, face pulled into a tense frown as she looked on straight ahead. Frea hadn't said much since they left the Guild, and to Wendy... It seemed as if she was focusing on something.

The small Dragon Slayer glanced away from Frea uncertainly, sweatdropping slightly. There were several things worrying her about this plan... But there was something in particular that kept nagging at her. Something she really didn't get.

_"Yes, I understand that feeling- a lot better than you can imagine. Not only can I feel it from the both of you... I've felt it before myself."_

When she had been speaking about the feeling, the love that siblings could feel... Frea looked so sad. Like she was remembering something painful, and it hadn't gone past Wendy how quickly Frea had mulled past the subject. What on earth did she mean by that? How could Frea have felt such a thing like that before...? As far as Wendy and the others knew...

"... Frea." Wendy murmured, deciding it best to just ask. Frea blinked, glancing her way momentarily.

"Hmm?" She hummed lowly, looking a little tired for a moment, before her gaze just glittered in tenseness.

"When you were talking about that feeling, that siblings feel for one another... You mentioned you'd felt it before. And you... You looked like you really understood it, as more than just a concept." Wendy murmured softly, Frea's gaze moved away from her and ahead again, glittering slightly. Iki, Uno and Carla exchanged quick glances between them, while Laxus' eyes narrowed as he glanced back toward Frea and the suddenly... Somber expression on her face. He had been wondering the same thing that Wendy had, though he wouldn't have asked. He wasn't sure Frea wanted to talk about it, and from past experience- he had learned Frea didn't tell people things unless she wanted to. "Its just... Well... How do you...? I don't understand.. Sorry..."

Frea sighed slightly, sweatdropping a little- she felt her heart clench a little but ignored it. For a moment she looked suddenly exhausted, and even more somber than before. Her eyes glittered in hundreds of different emotions that couldn't begin to be placed... But some of them were clear. Pain, sadness... And euphoria. In her eyes were swimming long forgotten and suppressed memories she had kept hidden for so long.

"... you don't need to apologize. Its a valid question, and I understand why you're confused." Frea replied softly, still not looking at any of them- though she was fully aware she had their complete attention now. Her confusion, all of their confusion for what it was she said... She understood that too.

 _I never told the Guild I suppose..._ She sweatdropped slightly, there were plenty of things she'd never told the Guild. And many of them for good reason.

She smiled softly, a little sadly as her eyes closed. "... I did have an older brother, a long time ago..." She murmured softly, her words caught everyone off total guard. As it should. Laxus' eyes widened, sweatdropping a little and eyes glued to her and the sad, weak smile on her face- the swath of painful and happy memories that were suddenly swimming in her eyes again, immediately he understood what that look was, and he was shocked.

Frea had never once mentioned any family outside of her Dragon, not in all the years she had been in the Guild- not in all the time Laxus had known her. In all reality- as he had since long ago taken notice of- Frea's past, and her time before Fairy Tail had always remained hidden in shadow. She never talked about it, she never went into any of it. He had always assumed she didn't like to think back on her time with Kasumi, for obvious reasons... But she seldom mentioned her time with her Dragon. And then he realized what he hadn't before- that Frea must have had a past, maybe even a family before she ever met her Dragon at all.

Frea had a foster mother in her Dragon... But what about her true parents? Who was Frea before her Dragon, before being taught Dragon Slaying Magic? No one had ever asked... And many of them hadn't even realized that so basic a thought... That Frea had family that no one knew of. And now that was clear... Because she admitted she had an older brother,

Laxus stiffened slightly, eyes narrowing and sweatdropping- but even with that life she'd had in the past many people hadn't even considered Frea to have, it was clear that this brother she had... was long gone. That look of sadness on her face said all he needed to know, and maybe it wasn't so hard to understand why she had never mentioned such a thing to the Guild at all.

His eyes narrowed slightly, suddenly realizing that the lack of explanation for her past before her Dragon... Frea shared that with all the other First Generation Dragon Slayers. Gajeel, Wendy and Natsu alike... They had never once mentioned Family before finding their Dragons, and he had to wonder why.

Wendy's eyes grew wide in disbelief; but her heart suddenly clenched at seeing how sad and even a little defeated Frea seemed in that moment. It shocked her to hear that Frea had a brother once upon a time, and that it hadn't ever been mentioned- but she quickly understood why she hadn't said anything before, and her hands moved up to cover her mouth, feeling suddenly awful.

"... Oh Frea... You mean...?" Wendy stammered, the Energy Dragon Slayer's eyes closed, nodding once.

"... It was a long time ago... And I was really young, but I still remember how I felt about him. How I still feel about him, even though I know I'm never going to see him again." Frea murmured softly, glancing toward Wendy with shinning eyes and a small, bright smile. "Don't feel so bad about asking, it really is alright. I suppose it was probably time I told someone." She smiled a little more, a plot to try and reassure the small Dragon Slayer a little. Frea could feel a wash of guilt and uneasiness flow from Wendy, and one she must feel rather bad for asking the question- seeing as how it turned out. But she didn't want Wendy to feel bad for asking... It was a valid question after all.

"Frea..." Wendy stammered, but she looked ahead again, her smile growing a little more, eyes shinning in... Determination.

"My brother may be gone, but he left me with something I still carry to this day... That undying devotion I feel for my Family. Its that feeling that I hold now for the Guild, and for everyone in it- my brother protected and cared for me with every ounce of strength he had... And now I try to do the same. He's the reason I feel so strongly for the Guild, my Family... And I'm gonna keep on protecting everyone, no matter what." Frea told them steadily, eyes glinting in a steely manner, pure and fiery emotion glinting in her silver gaze as her weariness and exhaustion seemed to melt away again. They looked to her in silent shock, how fast it was her feelings seemed to change.

Frea... Despite whatever happened, despite her own pain... She still pushed past it. She still remained so strong and determined, so powerful and focused.. It was nearly uncanny.

"I protect my Family with everything I have, that's never going to change."

* * *

 

"Show yourself you damned Bastard!" Gajeel shouted, eyes bringing in rage as he spun around- arm extended into a large blade and tearing it across the walls around him, scouring deep wounds into the stone and sending dust and rubble flying.

The large, circular room around him was unfamiliar and empty apart from himself and Hikien- who was curling about the room in his crimson and black electrical form.

He wasn't sure how it happened, but one moment they had been inside the atrium with the rest of his group and the hoard of Death Bolt members, and then suddenly they were here, alone.

"That little blue-haired Mage..." Hikien's voice echoed around him, low and chuckling a little. "... She has a soft spot in your heart, doesn't she?" Gajeel glowered, his arm returning to its normal form.

"... All that guilt and pain swirling around in that head of yours... Self loathing... Always was a fan of that."

Gajeel stiffened, Hikien materializing next to him in an instant- his leg swinging around as it rammed into Gajeel's stomach, sending him skidding back and coughing- blood spattering the stone floor at the wounds from being electrocuted earlier.

"You really used to be quite the monster." Hikien went on, coming to a pause, his hands in his pockets and dull eyes not looking toward the Iron Dragon Slayer. "Phantom Lord was well on its way to be inducted into the Baram Alliance... And the stories about you... The brutality, the violence, the bloodlust and the rage..." Hikien smirked slightly. "That old you that you've tried so hard to bury... It reminds me a lot of Lady Lyla." He started to laugh, lips pulled into a twisted smirk.

"Of course... You're a weak coward now... And Lady Lyla has only ever grown stronger..."

"Shut up! I ain't weak and I ain't no coward!" Gajeel snapped.

"Are you so sure?"

His body ached in unbelievable pain, the sight of the room around him suddenly falling away to the dazzling light as the sun lay above him- breaking through the destroyed roof overhead. He was clashing against brilliant flame, going head to head with Natsu over the stationary figure of Phantom Lord's moving Guild Hall, his body being beaten and pound at by Natsu's flaming fists over and over. He couldn't even move,

_"Fire Dragon's Fist- Crimson Lotus!"_

The explosion made him yell out in pain, falling back amongst the tunnel with a painful thud, his body to beaten and burned to move anymore...

... Jet and Droy were pounding at him with every attack they could muster, as he endured the onslaught and the pain without a word.

Laxus was beating him down, his body engulfed in agonizing waves of powerful electrical current- his yell of pain tearing at his throat as the pain seared over his body, the hateful look Laxus wore, the brutality in his features...

The pain of the lightning he blocked, by jumping in front of Levy... And then the feeling of the Heavenward Halberd he took to spare the Salamander... His leg being broken.

The Dragon Rider missiles, the awful beating he received from the Dorma Anim, the feel of his arm being fractured.

The pain of wicked claws tearing open his back, amongst the hoard and droves of monsters he fought against- Lily and Frea with him.

The beating, the battle on Tenrou that had nearly killed him... Every battle, every aspect of pain he had ever experienced, it all came flooding back to him all at once- all the pain and the agony, all that feeling- that was very real, he was feeling all of it over again, just as raw as the times they had happened. He was yelling at the unbearable agony sweeping through him- very aware he had fallen into the traps of Hikien's Magic, so immersed he couldn't move, nor make sense of anything- he couldn't resist it. And oh he tried...

Amongst the flashing memories, Hikien's features appeared to him where the visage of the Dragon he had battled in Crocus was- eyes glinting in sadistic happiness.

"You've been beaten time and time again... You are such a weakling." The man hissed, his electrified fist swinging toward and catching Gajeel across the face with a tremendous amount of force. He was sent flying, flung into the floor hard enough to wear a path trough it- the memories in front of his eyes faded.

"... You're the weakest of your fellows. And you know it." Hikien went on, his hands swiping toward Gajeel and snapping his fingers.

Hundreds of bolts of unnaturally colored lightning reigned down on him in terrifying, rapid succession. He yelled at the agony, body shaking and lurching under the attacks as his wild hair stood on end, blood dripping from his mouth and ears ever faster.

"You're always falling behind, isn't that it?" Hikien went on, smiling in a twisted manner. Gajeel panted, the attacks ceasing a moment as a shadow passed over his eyes, fists clenching as he lay in a small crater in the floor, body steaming and burned.

"Shut... Your... Damned mouth..." He growled lowly,

"But its the truth. You know it is... Its all in your head." Hikien smirked, tapping a finger to his temple, head tilting a little. Gajeel stiffened, fangs grinding down on one another as his body began to shake in sheer anger.

"Your calling me weak... And a coward... When your the one too afraid to face me head on." Gajeel growled, "Messin' with people's heads to throw them off, and then striking when their trapped in their own minds... That's just playing dirty, you damned coward." Hikien's smirk faded, turning into a small, dark scowl.

"I ain't weak... If you wanna play dirty, then fine... I'll play dirty."

Gajeel's person suddenly blazed with the lift of his Magic, his Magical Pressure increasing tenfold as pitch black began to spiral up around him, his body being encased in smooth, dark metal entirely, his hair shifting and moving freely from the wind that his Magic began to create. He got to his feet, stomping down on the stone so it shattered, his glowing red gaze fixed to Hikien- who stiffened a little.

"Iron-Shadow Dragon Mode..." Gajeel growled lowly,

Hikien hadn't any time to react as Gajeel's form melted away into shadow- the length of black seeping across the floor in seconds- Gajeel materializing just in front of the man, his metal encased fist drawing back as he slammed it into the Death Bolt Mage's jaw. His hit sent Hikien flying backward, his cheek bruising and bloodied instantly by the sheer power of the hit, but Gajeel was still on him- sending a flurry of powerful, precise blows onto the man in rapid succession- too fast for the suddenly winded Hikien to retaliate, letting out his own small, short shouts of pain as he began to be hit over and over again.

"... You little...!" Hikien hissed, disappearing from sight instantly- reappearing above Gajeel, half of his body in the form of crimson and black electricity. He sent a flurry of electricity toward Gajeel- who's body merely melted away into shadow, completely unaffected by the blow. Gajeel smirked darkly,

"You can't touch me like this, you damned bastard!" Gajeel snapped, Hikien scowled profusely.

"Shadows or not- your mind is still up for grabs!" Hikien snapped, "I've been simply playing with your mind up until now you fool, I can tear your head into millions of pieces- and reduce you to a writhing mass of pain, drooling with no mind left to allow you function!" Hikien's lips parted into a nearly manic smile, fingers curling as he held his arms in front of him, looking slightly unhinged.

"Memory Historia- Complete Emotion Influx!"

Gajeel doubled over in pain, insane amounts of sheer pain tearing out across his being in seconds, every scrap of pain ever endured suddenly crashing down on his body all at once, all of it heightened a hundred fold- it felt as if he was receiving every wound he had ever sustained over again in the course of seconds. The pain itself was nearly maddening... He couldn't even think straight, he was losing himself in the agony...

_"Gajeel!"_

_His name was called out in a firm, nearly resonating voice that seemed easily able to break through his agony and confusion, easily sounding above his own screams of pain. At first he thought the voice was that of Levy... Before in a split second, his pain faded and before his eyes everything swirled... Into a large meadow; the grass bathed in moonlight, the scent of blood and death around him, his eyes wide as he heard the sound of shattering and someone hissing in pain, head snapping upward toward the bladed tail of the monster that had been about to attack him while he was down- only to find someone had stepped between him and what would have given him a world of hurt, her hands bloody and dripping in crimson as she held on to the razor sharp tail firmly, the tip of it plunged into her chest, body shaking from keeping the monstrous creature and its deadly weapon for a tail at bay, and stopping it from hitting him all together._

_Soft silver fragments of Magic fell to the ground around her, her shield shattered and destroyed- leaving it so her body and her steely grip was the only thing guarding both himself, and her._

_Gajeel stared in shock, he couldn't fully wrap his head around the fact that she had jumped in front of him. Why would she do that...?_

_He stiffened as she smiled and glanced over her shoulder at him, the shadow passing from over her eyes. The silver gaze was bright as fire and she smiled wider. Despite her obvious pain... She was still smiling at him._

_"Tch... Don't give me that face, what did I tell you?" She asked. "I said I'll be there to stand up for you whenever you need me to, remember?"_

_"But..." He murmured and she rolled her eyes at him._

_"Get it through your thick head already," She told him. "Your family, and I'm willing to die for you!"_

The memory faded entirely, his pain fading fast as he found himself locking gazes with a bright, steely silver stare- her voice having brought him back to his senses... _But, when did she...?_

Hikien's face pulled into a scowl, eyes wide in absolute and utter shock at what happened- all in a split moment's time, his hold on Gajeel's mind and his forcing the man to relive all his pain tenfold in the course of a few seconds- all his control shattered, as a Memory he didn't purposely let resurface in the Iron Dragon Slayer's mind suddenly reared its head. He lost total control- and his eyes widened in utter and true shock to see who Gajeel had locked eyes with.

"You..." Hikien hissed, eyes burning in disbelief and rage. How could she have even managed...?! How could she shouting his name have managed to break his control over someone's mind like that...?!

"You're supposed to be dead!"

* * *

 

"We're nearly there." Frea muttered, eyes growing hard and flinty as they flew over the large expanse of a deep and dark forest, she sweatdropped slightly at the sudden evil Energy she could feel hanging in the air... How heavy it seemed.

Below her she could feel the Energy Signatures of the Guild- and hundreds of Dark Mages far, far below them. The sheer amount of Magical Pressure flowing through the air to ram into her made her stiffen slightly, eyes narrowing.

Her heart dropped a little, suddenly feeling a deep sense of foreboding... A feeling that had become all too frequent recently.

The trio of Uno, Iki and Carla began to angle downward- the ground approaching fast as the group all grew ever more tense. They were all too aware that danger was growing closer to them, and that they were about to step into what was quite frankly a battlefield.

They touched down, the Exceeds let go of those they carried, letting out small sighs and breathing heavily- flying as fast as they had over such a great distance was rather exhausting. They stood before a large hole in the earth, a tunnel that seemed to lead underground to the deepest parts of the earth- pure and powerful Negative Energy and deep, stifling and dark power that rolled to meet them in waves.

Frea stopped dead the moment her feet hit the ground, eyes growing wide and a large bead of sweat falling down her face- a shadow casting across her expression and body growing rigid. An icy cold chill fell over her being, her heart skipping a beat and beginning to race in true and utter disbelief... Even horror. Her breathing sped up, in small, silent, nearly panicked breaths. Her eyes fixed to the dark opening in front of them and mind racing.

_There is... Absolutely no... No way..._

"This feeling..." Wendy mumbled, standing a little ahead of Frea along with Laxus. The Exceeds dropped to the ground, their wings disappearing as they tried to catch their breath. "... It puts me on edge..."

"... Sounds like the Guilds already moved pretty deep inside," Laxus grumbled, arms over his chest as his ears strained to hear what he could from inside. His nose twitched a little, "Their scents are stale too.."

Frea took a small step back- her sudden tenseness and nearly horrified reaction going unnoticed by the others around her for now, her senses casting out deeper, her mind racing in shattered fragments- she wasn't able to believe... She couldn't..

_I-it... Its not possible...!_

She just sweatdropped more, heart sinking more and more as that chill over her grew colder. Icy beads of sweat dripped down her back, and suddenly all her anger and her pain... She couldn't feel it. She was just too shocked... She could hardly think at all... She couldn't even hear what the others were saying around her, all she could hear was her own heart thudding in her chest, and her thoughts arguing and screaming over and over in her head, trying desperately to convince herself it wasn't real... She was imagining it...

_It couldn't be possible!_

"... Hopefully the Guild hasn't faced any real trouble." Carla murmured, sweatdropping a little.

"We should hurry." Uno said, paws clenching as her eyes hardened.

"We're wasting time. We should get moving, and fast." Iki put in, looking nearly as resolute as his sinking. Wendy and Carla nodded a little, Laxus blinked- he agreed they should get moving, but something suddenly occurred to him.

Shouldn't Frea have gone running in the minute they landed? Being as angry and fired up about all of this as she had been?

He realized nearly immediately he hadn't heard her move, nor had he heard her say a damn thing.

"Hey, what the hell is up with-?" He started, turning back to look her way, eyes narrowed and tone low. He stopped dead- eyes widening and sweatdropping heavily, completely and utterly shocked, and suddenly a little wary.

_What the hell...?_

Frea had gone utterly pale, her expression one of true and utter horror- she looked nearly terrified... Her frame shaking slightly and sweatdropping heavily, her eyes fixed ahead and looking suddenly cold. She looked terrified, she was frozen to the spot.. She was shaking... She almost looked sick.

Laxus sweatdropped more, feeling his heart lurch in utter shock. He'd never seen her like this, never seen such an expression... Never seen her react in such a way, ever. Hell, he'd never once even seen her _remotely_ fearful, or scared in anyway... Let alone so terrified like this, so pale and trembling. He hadn't seen her afraid, and seeing it so suddenly now- his heart started to race, and he could only stare in a shocked stupor, his mind having a hard time understanding or even beginning to guess what on earth could make Frea of all people so terrified she was rooted to the spot like that.

Everyone else's attention suddenly snapped toward Frea once he broke off halfway through his question, all of them stiffening in shock at seeing her expression, their hearts dropping and eyes wide- hardly able to believe what they were seeing themselves. Because they had never seen Frea looking like that before, they'd never seen her scared, ever... And never thought they would.

"F-Frea...?" Wendy stammered, taking a small step toward the Dragon Slayer, expression worried.

"Miss Frea...?" Iki and Uno stammered, Laxus blinked, still looking surprised and even a little nervous now. He shifted, arms unhooking and stiffening slightly- she looked really, really pale. For a small moment he was afraid she might just keel over, but what the hell for..?!

"Hey, what the hell has gotten into you..?" He grumbled, eyes narrowing slightly. Frea gave no indication of having heard them at all- her eyes remained fixed ahead, as if she was seeing something they couldn't- or feeling it.

She couldn't... understand... She'd know this... This Energy Signature anywhere... She knew it instinctively, with little effort... She couldn't... Couldn't be imagining it..,, but... But how...?!

Her mind was racing around in circles trying to come up with an answer for how in the hell... _How is she alive...?!_

Her heart froze over with ice as she remembered back to that day- the end of it being a blur as her as Winter's Magic reached a high... _Did I ever feel her Energy Signature go out? Disappear...?_

The more she thought on it, the more convinced she was she hadn't... And she'd never realized it!

_But that attack... It should have destroyed her... I'm alive... But... But I thought... Chaitanya... She..._

Even in her nearly frantic mind and pounding heart, she knew she wasn't imagining it. She knew what she felt... It was entirely real, and when she focused harder, searched deeper... Her heart stopped in a sheer wave of complete terror. Terror... She was never afraid, she never felt this way... Not unless... Not until...

She didn't want this to be true, she had a hard time believing it was... But she couldn't lie to herself... And her mind was having a hard time coming to terms with it.

_If she's here... If... The Guild... Moon..._

She blinked, that foreboding in her heart deepening and she clenched her fists, trying to get herself to calm down.

_I don't have any Magic... If I face... I can't fight..._

Her eyes narrowed, sweatdropping heavily.

_... Can... Can the Guild win, against...?_

"Frea!" Laxus snapped harshly, earning her attention immediately- aware she hadn't been hearing anything but the beating of her own heart for a few long moments, his voice suddenly broke through her thoughts.

He was scowling at her, though he still looked a little nervous and put off, by her reaction no doubt...

She took a sudden, deep breath, eyes closing and shaking her head furiously and trying to shake off the rush of emotions. Moving caused pain to flare through her body, but for now she ignored it. She growled, she hated feeling like this... She just couldn't... Help it...

_... Damn it! Snap out of it!_

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" He snapped lowly, miffed he had been ignored.

"A-are you alright..?" Wendy stammered,

"... I'm fine." Frea mumbled, running a hand through her hair a moment, eyes opening as they fixed on the entrance again, glittering with hundreds of indiscernible emotions. She seemed to have calmed down a considerable amount, and regained herself... But she still seemed considerably tense, and they could still detect faint inklings of fear on her face. She sweatdropped, eyes closing again and fists clenching at her sides.

"... Shadow is here."

Her words caused them all to stiffen, eyes growing wide in absolute shock and slight fear- Wendy let a gasp escape her lips, hands pulling to her chest. Laxus went rigid, a bead of sweat dripping down his face and eyes growing wide.

"W-what...?!" Wendy stammered, she had heard stories... And none of them were pleasant.

"I thought you killed her." Laxus murmured lowly and Frea sweatdropped.

"... So did I." She replied lowly, "... I don't know how, or why... But Shadow is alive... And she's inside there." Her eyes flicked to the entrance. "I'm not making a mistake... I'd know her Energy Signature anywhere... Hell." He fists clenched harder. "Her soul was inside of me for years. I know the feel of her Energy Signature instinctively."

_"You didn't kill that Demon, girl. Shadow lives on in a different form... As do I."_

_... I... I wanted that to be... A lie..._

Iki and Uno exchanged glances, not sure who this Shadow was- but quite sure it was something considerably dangerous. But their eyes weren't on the Dragon Slayers- but rather on Carla, who had turned toward the entrance and suddenly gone very very still, her form trembling slightly. The white Exceed hadn't said anything for a long while now.. It was almost as if she were in a trance.

"Carla...?" They asked in unison. Hearing her name, Wendy glanced down- seeing the distant and nearly horrified look on her Partner's face, immediately recognizing it.

"Carla...?" Wendy asked, "Did you just get another premonition..?" She asked, Iki and Uno blinked in shock, while Carla let her eyes close and her focus returned.

Laxus and Frea were immediately aware of the Exceed, who nodded slightly in answer to Wendy's question.

"I... I think so... But it was somehow different." Carla replied,

"Premonition...?" Uno and Iki mumbled under their breaths, eyes wide in surprise.

"What did you see?" Wendy pressed, Carla held a paw to her temple, face scrunching slightly in concentration.

"Nothing clear... But I think I saw the Guild, all of us... Being consumed by shadows... And then there was... Some bright large, ball of light... With someone in the center of it... And also a voice... But I couldn't make out what it was saying." Carla eyes opened, sweatdropping slightly. "I'm sorry I can't explain more... But all I can say is, things are going to get worse..." Her eyes trailed from Wendy's concerned expression to Frea. "... And if Shadow is truly here and alive... I'm sure things will get much, much worse..." Frea sweatdropped slightly, nodding faintly.

_Engulfed in shadows... A bright ball of light... A voice..._

Frea sighed, "Lets hurry." She said firmly, her sudden fire beginning to blaze anew. "Shadow being here or not, I'm not stopping until Moon's been rescued." They nodded, eyes firm as she stepped into the black entryway. They were slightly reassured, seeing the Frea they were used to suddenly begin to resurface.

"Stick close... There's warding Magic circles about the entrance. Let's try our best not to get separated."

* * *

 

"... Silver...?" Gajeel breathed, eyes slightly wide and sweatdropping a little as he focused on her form standing not far from him- the figures of Wendy, Laxus, Carla and two other Exceeds beside her.

The memory of her standing between him and the monster faded from his mind, to simply see her standing there, bandaged to hell but looking strong and resolute despite the pain she must be in, and the exhaustion that was no doubt weighing her down. For a minute his mind reeled, his pain fading as Hikien's hold over him ceased entirely and said man continued to glare in her direction, though she didn't seem to care.

And then suddenly annoyance and anger swept through him, a vein ticked on his forehead and his fists clenched at his sides- all his agony and any indication of it disappearing.

"What the hell, Silver?! You shouldn't be here, you idiot!" He snapped, she frowned slightly. Gajeel pointed a finger angrily at Wendy, and then Laxus alike- his annoyance still flaring. "And what the hell is wrong with you two?! Why'd you even let her come?!"

Wendy shrank a little under the angry words, while Laxus glared slightly, a vein ticking on his forehead and fangs grinding down on one another- not at all amused with the Iron Dragon Slayer snapping at him.

Gajeel's attention snapped to Iki and Uno, who blinked when his crimson eyes fell on him, a confused and bewildered expression crossing his face.

"And who the hell are you two?!" They sweatdropped slightly,

"Gajeel!" Frea snapped again, his attention focused back on the matter at hand nearly instantly- seeing Hikien about to move from the corner of his eye. She stiffened, looking ready to jump in and attack the Death Bolt man- but was stopped. Laxus took a step in front of her, barring her movement as Wendy did the same- both their expressions resolute and unwavering as their gazes fixed to Hikien.

Iki and Uno jumped forward in seconds, moving much faster than anyone had thought they could- Magic Circles appearing around their outstretched paws as streams of Gold Magic began to circle about their forms.

"Beast Soul!" The two shouted in unison, their Magical Pressure increasing.

"Etherious Cougars!"

The air shook with two furious, air trembling roars as both Iki and Uno appeared from their Magic- both of them now in the form of two, incredible large and powerful cougars. They were easily as tall as Elfman in his Beast Form, with stripes that glowed a pale blue running through their fur- long, razor sharp claws and teeth.

They soared over Gajeel's head, eyes locked on to Hikien who looked taken aback by the sudden burst in power from the two Exceeds.

"Incredible!" Carla stammered,

"Beast Soul? Like Elfman?" Wendy mumbled,

Iki landed on the ground, his claws tearing into the stone floor and making it shatter under his sudden immense weight. In one swift movement, Uno landed on her brothers broad shoulders and pushed off, flipping in air as her tail glowed with the blue light coursing through her fur- the Etherious running through both her and her brothers veins.

"Back off!"

She flipped in air, her tail swiping down in a wave of pure Magical Power and intense speed, Hikien melted into dark and crimson electricity as the attack grew near, looking unhappy at the new arrivals.

The Magic rammed into his electrical form as if it were pure solid still- and he yelled out in pain as he was sent flying backward, the fluidity of his form rendered null.

Iki stepped in front of Gajeel, growling lowly and eyes locked straight on to Hikien as his sister landed back beside him, both snarling and baring their teeth.

Hikien coughed, slowly picking himself back up and whipping blood away from the corner of his mouth. His eyes narrowed, "... How in the hell...?"

"Nice hit, Uno!" Wendy called, earning a flick of the she-cats ears in response.

"Why the hell can you hit the bastard when he's like that so easily?" Gajeel grumbled, his Shadow-Iron Dragon Mode having imploded long ago.

"Creatures whose bodies and hearts have been fused with Etherion, contain pure Magic Power composed of hundreds of different elements and powers all at once." Iki growled,

"Etherious is so diverse, and so powerful- nothing can avoid being hit by its power- not even people who contain such forms as he does." Uno snarled lowly, "With Etherion, everything gets hit, it can't be avoided."

"Two beasts who were given life through Etherion, and which held all its power in terrifying immensity- these are the Beasts who's souls we captured, to save our hometown- and to later found our Guild on the power they hold." Iki went on, "Twin Cougars, twin beasts... Twin Power."

Frea blinked, eyes narrowing and sweatdropping a little. Etherious infused beasts... Given life through Etherion? Was that even a possibility? Etherion was made of so many different Magics and Elements, it was deathly poisonous to all Wizards who came in contact with it... Let alone were infused with it... Natsu had once tried to eat some of it, and ended up hurting for it..

... Cougars given life through Etherion... Somewhere in the back of her mind, this feeling she got from Iki and Uno's Beast Souls... There was something familiar, but she couldn't place it...

"Fine... You can hit me..." Hikien growled, getting to his feet slowly. "... That's unexpected... So is the fact that you're still alive." His gaze moved to land on Frea, who stiffened slightly. Hikien's head cocked, "... The things Master Tomaru did with you... You should be dead, ten times over."

Wendy and Laxus moved in front of Frea a bit more, earning Hikien's focus as they moved- Wendy settled a firm glare on the man, while the expression that passed over Laxus' face was suddenly very dark, and very dangerous. Lightning crackled about Laxus' person slowly, Hikien blinked.

"Hmm?" The man hummed, before he smiled wide, twisted and nearly sadistic. "That memory attached to your Magic... Oh that's very recent... And very painful..."

"So you like screwing with people's heads, huh?" Laxus growled, a shadow falling over his eyes. "You won't get the chance to start messing with mine, not before I destroy you."

"That's a lot of bravado, all in one man." Hikien muttered, "... Big words, but no one can resist my Magic. Your mind is mine for the playing with."

Laxus moved quicker than anyone could manage to keep track of him, leaping forward in a flash of golden light. His fist connected with Hikien's face, the man was sent crashing into the ground with enough force to shatter the floor- lightning crackling about their persons and sending light dancing about the room with a thunderous boom. Wendy and Carla flinched slightly, Iki and Uno stared with wide eyes at the sheer ferocity that the man seemed to have in that moment.

"... Tch..." Gajeel grumbled under his breath, sweatdropping slightly. After all... Laxus did defeat a Wizard Saint. He was just slightly miffed that after all the trouble he went through with the bastard, that one hit from Laxus would be the end of it.

"... Lightning... Has little... Effect on me... You dumbass..." Hikien hissed, suddenly his arm reaching up and clasping down into Laxus' arm. Laxus stiffened at the steely grip, seeing no amount of weariness or even pain in the man's gaze as he looked up toward him. "I'm gonna rip this arm right off, teleport it to the bottom of the ocean- see how well you do with only one arm left."

"Armor!" Wendy snapped, her hand swinging forward toward Laxus as a Magic Circle appeared before her palm. Laxus growled slightly, feeling Hikien's Magic begin to rise under his hold, before feeling Wendy's Magic wrap about him.

Laxus ripped away from Hikien's grasp, his body falling away into an arc of glittering lightning that streamed over and away from Hikien- who got to his feet, face pulled into a scowl as his dark and twisted glare turned on Wendy, she sweatdropped slightly.

"Neat little trick there, you brat... Managing to ward off my Teleportation Magic like that." Hikien growled, "You are making me very.. Very angry..." His face pulled into a grin, "Ever done something... You regret..?"

Wendy's eyes widened, as Hikien's figure suddenly melted away into the figure of... Of Cait Shelter..!

The figures and the faces of all the people she had come to know and love looked back at her with sad, mournful smiles. Her heart fluttered, tears pricking at her eyes as she felt her heart tearing in two.

They began to melt and fade away, everyone she loved... Ghosts and leaving her forever. Leaving her utterly alone, empty.

_If they hadn't destroyed Nirvana... Her home, her family.. They..._

"No! Don't leave me!" She yelled, falling to her knees as the tears streamed from her eyes, all sense of what was going on suddenly lost to her.

"Wendy!" Carla snapped, eyes wide as the girl fell to her knees- staring at something that wasn't there.

"Lets see how much fun we can have with all your memories, shall we?" Hikien grinned, his eyes landing on the form of Laxus- who was moving to attack him again, an angry scowl on his face.

"You ain't doing that again!" Gajeel snapped, his arms swinging forward in the form of a club. Hikien turned into Levy right before his eyes, but he didn't pull up- though in his heart he wanted to.

"I'll make you all forget where you are... You'll be consumed by every shred of grief and heartache and pain you've ever experienced... I'm gonna play with your heads, twisting your worst experiences. Hehe... How fun."

Laxus brought his fist back to strike Hikien again, the man's eyes switched to him with a malicious smirk, as his features melted away into that of Ivan- he faltered slightly, stopping as his father's hand plunged into his chest with a gut wrenching snap of muscle and bone- blood dripping from his mouth as pain swept through his entire being, his power quickly leaving him.

"Laxus! Gajeel!" Frea snapped, eyes narrowed and sweatdropping as everyone around her suddenly stopped dead in their tracks- pain and grief and rage suddenly sparking off of the lot of them in immense, unbearable waves. She flinched at the onslaught of sudden emotion, seeing Gajeel double over in pain as Laxus did the same, before Wendy and Carla alike let out shouts of pain. Iki and Uno roared in agony, clawing at the ground and writhing about as if fire had encased their bodies. "Hey! All of you! Get a hold of yourselves!"

She hissed, seeing Hikien's gaze suddenly land on her from where he stood in the center of her companions, all lost in their own heads and their own painful memories. His orange eyes glittering in malice and dark intrigue, she flinched slightly- feeling a painful prick flash around her temple.

"That lock on your mind... I noticed it before." He murmured softly, smiling widely. "Its pretty powerful... But." She stiffened, seeing that around him the air seemed to grow thick and turn pitch black, a cold chill falling over her body and the sense of his Magic rising. His features twisted more, smiling in a sickly sweet manner toward her as she stared- seeing a shadow pass over his face. She winced, feeling another stab of pain in her temple. She tensed, fists clenching and heart racing.

"Those memories in your head... So dark, and deep... They're powerful... Not even whatever Spell you used to block your mind can stop me.. Not when your memories are so wanting to break free on their own..!"

The world seemed to lose all noise, everything went deathly quiet around her. The only thing she heard- was the unmistakable sound of something _shattering,_ breaking and falling apart- a wave of pure pain racing through her head that she hadn't felt since Kasumi's Memory Sealing Spell began to unravel.

Her silver eyes locked with Hikien's orange ones, seeing the sickening pleasure on his face as her mind seared in agony, feeling his Magic tearing out at the wash of memory that came flooding forward-

_He broke the seal... He broke the Spell I had on my mind... There is no... No damn way..!!!!_

She felt her heart drop, seeing Hikien's figure begin to melt away in the flood of long since buried memories that suddenly rushed up to ram into her. All of the things she had kept hidden and under lock in key in the deepest corners of her mind... Things she kept at bay, for fear of what... _What they..._

They all came crashing down over her head in seconds, and uncontrolled flood, rushing through all on their own accord.

Hikien's features suddenly turned to one of complete and utter horror, sweatdropping heavily as his grip on Frea's mind slipped right from his control in seconds. His own mind was plunged into the sea of agony and fear and despair that rushed over her own head, feeling the wounds she experienced, the pain... The heartbreak, agony... _The sheer torture._

His face pulled into a look of terror, body beginning to shake as his mind was bombarded with all of it against his own will- as he experienced all of it, all the emotion, the feeling... He yelled out in pain, struggling to regain control over his Magic, and her memories threatening to swallow him whole.

The memories... Her past... It had all been much more powerful than he had thought, it was enough to consume his own mind, derail his control and to send him spiraling into the pit of agony that suddenly Frea was living again, he felt him losing himself in it, his Magic losing all control as the flood of memory took control on its own. He felt his mind unhinging, his senses being torn and shredded, yelling and screaming in utter pain at the images, at the life he was living- a life that wasn't his.

As he lost control of his Magic, everyone else were released from his hold on their heads- the memories they relived suddenly gave way to the dark, round room of the Death Bolt Guild, as they stared in utter shock and confusion to see Hikien stepping backward, his entire form shaking and covered in sweat, eyes wild and alight with the look of a man out of his senses. His face pulled into something halfway between a terrified expression, to a pain filled one- and an insane grin as he chuckled in broken, low snippets, eyes shaking a little and all color drained from his face.

His glittering orange eyes landed on Frea- who had come to a stand still, fists clenched at her sides and head tilted down- her hair shadowing her face and keeping it from view. She didn't move, didn't say anything, instead she just stood in deathly silence- as everyone around them stared in complete confusion.

They hadn't been under Hikien's hold for more than a few moments- when suddenly it seemed... _He lost it._ His control, it was shattered, and their ears were bombarded with his screams of pain- seeing him looking so exhausted and frayed, though there wasn't a scratch on him.

"H-how... Hehe... How are..." Hikien stammered in broken fragments, taking a few steps back as if he was off balance, his eyes ever locked onto Frea. His orange eyes suddenly filled with a look of haunting, and some sort of deranged light, ".. hehe... After all... All of... That...! h-How are you... Even sane...?!" He called, his voice rising to a strained, high pitch, sweat pouring down his face. His head cocked, eyes wild and glinting madly, grin twisted and uneasy. Frea stiffened slightly, shoulders hunching a little as everyone else blinked, sweatdropping heavily at the more than odd turn in events.

"What the hell...?" Iki grumbled lowly,

"... What happened..?" Wendy stammered, a little off put by the expression on Hikien's face.

"Hey! What the hell did you do to Silver?!" Gajeel snapped furiously, not liking how silent and unmoving Frea was. Laxus let out a low growl, fists clenching but his narrowed eyes turned to Frea, watching her steadily as he tried to make out if she was hurt or not- he had given his word no one would touch her after all, and it seemed like he may have failed.

Hikien didn't seem to be aware of anyone other than Frea in the room anymore, his suddenly deranged gaze locked to her and his body shaking violently, his twisted grin grew wider, pulling at his suddenly tense and manic features even more.

"... Scratch that... How are you even _human_...?!" He laughed lowly, humorlessly. The question caused Gajeel, Iki, Uno, Carla and Wendy to stiffen slightly, blinking at such an odd question.

Frea let out a low hiss, her arm suddenly moving up as she furiously rubbed it against her face and eyes- which were still hidden from view.

Laxus froze, eyes widening slightly and sweatdropping to see small, faint glittering droplets of moisture suddenly fall through the air to dot the ground at Frea's feet, leaving the stone slightly darker. His breath caught in his throat a moment, eyes wide and staring as his heart seemed to leap a little- hardly believing what he was seeing as she continued to rub at her face with her arm a few more moments, messing her bangs up in the process as the shadow continued to hide her face from their view.

Wendy, Carla and Gajeel blinked in utter shock, managing to catch sight of the glittering droplets just faintly, feeling their hearts drop a little. They could hardly believe it, none of them could, least of all Laxus- who had known Frea for much longer.

".. D-Damn it..." She hissed lowly, too lowly for anyone other than the three other Dragon Slayers to hear the words.

_Was she...?_

In their minds, the image of those glittering droplets hitting the stone at her feet played over again.

_... No way..._

"F-Frea...?" Wendy stammered softly, hands coming up and clasping in front of her,

"Silver..." Gajeel breathed, red eyes staring. He looked dumbfounded a moment, before his expression was pulled into a small, tense frown, eyes narrowing.

If it was Hikien's Magic to reach into people's heads, and to make them relive their most painful memories... He stiffened, eyes wide and sweatdropping heavily.

_"Kasumi didn't think her memory sealing spell through... But even when she had my prisoner the first time, I refused to do it. No matter how many times she yelled at me... or how many times she hurt me..." Frea murmured and he saw the pain flash in her gaze._

_He had never thought about it before now, because when ever he looked at her, he saw strength, power. Even after everything that had happened to her, Silver never actually seemed bothered by it. But right now, he could see it in her eyes. How much Kasumi had hurt her, how much the Key Maker must have put her through._

He remembered that day well, that time they had taken the Job to Jogenen... He remembered clearly, seeing the sheer pain and darkness that she usually kept hidden away when she talked about Kasumi, about her life before Fairy Tail. The awful things that she must have been put through... Things that he and the Guild were sure was nothing less than torture.

His fists clenched, his angry red stare suddenly shifting to the very unstable form of Hikien- feeling rage and unhappiness flaming inside of him.

_That bastard... Did he really... Make her relive all that again?!_

Frea rubbed at her face with her arm a little more, before her arm fell and her fists clenched- shoulders hunched and body rigid, suddenly shaking.

Laxus stared, his mind reeling and his heart suddenly dropping a little- an unexpected wave of anger and something deep, and powerful welling up inside of him. There was something that hit him, some feeling he wasn't familiar with... Something powerful, something that made him tense, something that hurt, ever so slightly. For some reason, seeing Frea so still, seeing those droplets... _Tears._

_She was crying._

He had never, not once- in all the years he had known her- he had never once seen her cry over anything. He'd never seen her eyes water from pain or rage, or even sadness... She never did that, she never cried... And now, seeing her crying... His face fell as a shadow passed over it, his body growing rigid and fists clenching tightly.

He didn't know why, or what it was... But seeing Frea like that, he didn't like it. In reality- he hated that, and his rage toward the man who had done that grew fiercer.

His jaw clenched, a vein ticking on his forehead.

He'd never thought about it.. For the longest time he hadn't cared. He had been so caught up in that stupid, childish hate he held for Frea to ever even wonder about it... To give it any notice, but in the back of his mind- he knew very well;

Frea had been hurt in her life. Maybe a lot worse, and a lot deeper than anybody else he knew. She had suffered, and still she had never let it hold her down... Because she didn't dwell on it. She didn't think about it, and she didn't think about it for good reason- because her past? It was deep and dark and so very painful... It was enough to drive anyone insane. But she kept it at bay, and now- that bastard...

_... I'm an idiot! I told the Old Man.. I gave my word... I wasn't going to let anyone touch her... Damn it!_

His eyes snapped up, seeing Frea's head snap up toward Hikien. He faltered, eyes wide and sweatdropping the intensely dark look across her face, her rage twisted, painful expression- her eyes steely and cold...

She looked murderous... Like she wanted to kill...

"... You..." She hissed lowly, her tone sending shivers up their spines at the clear and incredibly powerful venom in it. Hikien flinched at her gaze, sweating more and trembling harder. Everyone flinched, feeling a sudden wave of pressure radiate from her- though her Magic didn't make itself visible,

"I am going to _kill_ you."

Wendy flinched, eyes wide and trembling a little. She had heard Frea say those words before... But she had never heard the Energy Dragon Slayer say them and truly mean it. Frea fought people to beat them, not to kill. But suddenly, they could hear the bloodlust- and her deathly murderous gaze, that shocked them, and made them a little nervous. It was a sudden glimpse to a side of Frea they hadn't ever seen before, nor wanted to see in all honesty...

Frea took a step forward, suddenly looking ready to move against the man- only to stop short, blinking in utter shock as Gajeel appeared beside her suddenly, his arm grabbing on to hers with an iron grip, he shook his head at her once- looking serious as she stiffened.

Uno and Iki leapt forward, their jaws clamping down onto one of Hikien's legs each, earning a yell of pain from the man as he was rendered suddenly immobile- their claws digging into the ground underneath in case he tried to make a run for it.

Wendy held her arms out in front of her, a Magic Circle appearing in the air before her, eyes hard and expression resolute. "Power of the stout arms that tear heaven... Arms!"

Frea stared, suddenly seeing a flash of gold race across the room toward Hikien in the form of Laxus- whose expression was one a dark fury and rage. Wendy's Spell fell over him, making his already colossal strength suddenly tenfold- the feel of his anger washing over her in sync with the feeling of his Power.

His fist swung back, moving like a blur as gold electricity danced around the room wildly- eyes dark and locked on to Hikien who watched him coming with wide, terrified eyes.

_No one... Nobody gets away with that...!_

Laxus' power increased tenfold, his furious gaze locking with Hikien's, jaw clenched and seething in anger.

_No way in hell anybody gets away with doing that to her!_

"Roaring Thunder!" Laxus' voice was nearly lost to the deafening series of booms that shook the room to its core, Hikien engulfed in the rain of electricity that connected with him as Laxus' fist rammed into his face with a resounding crack. Shadows were torn out at and cast away as they battled with the blinding light of the lightning, Hikien's yell of agony ringing around them as the man was released from the jaws of Uno and Iki- who jumped away as soon as Laxus' attack made contact.

Hikien smashed into the wall behind him, shattering it and creating a small crater- his eyes whited out as all sense left him, and he crumpled to the floor, utterly defeated.

Frea stood in stiff silence, eyes slightly wide and locked to the scene- Gajeel's hold on her arm remaining.

... She was shocked... She couldn't remember the last time she had seen Laxus so furious.. So fierce... So angry.

_He just... He used that move against Jura.. Didn't he...?_

Unbeknownst to her, there had been a quick exchange of words that had passed between Wendy, Gajeel, Laxus, Iki and Uno alike in those few seconds Frea had started to move. With her being so intent on killing the man- they had immediately been aware they couldn't let her do it. Not only was she still hurt, but as angry as she was... No matter how much pain Hikien may have forced her through, they couldn't in good conscience let her murder him in cold blood. Even if maybe he deserved it.

They were Wizards of Fairy Tail... They didn't kill. They wouldn't let her stoop down to the level these bastards in Death Bolt were at. Wizards like them, who murdered and shattered lives without remorse- that wasn't who they were, who Frea was. They couldn't let her kill him, no matter what.

Though, maybe they wanted to themselves...

The feel of Frea's Magical Pressure suddenly lessened, still gazing at Laxus, who had his back turned to her while still glaring daggers at the downed Hikien. Her mind was swirling... Painful and dark, but suddenly... For a minute she was still.

_... What is this...?_

_... This feeling... Am I feeling it...? Or..._

She blinked, sweatdropping slightly.

_... Is this something I'm feeling from... Laxus...?_

There was something she didn't recognize... But there was anger... Anger she knew too well. Anger toward one self...

Unbeknownst to her, he was thoroughly pissed with himself for letting Frea get dragged into that fight before he managed to take Hikien out. He didn't like that he hadn't made good on his word, Frea wasn't supposed to get involved... And damn it, because he got so wrapped up in his head, she had been dragged in... And he freaking hated that.

"Silver," Frea's thoughts snapped back to the present, faintly aware that for a few moment there, everything had slowed and quieted. At the sound of Gajeel's voice, as reality sped back up- the pain over her body suddenly flared to life again, and more powerfully, the agonizing waves of pain rushing through her head continually. With that, suddenly a wash of light headedness rammed into her, and she had to try hard not to wince nor sway.

What Hikien did... That made her angrier than could be imagined, that sent her mind racing without proper thought, and she had been ready and willing to lay into the man- but now it dissipated, and she felt cold and frayed. She sweatdropped slightly,

_... And maybe a little..._

"Silver." Gajeel said again when she failed to answer, his voice low and red eyes locked to her. Her eyes closed and he stiffened, sweatdropping a little.

She suddenly sank to the floor to sit on her heels, his grip on her arm tightening a little as he tried to steady her as she sat down without warning, crouching next to her and eyes narrowed and glittering. He didn't fail to notice how frayed and distracted she was, nor how tense- and his heart sank a little to see how unusually pale she was. She looked awful in all reality, and it wasn't just physically anymore- it was mentally.

His arm rest on her uninjured shoulder lightly, sweatdropping as she brought a hand to her chest, breathing in a few times as if to settle her nerves.

"... Tch..." He mumbled, "... Silver... You ok...?" He mumbled, though he was sure he knew the answer. But he was also sure she was going to deny what he thought, but he felt maybe a little worried... If any of his suspicions about her past were even remotely true, and seeing how Hikien reacted to what had seen of her past- he was a little concerned about her.

"... Fine..." She mumbled nearly half-heartedly, her eyes still closed. He sighed heavily,

"... Damn it... This is why you shouldn't have showed up.." He muttered, his red eyes trailing to Laxus a moment.

What on earth possessed that monster of a man to let her come to Death Bolt at all...?

"... Thanks... For stopping me..." She mumbled lowly, he blinked, seeing her eyes on the floor, before he nodded slightly.

"Frea!" Wendy said, suddenly appearing beside them with worried eyes. She settled down next to them, looking concerned as she leaned in toward Frea with wide eyes. "Are you alright? Hikien didn't... He didn't... Did he...?" She stammered, looking unsure as Frea sweatdropped a little.

"... I'm alright. He didn't manage to mess with my head too much." Frea murmured lowly. "And he didn't actually hit me either, so I'm fairly ok."

"But... I thought mind related Magic didn't work on you...?" Wendy asked quietly, looking unconvinced of the answer. Frea stiffened slightly, her fists clenching.

"... It wasn't supposed to." She replied through gritted teeth. Iki and Uno approached slightly, changing from their Beast Soul forms with Carla beside them- looking a little uneasy.

"... What's going on? Where is everyone?" Frea asked suddenly, changing the subject as her eyes rest on Gajeel steadily. "Tell me everything you know." She said lowly, almost in a commanding tone- he stiffened slightly, seeing that haunted look in her eyes suddenly go away, as more of the Frea he was used to came back.

"... I got split off from everybody else by that guy." He replied, gesturing toward Hikien's crumpled form. "Last I knew- Salamander and a few of the others were going head to head with that Tomaru guy. Lily and the blue cat rushed off down another corridor, trying to find Moon. I haven't heard anything from them since, the Telepathic Link's been goin' in and out for awhile now." He quirked an eyebrow at her, "Ain't yer Energy Sense supposed to tell you where everyone is pretty easy?" He asked and she blinked,

"Everything's growing more and more distorted, because of the overwhelming power I can feel Shadow building up." She replied lowly, he blinked in slight shock at the sudden name. Frea sweatdropped slightly, "She's planning something big... I can't reach my senses anywhere near where she is, let alone farther into this place anymore..."

"Wait a minute, Shadow?" He asked immediately, sweatdropping himself at the sudden seriousness that fell over everyone else. "You mean.. That Shadow..?!" He nearly stammered, Frea nodded.

"She's alive, and she's here." Frea muttered lowly, he frowned.

"... Don't tell me that's what that ghost-chic was talking about.." He grumbled, earning a blink from Frea.

"Jynx? She knew?" Frea asked and he nodded slightly, Frea scowled slightly, looking considerably miffed as her eyes fell closed again, fists clenching in her lap.

"Yeah, but she didn't tell us exactly what it was." He grumbled, running a hand through his hair.

"You think the Old Man knows?"

They all jumped slightly at the sound of Laxus' voice, not having noticed him approaching the group at all. Now he stood beside them, arms over his chest and expression tense, yet neutral.

"Or the rest of the Guild, for that matter?" Wendy murmured, looking concerned.

Gajeel shook his head a little, shrugging his shoulders just slightly. "No clue... If he does, he didn't say anything. As for the rest of the Guild, I'd say we're all in the dark... Though I'm sure they'll find out soon enough, if what Silver said is true about Shadow gathering power."

_Damn Jynx... How could she not have warned everyone about this?!_

"... Frea." Her attention snapped upward, seeing Carla had settled her with a worried and tense expression, paws clenched at her sides. It had been the white she-cat to say her name, and she blinked- feeling fear begin sparking off of her.

"Hmm?" She hummed, blinking a few times and suddenly a little tense.

"... I keep having visions... But more and more, I think they're less visions... Than they are something trying to tell me something." Carla started slowly, gaining the attention of everyone else. Her eyes fell to the ground, stiffening slightly. "The darkness is still there... And that ball of light I mentioned earlier... But now there's a voice I don't recognize. I thought at first it may have been someone in the Guild saying something, but I don't recognize it at all."

"What is it saying?" Wendy pressed, Carla sweatdropped.

"... That light is fading. That darkness has taken too much control, and that the light is going to be destroyed." Carla murmured, "... Also, something about... Two sides. Two forces, and a scale. That one does not exist without the other, and that one side is buried, or trapped, or something of that nature." Frea's eyes narrowed in slight confusion along with everyone else's, Carla shook her head a little, looking a little frustrated. "That there are two halves, of a single whole. And that is how it had always been."

Frea stiffened slightly, blinking a few times as the words suddenly struck an odd chord in her head. She felt that way at what Carla was saying... For whatever reason it seemed familiar. Like she had heard them before, or maybe even read them somewhere... Some time ago... But what was it about...?

_Why does that sound like some thing I've heard before?_

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Gajeel grumbled,

"Sounds ominous." Uno commented lowly,

"Almost... Prophetic, wouldn't you say?" Iki murmured, head tilting slightly. Laxus' eyes narrowed, as he let out a small 'hmm'.

"... And the person, in the center of the ball of light." Carla continued, Frea's attention snapping back to her. The she-cats eyes trailed back up to her, "Its still blurred, and hard to make out... I'm not certain, but I think there's two people... Some young man I've never seen... And Moon, I think." Frea blinked in confusion, not sure what on earth any of that could mean. Someone trying to give Carla a message? Two halves of a whole? Moon and some guy in a hall of light...? What the hell?! Seriously..?!

And still she couldn't shake this feeling, the familiarity in a way... But why?!

Her attention snapped away from the matter at hand, suddenly feeling the air begin to shake and be choked with the waves of power rolling from the feel of Shadow's Power somewhere in the Guild. The insane strength and evilness of it rammed into her like a hammer, suddenly knocking her breath from her at how quickly it seemed to grow- eyes wide and sweatdropping, feeling suddenly cold and chilled.

Around them the underground passage ways of the Death Bolt Guild began to shake, stone and rubble lying about them trembling and jumping as everything around them shook fiercely- almost in tune with the insane amount of power that Frea felt from Shadow so suddenly, the darkness, the cold... Everyone else around her looked about wildly, sweatdropping heavily.

"What the-?!"

"What is that?"

"This feeling... The immensity of this Magic, its insane..!"

"Is this... The power of Shadow?"

Her body went rigid, suddenly feeling something else flare on the edge of her senses, her eyes locked to the ground. In her mind, the feeling of all this.. It was all empty, cold swirling black. The deathly clutches of immense shadow and evil Energy... But suddenly something else popped up out of seemingly nowhere. Something old, something powerful... Something white. Light, and pure... _Familiar._

Her eyes went wide as her wild and spread out thoughts suddenly started to click together quickly, even despite her pain, her exhaustion, her own emotions running wild, though she hid them- suddenly things started to make more sense, and her heart began to race.

She _had_ heard those words before- and now she remembered where. In an ancient tome she had managed to scrounge up in the earlier days of being in the Guild- an item she was faintly sure sat amongst the piles of books on her desk at Fairy Hills now. She had spent a great amount of her earlier time in the Guild trying to understand more about the two Demons trapped away inside of her- though hardly anything had ever been written or recorded, as old as they were, and their ever mysterious creator, Zeref.

There are two halves, of a single whole. And that is how it had always been. One does not exist without the other, they remain as a balance on a scale forged long, long ago.

She had always been faintly aware of this herself, knowing there was a reason Shadow existed the same as Winter did... One light, the other dark. They completed one another, and they always had, and always would.

_If Shadow is here... Then...!_

_That boy..._

The ground and tunnels about them continued to shake violently a few more moments, as Frea suddenly jumped to her feet, eyes narrowed and sweatdropping heavily- a sudden rush of light and energy seeming to stir inside of her. Everyone jumped slightly at how fast she moved, eyes wide and expressions confused as to why she looked so serious all of the sudden- not missing the sudden light of understanding in her silver eyes.

"Frea?" Wendy and Carla questioned immediately.

"What's up with you?" Laxus grumbled, eyebrow quirked at the unhappy expression pulling at her features- and the sudden air of urgency coming from her. Frea didn't take any time to answer, her silver gaze sweeping about them quickly, focused entirely on something else as her first clenched at her sides.

"Jynx!" She snapped loudly, catching them off guard at the venom and commanding way in which her voice suddenly became. They blinked, a little confused as to why she was yelling the ghosts name at all-

In a haze of purple, the very tired and tense looking figure of Jynx appeared in front of the Energy Dragon Slayer, looking wary. Her arm was blackened and looked to be crumbling away into pieces, like she had been hit- but how? She was a freaking ghost, wasn't she?

Frea didn't seem at all concerned with Jynx's haggard appearance at all, and the black haired girl blinked at the Energy Dragon Slayer, seemingly expectant.

"You are aware of what sleeps here?" Jynx said lowly, cutting off Frea before she could say anything else.

"No shit." Frea hissed lowly, voice dripping in clear dislike for the ghost. "Can you get to Moon?" She asked and Jynx blinked,

"No... Shadow is blocking me from the room now, I have been trying to return there for some time now." The ghost girl relented lowly, looking unhappy. Frea hissed, sweatdropping slightly before letting out a low growl. If that wasn't going to work... Her hand swung forward, letting the back of it face the ghost girl, silver eyes blazing in a fire unlike any other.

"Take this damned thing off!" She snapped, on her skin remaining the black crescent moon mark- which, now as they thought on it- was why her Magic hadn't appeared, while they felt her Magic Pressure had.

"What do you plan-?" Jynx replied lowly, red eyes narrowed to slits. Frea's face grew all the more furious, silver eyes glinting angrily.

"Now!" She snapped, Jynx sighed heavily, before drawing her index finger across the air before her- and the Magic Limiter faded from Frea's skin.

"Hey! You ain't fighting anybody Silver!" Gajeel snapped immediately,

"You can't be using Magic, Frea!" Wendy warned immediately,

"What the hell are you doing?" Laxus growled, sending a small glare at Jynx. His eyes locked to Frea again, "We're not letting you go after anyone, I told you that before we left, woman." He growled, tone slightly warning.

"That's not it." Frea muttered, eyes closing as she clasped her hands in front of her. "Even if I wanted to, we're too far for me to do anything I'd like... But I get it now. And I need my Magic for this at least." She muttered, tone firm and leaving no room for argument- though they seemed ready to do so. They weren't about to let her start using Magic willy nilly and running around like an idiot- didn't matter if Shadow was there, or things seemed to be getting worse. She was half dead already, and they didn't want her to get more hurt than she already was- though she wasn't making it easy. And they were a little miffed too- that Jynx had taken the Limiter off with so little argument on the matter.

They stared, eyes narrowed and trying very hard to understand what Frea was doing, and what had caused her to jump into action so quickly. It was almost like she suddenly knew more than they did, but how?!

"... Tch... I've never been... Good at this..." She hissed under her breath, sweatdropping slightly. They could feel her Magic rise, though softly, and not very much at all- it wasn't some insane, complex spell. But what?

"What the hell are you tryin' to do?" Gajeel snapped lowly,

"What the hell is going on? You mind sharing with the class?" Uno muttered bluntly, paws crossing over her chest.

"I didn't think the Guild could win, against Shadow." Frea admitted quietly, catching them off guard. "... I didn't think anybody could beat her, I couldn't manage it with the help of Winter... She survived that, and how powerful she is now, from what I can feel... Her strength is stifling." They stiffened slightly, she still didn't open her eyes- the Death Bolt Guild around them suddenly stopped shaking under their feet. "I didn't think we could win... But I think I know how we can."

They blinked in shock, eyes wide.

"What?"

"How?"

"What you said, Carla- I've heard those words before." Frea murmured, "It was something old... Something cryptic and vague, but I think I get it now. There are two halves- two forces, and they exist together."

"But... What two forces..?" Wendy murmured,

"Shadow embodies darkness, and pure evil... But she was countered with light and pureness itself, innocence and good." Frea murmured, Jynx's eyes grew wide, sweatdropping slightly.

"... They exist together, always. One doesn't survive without the other..." The ghost girl breathed, "Energy Dragon, you mean to say that the other power is here..?" She asked and Frea nodded.

"Other power..?" Iki and Uno mujred in unison,

"Yer saying there's something else around, that's supposed to be able to beat Shadow...?" Gajeel huffed, "I'm not really getting any of this, Silver." He mumbled, they were all still a little confused- and rather unsure. It would seem they were missing something that both Frea and Jynx seemed to get.

"Its complicated... And its a theory." Frea replied softly, "But... Its the best choice we have right now... Which is why, I need to be able to... Get in contact... With..."

"Contact...?"

_Damn it... I can't... I can't find..._

She stiffened slightly, not liking this sensation at all- she felt suddenly vulnerable and out in the open, and she winced slightly in pain. This Magic had never come easy to her, even long before she had put that Seal on her mind... She'd never been able to use it effectively, but she had to do her best.

Shadow would kill everyone, she knew that to be the one truth about all of this. She couldn't let that happen, especially not to Fairy Tail, not to Moon... Everyone had to come home safe.

_I have to... Do this damn it...!_

Her body grew rigid, suddenly feeling a great strain start pulling at her body as she continued to push that Magic- it was harder than it should have been, and she hated that- and only grew more agitated.

Her eyes snapped open, her Magic flaring around her in small, faint waves of silver circling her feet, feeling her Magic ram into them suddenly- as her eyes locked to the roof over their heads, fists clenching at her sides as her Magic continued to flow continually, though she seemed to be struggling. Everyone blinked, still lost as to what she was..?

 _"LILY?!"_ Her shout echoed across the room loudly, sharp and steely- they jumped back in utter shock, her voice so loud and somewhat off putting- as they stared in complete and utter shock.

Her voice ran through their _heads,_ not just their ears.

The other members of Fairy Tail fighting inside of Death Bolt all came to a sudden stand still, eyes wide and sweatdropping heavily at the all too familiar voice racing through their minds- and a voice they had never once heard through Telepathic Communication at all. They had thought she couldn't use such Magic-?!

_"Frea?!"_

_"The hell?! How are you able to use this?!"_

_"I thought Mind Related Magic didn't work on you?!"_

Her fists clenching a little, sweatdropping at their voices suddenly running through her head- and rather hating the feel of it. She didn't like this Magic... At all. But for now she ignored their voices- only looking for one, she hadn't enough skill nor control with this sort of Magic to single him out on his own, and instead she was sending her thoughts out to everyone in the Guild  
without meaning to.

"Pantherlily!" She snapped again, growling a little as she pushed the Magic as far as she could- trying her hardest to break past the block that seemed to be keeping her at bay. Those around her blinked, very confused as to why she was yelling the black tom-cats name. He had to answer, she couldn't get anywhere close to Moon's mind- to which she had been aiming for. If what Gajeel said was right, and Lily was with Moon- he was her best chance for now.

_"Why do you wanna talk to Lily?"_

_"What are you planning?"_

_"The Telepathic Link has been blocked off for a long while now, Frea... I'm not sure you can..."_

"It has to work! I'm gonna make it work damn it!" Frea snapped coldly, causing Mira to trail off. Her Magic flared a little brighter, hair shifting slightly as everyone around her stiffened slightly, looking a little less than thrilled that she was using Magic at all.

 _"You shouldn't be here, brat!"_ Master's voice reached her then, sounding furious and almost unbearably loud in her mind- she flinched at it, feeling the ache in her head grow worse. _"Why that brat of a grandson let you come is beyond me, stop this foolishness at once! You are in no condition to be using Magic of any sort!"_ Frea hissed,

 _"The Old Man is right, you know."_ Gray grumbled,

 _"You already hurt enough as it is, Teach.."_ Chase murmured, her eyes fell closed again- still forcing the Telepathic Link, battling against the swath of Magic holding it back as she did her best to lock on to Lily. Her teeth gritted, sweatdropping slightly at the flurry of voices in her head- all of them making the pain rushing through her head worse, making her already frayed and strained mind stretch all the more, as her concentration and Magic struggled desperately to keep going.

_She hated this... Hated having people in her head... Damn that Hikien Bastard... How dare..._

"Everyone, shut it for a minute!" She snapped loudly, her suddenly commanding tone causing the murmuring to cease- much to her relief. "I'm not at all good with this sort of Magic, and you all are not helping... Just please, yell at me later! I have to talk to Lily, he's with Moon- and they are in the most danger! Jynx told you there was a Darkness here, but what you don't realize is what that Darkness actually is! If I don't manage to get in touch with Lily- they are going to die! And then the rest of the Guild is definitely next!"

_"... What do you mean?"_

"We're wasting time, just trust me and let me focus!" She replied curtly, sensing that everyone had frown tense, and she could tell they all had a lot of questions. She could feel tenseness sparking in the air from the whole of Fairy Tail spread about Death Bolt, she could feel their confusion and the seriousness it was so heavy. "A few minutes of silence- enough to let me reach Lily! That is all I am asking!"

_"... You got it, Frea."_

_"Do what you can, but please- do not push yourself too hard."_ Master mumbled, sounding hesitant and rather unhappy, as well as a little worried. She sighed internally, relieved they had given in so easily. She would have to thank them all for that later... As well as surely explain everything, once they made it out of this.

 _Let this work, please..._ Her magic flared up stronger, the dim around them suddenly battled by bright silver as it swirled about her feet. Those around her stiffened slightly, tense and looking serious.

"Lily!"

* * *

 

_"LILY!"_

_His eyes snapped open, sweatdropping heavily and eyes growing wide in horror as Moon suddenly appeared between himself and the onslaught of Shadow Magic coming toward him. Time itself seemed to slow down as he watched on helplessly, seeing the attacks nearing her as she faced them, her paws held out on either side of her, pale blue eyes glinting in fear and steadfast determination._

_"What are you doing?!" He yelled, his heart plummeting. "You can't! Those attacks will kill you! Moon!"_

_"Nobody else is going to die for me!" She snapped back, her voice resolute, and so strong and firm it caught him off guard. Despite how wounded she was, despite how much pain she was in and how hard it was to move at all- still she had planted herself in front of him like a shield without any hesitation._

_"No one is dying for me! Not ever again!"_

**"MOON!"**

Everything exploded around them, the room shaking to its core, the floor suddenly littered with deep cracks and crevices that ran along its entire length. Bits and pieces of the roof crumbled to the ground below, tables rendered nothing but splinters- lamps crashing around them and near all light suddenly destroyed in pitch black darkness.

Lily was thrown across the room by the sheer force of insane pressure that rendered from the attack, yelling in pain as he smashed into the floor and then piles of rubble- his body bouncing painfully. He lost sight of Moon entirely in the deep black cloud of Shadow Magic that engulfed the area she had been in- he saw Happy ram into a wall with a loud smack from the corner of his eye, his vision blurring and blackened on the edges from pain and blood loss.

But his mind raced in terror, looking about wildly as his heart thumped in his chest, feeling a deep cold lump in the pits of his stomach. Moon got hit by that, she took the brunt of that attack... It was so powerful, she couldn't have managed to.. To survive that..!

"Moon!" He yelled, voice sounding hoarse as he struggled to try and sit up, arms trembling furiously.

"Hmm...?" Shadow hummed lowly, red eyes narrowed and glinting. Her beastly form overlooking the cloud of shadow and dust that was still attempting to settle, a frown pulling at her lips.

Lily took in a breath of air he hadn't known he had been holding, eyes wide and astounded to see Moon's form as the cloud began to clear. She was on her knees, arms propping her body up as she panted and gasped for air, fur singed and bleeding in a few more places than before, looking the ever more ragged- but alive, and a lot less wounded than he had been expecting.

On the stone floor around her paws, etched into the stone by Magic was a line of Runes he knew nothing of- or what they said. They glowed faintly in gold a few moments, Moon still gasping for air and a steady drip of blood falling from the edge of her mouth. But how... How did she..?! She couldn't have had hardly any Magic left, let alone any strength with the state she was in- yet she had managed to shield herself some how, and stop the full force of the attack?

His eyes widened, utterly astounded... He knew in his heart Moon was strong... He just hadn't realized...

_"No one is dying for me!"_

_Her determination... It was so strong..._

"So you managed to block it with those Runes, Moony?" Shadow grumbled lowly, her tone bordering a low growl. "That's rather impressive for you..." Moon hissed in pain, struggling to try and sit up.

"... I am not... Going to let you... Kill my friends..." She hissed, "... I'm not... Going to... Let anyone... Die trying to save me, or protect me... Not again..." Her paws clenched at her sides, her pale blue gaze resting on Shadow's form, filled with pain and undeniable fiery determination- unlike anything either Lily nor Happy had seen in her before.

"Its time I start saving myself." She growled, eyes blazing in cool blue fire.

"What are you gonna do, Moony?" Shadow growled, "Little, weak you?"

"Anything, and everything I can!" Moon snapped back, her voice starting to rise as a sort of newfound energy made its way into her. "Its time I stood up for myself, and protected everyone else! All those who've risked everything to save me, help me- those who died protecting me, those people I care for most! My Family!" Happy and Lily stared, wide eyes and jaws slightly dropped. It didn't seem possible for her to look so strong and steadfast so suddenly- how could she? After all the pain and torture and beatings she had endured?

The look Moon wore- it was resolute. The look of someone who had finally pushed themselves to do better, someone who had shaken off everything holding her back- the look of someone who had made a vow. A vow to do better, be stronger- a vow to fight, to stand up against those who would harm and kill her. Those who harmed and killed people she cared for.

She wasn't going to sit back anymore, she couldn't. She couldn't just watch and be helpless as the people she loved got hurt and ended up dead. The pain, unbearable sadness of remembering Kyo.. Of remembering Frea. The things the both of them did for her, all the times they stood up in her defense and kept at bay what would hurt her- even at the cost of themselves. She felt weak, she was... She couldn't do anything, she always relied on other people- and it was time to rely in herself. She had to be the one to protect those she cared for now- she had to be the one to fight, instead of them.

"You can't beat me, Moony." Shadow snarled, and it was true... Under no circumstance could Moon see herself winning in this situation. She was hardly standing, what little Magic she had left and managed to use to block the blow that would have killed both Lily and herself- that Magic was nearly gone. Her mind tried to come up with countless ways to try and win- and never could find a way.

But hell if she was going to give in. She was going to give it her all, do her absolute best. She had to be stronger, she had to protect them, Happy and Lily, the Guild- her friends and her Family.

_Protect them- with everything I have!_

"I have to try!" She snapped, paws raising as the determination set in deeper, and the sudden flux of energy and fire burned brighter inside of her- feeling a small rush of strength seep into her limbs and her heart. "I'm going to do everything I can to protect the people I love!"

Lily stared, eyes wide and shocked at how much ferocity seemed to ignite in Moon in those few moments. It was as if her pain seemed to begin to fade away, strength began to well up inside of her. He'd never heard Moon speak like this, with so much fierce sincerity- so much determination and sudden power. In her heart she believed in everything she said she would do, we meant it more deeply than anything she had ever meant before- and it was all in effort to protect everyone she cared for. He hadn't known she felt this all so deeply... It was a sudden change in Moon that was unbelievably profound and powerful. He was in near awe, feeling something stir inside his chest at seeing her like that- as a flash of gold appeared and before her erected several lines of runes, eyes narrowed and completely prepared to fight with everything she had.

"No one else is dying for me!"

She was so determined to keep them safe, to keep Shadow from killing them... It was her sudden determination to protect them that was filing this sudden change in her now, her desire to keep them alive... She wanted it so badly she had been willing to risk her life to save him.

_"Lily!"_

Somewhere in the back of his head he heard his name called out, thinking it an echo of Moon yelling his name before... His fists clenched, feeling angry suddenly.

He was supposed to be saving her... Not the other way around, he felt useless. Moon was stronger than he was... Much stronger.

"Give it your best, cat!" Shadow snapped, lunging forward toward Moon.

"Moon!" Happy called, looking worried.

Moon rolled sideways, missing Shadow's snapping jaws by seconds- her arm swimming out as the Runes suddenly blazed brighter.

"Hctac!" She yelled, a wall of Magic sprung up around Shadow's jaws- exploding with a heavy boom and earning a yelp of pain from the dark Demon.

_**"Lily!"** _

His eyes widened, suddenly hearing it clear as a bell- his eyes still stuck to Moon as she used Aera to climb into the air, fighting fiercely, and dodging where she could. She was battling so strongly, with so much skill and ferocity... But his attention snapped away from that, and to the sudden voice.

He knew it immediately, and his heart jumped a little- flinching at how loud it was, and how unexpected.

"F-Frea...?" He stammered lowly, ears twitching. How was she... In his head?!

 _"Lily!"_ Her voice snapped again, sounding urgent and yet a little relieved he had answered. But how had she managed to push through the block that had been keeping the Telepathic Link from working? And how was she using it at all, Magic such as it wasn't supposed to work on Frea at all!

 _"Lily, I can't manage to get a hold of Moon. Is she alright?!"_ Frea said quickly, his mind still trying hard to wrap about what was going on.

"Y-yes... She's alive." He replied, "She's actually battling Shadow now..."

" _Listen Lily! Moon, she had a friend a long time ago- his name was Kyo! She learned Magic from him, I need to know- did he use Light Magic?"_ Frea said quickly, he blinked.

"Why?"

 _"I just need to know! I might have a way to defeat Shadow!"_ Frea replied quickly, sounding impatient. With what was going on, she hadn't any time to explain- and it almost seemed she was having a hard time keeping the Magic going. _"We don't have time to argue, or go into it! You guys won't last long against Shadow! Ask her, now!!"_

Lily's eyes narrowed, he wasn't sure what Frea was getting at... But he could hear how serious she was in her voice.

He hissed, teeth gritting together as he struggled to his feet, holding his torso and winching harshly at the stab of pain sweeping through him at moving at all.

"Moon!" He yelled, jumping forward and grasping on to his sword despite his pain- forcing his Battle Mode to activate again, though keeping it was proving hard. Her ears flicked, as she moved out of the way of one of Shadow's tails- eyes sparing a glance in his way.

"Kyo! Did he use Light Magic?!" He asked quickly, blood still dropping from the edge of his mouth. Moon stiffened at the name, looking shocked that he knew it at all- and why it was brought up.

"B-but... Why...?" She stammered,

"Did he?!" Lily snapped, hearing Frea tell him to hurry. She blinked, sweatdropping heavily and looking unsure, before slowly nodding.

"Y-yes.."

"He did," Lily answered,

 _"Moon uses Copy-Cat Magic. She must have copied some of Kyo's Spells."_ Frea murmured, tone low and serious. _"Shadow exists in this world as pure darkness, but she doesn't ever exist alone. Moon's friend, by some power or other- his presence counteracted with Shadow's. While she is Darkness, he must have been Light."_ Lily blinked, mind reeling and having a hard time understanding everything she was saying- or where she was going with it. _"Lily, there might be a way to defeat Shadow! And I think Moon knows it!"_ He stiffened, eyes growing wide.

_"She has to think! Tell her to remember everything she can about Kyo's Light Magic! Somewhere, sometime... Somehow inside of her, she can find a way to win! She has to try and remember!"_

_"I believe in her! And you need to too! She can do it, she just needs to remember! Do what you can to help her win Lily! For your sake, for hers, and for the Guild! Got it?!"_

Lily paused slightly, mind racing.

 _"Light and Dark will always be born together, they will always clash! Its up to us to make sure that Dark doesn't win over Light! In this situation, Moon is the light that battles Shadow as the Dark,"_ Frea went on, her voice dropping a little. _"I get its confusing, and you don't understand it all- but you guys, I think you can make it work. You can win! Believe in yourselves!"_

Of course... Everything she was saying to him was one large pile of guesswork and pure theory. She hadn't any actual idea Moon would have copied a Spell from Kyo that would work to beat Shadow, but she had to try something. And in the back of her mind, that feeling of bright white never went away.

This was all complex and seemingly impossible, and yet she felt she had a grasp on the situation. In her head it made complete and utter sense, because somewhere inside of her she felt it was absolutely true. It may not seem possible, or even plausible- but there were plenty of things that common sense couldn't explain in this world very well at all. Hell, Energy Magic itself was a mystery that didn't seem like it should work- and yet it did. This here, this was a leap of faith... And she dearly hoped she was guessing right.

In her heart she was growing more and more sure that Shadow was always paired with some form of Light to counteract her evil. In her, it had been Shadow and Winter to keep the balance... In Death Bolt, Shadow had taken hold of someone, and she felt sure that Kyo was the other half of the whole that battled with Shadow. And now, Moon was that other half- in her Partner there must be some shred of what Light Kyo held, because of who Moon was, and her Magic.

In Carla's vision, she thought she saw Moon next to some young man in a ball of light. None of them knew Kyo to be able to recognize him, so she was guessing that's who that guy was- not that she had any proof.

More than anything, she knew that Shadow couldn't win. If she did, the Guild was going to get killed. Darkness would win, and they couldn't let that happen. She had to have faith, in this feeling inside of her, in that feel of pure white surrounding Moon's Energy Signature now, something powerful and old.

This has to be what's going on... We need it to work. Moon needs to win! And Lily needed to do everything he could to help her do that.

 _"Do I have your word Lily?"_ Frea murmured, he stiffened slightly. _"You will do everything you can, you will help Moon to save the Guild, and to beat Shadow?"_

"Yes." He replied nearly instantly, a resoluteness making its way into his voice, she smiled just slightly at it. "I don't understand all of it, but I trust you're reasoning. And I do have faith in Moon- she's much more powerful than I ever knew. I do think she can win, and I will help her in any way she needs." His grip about his sword tightened, standing a little straighter as he pushed his pain and weakness away as best he could, steely determination starting to spark inside of him.

 _"Good."_ She replied, _"The rest of the Guild, we're gonna try and get to you as fast as we can. In the meantime- fight hard and win!"_

"Right!"

* * *

 

Frea's attention fell down toward Uno and Iki, ignoring the confused and questioning looks she was receiving from everyone. They couldn't understand why it was she looked so sure so suddenly, so confident.

"You two- what do you smell?" She asked, earning a blink from them, and small sweatdrops.

"Uh...?"

"... I guess... Something hot, and smoky... And maybe something like... Cake..?" Iki replied, deciding best not to argue.

"Sounds like the Salamander and Titania." Gajeel grumbled, Frea nodded.

"Erza was with Gajeel, the closest group to where Moon is." Frea murmured, seeing the pair of Exceed's eyes glint suddenly. "You two follow her scent, you'll move faster than the rest of us- help out where you can. And try to get closer to Moon, Happy and Lily." They nodded stiffly, gold light shimmering about their forms.

"Right! You got it!" They said in unison, suddenly their bodies changing to their massive Etherious Forms. They leapt forward down the nearest tunnel, lost from sight in moments.

"What are you gonna do?" The question was asked by both Gajeel and Gildarts at once. The rest of the Guild still connected through the Link, Frea sweatdropped slightly at the feel of it again.

"I'm going to join the rest of the Guild." She replied, earning small frowns from everyone else around her. "Don't argue, just go with it. It looks like you guys already took out most of Death Bolt, I can still move around without too much trouble at least. I'll be fine."

The group standing before her narrowed their eyes, looking tense and rather unconvinced of the words. In all reality, after what happened with Tomaru, and now to what happened with Hikien- they were very convinced that she was not in any way 'fine'. Though she hid that rather well, they could just tell- and their bodies tensed in worry.

"Tch... We don't like it." The Guild replied lowly,

"You don't need to." She replied easily. Her attention turned to those standing around her,

"Lets go."

* * *

 

"Moon!" Lily called her attention again, moving through the air to stop beside her- they both moved out of the way of one of Shadow's tails, Lily swept his sword forward and sent the monstrous form of the Dark Demon skidding backward with a solid hit.

Moon's eyes snapped sideways toward him, she looked very confused and cocked her head at him- the pain in her eyes was clear, and a haunting sort of look- that came with the thought of Kyo.

"Why were you asking about Kyo? How did you even-?!" She asked quickly but he shook his head, he knew enough to realize they hadn't much time- they needed to move quickly before both he and Moon ran out of Energy and Magic to face Shadow with.

"The Light Magic you learned from him, its the Light that we need in order to beat Shadow." He began to explain quickly, she blinked in complete confusion. "I don't understand it all myself, but believe this! For every evil there has to be some sort of force to counteract it, right? A force that works to Balance evil in the world, power that balances out darkness- where Shadow is pure evil there must be a force that is pure and light, don't you think?!" He said quickly, hissing as they split apart, avoiding a flurry of pitch black rushing for them. He sliced out at the pitch black threatening to engulf him, while Moon swiped a paw forward and a golden Magic Circle erupted before her- a flurry of powerful wind streaming forward to clash with the opposing Magic.

"Moon! There has to be some sort of power that is able to contend with and even cancel out Shadow and her Magic!" He shouted and she blinked uncertainly,

"I... I guess that makes sense..." She relented, looking skeptical. "... Shadow... She was sealed with Winter, a Light Demon, when they were in Frea... So she was sort of like that opposite power...?" Moon mumbled, eyes narrowed. Lily nodded furiously,

"Yes! Winter was the opposing force against Shadow! But Light and Dark never exist alone, they always exist together!" He repeated what Frea told him quickly, hoping that Moon would understand it better than he did himself. The she-cat blinked at him, looking a little surprised by the words, her ears twitching.

"If they exist together... Wouldn't that mean there would had to have been someone in Death Bolt, who was supposed to be Shadow's opposite...?" Happy mumbled aloud, listening in closely with narrowed, and very confused eyes. He wasn't sure what brought Lily to start talking about these things anymore than Moon was, nor was he understanding them all that well either, though he tried. "But Lily, there couldn't have been anyone good in Death Bolt! All the Mages we've passed were super evil!"

Moon blinked, looking a little shocked. She sweatdropped, thoughts starting to click in her head suddenly.

"Not entirely!" Lily replied quickly, "Moon! You were friends with this 'Kyo', were you not?!" She stared,

"Y-yes, we were friends..." She replied,

"I cannot believe you would make friends with anyone truly evil! Kyo must have been a good person, right?!" Her eyes widened,

"Yes...! He.. He was good. The best person, kind and brave... And..." She blinked, looking slightly astounded. "You... You think Kyo was...?" Lily nodded firmly, swinging his sword toward Shadow and managing to graze her shoulder- she snarled in pain and rage, rounding on him.

He barely managed to dodge her jaws, feeling more light headed by the minute as he pushed on. He was still losing a lot of blood, and his vision kept blurring despite himself- Shadow passed him by inches, snarling and howling in rage and anger, red eyes wild and dark in fury and hunger.

"Quit yapping you damned pests!" Her tail slammed into him, sending him crashing backward into a wall, hissing as blood dripped from the edge of his mouth anew.

"Lily!" Moon and Happy shouted at once, he growled, picking himself back up, trembling with the effort. His eyes met Moon's wide blue ones, she looked so pained, so worried and afraid- his jaw clenched.

"Kyo, a member of this Guild- he was good, and he must have been that power that counteracts Shadow! He used Light Magic, the opposite of Shadow, didn't he? The same Magic Winter used?" Lily went on, wincing just slightly. Moon nodded slightly, the thoughts piecing together slowly. It was odd, complicated, a little insane... But it did make a sort of sense. But Moon's expression darknened, eyes glittering.

"... But... Kyo is gone..." She stammered lowly, painfully.

"No!" Lily yelled fiercely, his tone catching her entirely off guard. "He still lives on inside of you, Moon! His strength remains inside your heart!" She blinked,

"That's right Moon!" Happy exclaimed suddenly, smiling slightly and paws clenched in sudden fiery determination. He understood suddenly what Lily seemed to be getting at, he pointed a paw straight at her.

"You're a master with Copy-Cat Magic, Moon! If Kyo used Light Magic, and you knew him well- you must be able to use the same Magic!" Happy shouted, Moon looked slightly taken aback, eyes growing wide. "If Light Magic is supposed to be able to beat Shadow, then all you gotta do is use the same Magic Kyo did!"

"He's right!" Lily cut in, "You have to remember everything you can about Kyo, and about his Magic. Somewhere inside of you his power lives on, and the way to beat Shadow! That Power is in you Moon, you can beat Shadow! You just have to remember!"

"You fools really think some half-copied Light Magic is going to beat me?!" Shadow nearly laughed, lips pulled into a twisted snarl. "Its a waste Moony, you don't have the juice to pull off any Spells powerful enough to hurt me! Light won't ever destroy me!"

"Don't listen to her, Moon!" Lily cut the Dark Demon off, eyes locked to Moon who looked back at him, seemingly frozen. In her eyes he saw uncertainty and confusion, pain and fear so deep his heart ached- but he needed her to believe in her own power, he did.

"You are one of the most powerful people I have ever come across! Your heart is strong, and pure! You have remained strong and shown like a beacon down in this deep dark pit, where darkness tried relentlessly to swallow you! If there is anyone in the entirety of Fiore who can defeat this Demon, it is you!" He yelled, in his voice pure sincerity and fire unlike anything she had heard. "I believe in you! You can defeat Shadow!"

"I believe in you too, Moon!" Happy broke in, paw raised in the air.

"We know you can beat her!"

Moon liked stunned, a faint blush dusting her cheeks despite herself at such heartfelt words being spoken to her by the two tomcats. She'd never really had anyone put so much faith in her or her abilities, she'd always relied in other people and never really had anything so heavy or big placed on her shoulders, she certainly had never had anyone believe in her strength as strongly as Happy and Lily seemed to in that moment. Everything Lily said about her, how much she could tell that he meant it- it had her mind feeling and her heart racing. She was doubtful, a little skeptical- but seeing such determination and faith on their faces, that made her want to believe what they said, to believe in herself- where she never would have.

If Light was to counteract Shadow, and Kyo's Light Magic was supposed to be that counter... With Kyo gone, that counterpart rest with her, and her Copy-Cat Magic now? It was true, she had learned some of Kyo's Spells from watching him, but nothing powerful enough to destroy a Demon whose soul existence was evil and Darkness... If she searched deeper, could she really find a way... A way to win?

To save the Guild? Lily? Everyone?

She wanted to believe... She had to.

Her paw reached up, fist clenching about her shirt over her chest as she felt a sudden fiery warmth suddenly rise up in her chest, in her very core. It was something odd, and she wasn't entirely sure it was her sudden wash of emotion... It felt brighter than that, something different, something... Something strong.

_Light and Dark always exist together..._

If the entirety of Fiore's military force could not win this fight, or the Guild, the Master... Was she enough? Just little her? One small, tiny ball of light enough to drive away a typhoon of everlasting darkness?

Her eyes narrowed, expression growing firm and resolute as her paws clenched harder, letting her Magic flow more freely, more powerfully than she had ever before.

_I can... I think I can feel... It..._

"We'll do whatever we can to help you win, Moon!" Lily told her, moving into the air and sword raising before him. Happy flew up next to him, looking just as resolute.

"Aye sir!"

Moon nodded stiffly, "Alright. I'll do it... I will win!" She growled, voice flinty as her Magic began to flow more, as her mind began to race. What was her plan? She wasn't sure, she was still digging, trying to find something, the way to win...

"I'll give it everything I have! To win, to protect the Guild, to save everyone!"

Her paws swept forward, Magic spiking suddenly as a series of Magic Circles erupted in front of her.

"Copy-Cat: Rain of Light! Destructive Beam! Flash Bombs! Brilliant Vortex!"

Streams of bright white and pale gold struck through the air out toward Shadow, while several dozen spherical balls of Light began to rain from overhead, and even more began to circle around Shadow's body. She growled, her Magic flaring up to engulf the light and tear through it one by one- hissing and snarling as some of the 'Flash Bombs' made contact with her body and exploded in a fiery, white blast, singing fur and destroying some of her Magic.

Bright white light began to circle about her paws, trapping in her a blinding spinning vortex of pure light- Shadow hissed and growled at it tearing out at her quickly, before she roared, the noise shaking the room to its core as pitch black erupted around everything- swallowing Moon's Magic whole and sending them flying backward by the wall of force that rammed into them.

"I will eat you all!"

Everything went pitch black around them, sight was cut off completely as darkness blocked everything out. Moon hissed, picking herself off the floor- able to hear Shadow's paws on the ground and the tearing of her claws against the stone, getting ready to strike while they were blinded. The Shadow Magic about them was suffocating, and heavy- it seemed to weigh on their shoulders and push them back toward the ground,

"Moon..!" Happy's voice reached her through the thick black around them. "You need... Something stronger!" She stiffened, eyes narrowed and sweatdropping heavily.

"I... I don't know... What I'm supposed to use, to beat her..." She replied,

"Search deeper within yourself! That power is there, believe it!" Lily yelled, "You have to believe in your own power Moon, its there, you just need to feel it!"

Her ears pressed against her head, knowing Shadow was beginning to move toward one of them now, intent on swallowing them whole. Her nerves rose and began to race suddenly, fear clutching her heart- if she couldn't move, she doubted either Lily or Happy could, they were sitting ducks!

Her eyes shut tight against the black, trying to push farther into her mind and her memory- there must have been something, some Spell Kyo showed her, something he mentioned...

She stiffened, eyes snapping open as she felt a burst of warmth inside of her again. Her eyes snapped open to the pitch black darkness around her, but suddenly something was there- right in front of her.

Suddenly among the shadow, she swore she saw icy blue eyes appear from nowhere, followed by the sudden feeling of lightness- like the pressure of the shadow about them was being lifted, and all sound was lost on her ears.

She stiffened, eyes wide and heart thudding in her chest- some odd feeling was starting to course through her, she felt like her heart was about to burst, her body shaking, everything was still around her while some odd feeling raced through her quickly, she didn't understand what it was, this feeling.

But it felt... It felt foreign, yet familiar...

 _"Darkness cannot be destroyed,"_ Moon's body went rigid at the sudden wispy, faraway voice that appeared among a world suddenly gone so very silent. Her heart was pounding in her ears, she didn't even barely breath, she didn't recognize it, nor could she tell where the words were coming from, or why...

_"... But it can be banished, controlled."_

Lily hissed, hearing the heavy fall of Shadow's pawsteps just in front of him suddenly among pure black. His body was shaking so much from the pressure of the Magic he couldn't even get up, or hardly lift his head- it nearly took all his waning strength just to yell at Moon, who had gone silent now.

They were still losing, and he hadn't any clue how to get Moon to understand any better- he hadn't a clue how to help her remember her friend's Magic, or what it was that would defeat Shadow. He trusted Frea, and more than anything he trusted Moon- but he knew how hurt she was, and doubted she had any large amount of Magic Energy left. They needed this fight over quickly,

"You're first, kitty." Shadow hissed, her hot breath wreaking of something foul as it blew into his face. All visibility was cut off, he couldn't even see her jaws coming for him- or her face, but he knew she was smiling. "Then the blue one, and the rest of the Guild... Hehe..." He could hear her tongue draw over her fangs, sense her teeth getting closer, hovering over his head and neck as he struggled to try and move.

_Shit!_

Shadow paused suddenly, her attention swapping from him to the sudden surge of raw Power beginning to shake the air- in actuality, _two_ sources of sudden raw power. But her attention, and Lily's was suddenly pulled to the glare of blue that flashed among a world of black to her right- heading straight toward them and breaking apart her Magic as the blue light drew nearer.

Lily stared, eyes wide and Shadow growled- unsure as to what it was that had appeared so suddenly- and moved so quickly she hadn't anytime to properly react as the great flash and blue of blue rammed into the side of her face, knocking her large body away with tremendous force and a sudden roar that shook the stone itself.

"Etherious; Rain!"

The dark world around them was suddenly torn apart by tiny, compact showers of glittering blue particles that swirled through the air and fell to the ground from above them- the glittering pieces of incredibly powerful Magic shredding Shadow's Magic instantly as she skidded backward from the blow to the face, red eyes burning.

The swathes of black fell away, allowing them to see about them again. Lily stared up in utter shock, as two incredibly large lion like creatures came to a halt next to him, their claws glowing in the same blue that shredded Shadow's Magic, and their pelts running with the Magical Light, power seemingly coming off of them in small pulsing waves.

"Huh?!" Happy exclaimed, eyes wide and whited out as he stared at the two new arrivals. "Who the heck are you?! And what are you?!"

"We're here to help." The darker furred of the two creatures replied lowly, his teal eyes shifting toward Liky who blinked in utter shock. "Can you stand?" He asked and Lily sweatdropped, before nodding slightly, struggling to his feet again, slowly reverting back into his Battle Form, breathing hard.

"Who are you?" Lily repeated the question,

"We're here to assist Miss Moon." Was the reply, causing Lily to quickly glance around looking for Moon at mention of her name. "I'm Iki, and this is Uno." His tail flicked toward the other,

"We rushed to get here, and only managed to slip through the rocks in our smaller forms." Iki went on,

"And it seems we arrived just in time." The other replied, a girl from her voice Lily guessed. "Looks like the final countdown is about to begin, huh?" She smirked just slightly, claws digging into the stone under them.

Lily's gaze was suddenly locked on Moon, eyes wide and body growing rigid. He could feel incredible power pulsing- and suddenly realized it wasn't the two creatures standing beside him. There was a sudden intense power that radiated about the room, it was stifling- and his gaze locked on to Moon, who suddenly shone like a brand of pure white amongst the dim of the room- making the blue glow of the two arrivals seem very dim in comparison.

Her eyes slowly opened, suddenly no longer looking tired or even all that hurt- just insanely powerful suddenly, eyes hard and resolute. Her attention locked on him, the two new arrivals and Happy- who all looked to her with wrapt attention, surprised.

"I have a plan," Moon announced quickly, moving into a defensive stance as she slowly held her paws out in front of her, a Magic Circle appearing between them as her palms hovered over one another. She sweatdropped slightly, looking a little nervous. "I think this is going to work, but I need you guys to land a lot of really good blows- to weaken her." They stiffened slightly, as Moon's eyes hardened, and she gave them a determined look, and reassuring nod of her head.

"We're gonna win, I give you my word!" She said suddenly, "I'm not going to let Shadow win, it's my turn to stand up for you guys! I'll boost you all with an Aid Spell I know, strike her good and hard while I get ready! We have one shot at this!"

"Got it?! I trust you guys to help me win!"

They all blinked, a little shocked she could look so calm and sure so suddenly- before they all nodded, some of them smirking slightly as they tensed. The two new arrivals were shocked that Moon was willing to accept their help so readily, and didn't seem at all perturbed by their sudden appearance at all- in fact she just seemed to roll with it. They exchanged small glances, smiling just a little.

"We'll give it everything we have!" Happy exclaimed,

"I will do everything I can to help you win." Lily growled, tensing. "I promised that."

"And we promised to help you in anyway we could." The first of the strangers murmured,

"We're gonna stick to that promise." The second smirked, her tail lashing behind her. Lily and Happy glanced their way, a little confused as to who they were, and why they were there- but decided now was not the time to question any chance for help. Besides, it seemed Moon was more than willing to accept their assistance, and went so far as to ask them for it already.

Shadow had picked herself up, teeth bared and lips drawn back as pitch black dripped from her mouth like saliva, her Magic power increasing as her rage continued to grow. Her fiery red gaze switched from the two new arrivals, to the blazing white beacon of Moon- eyes glittering in malice.

"Try your best, you little rats!" Shadow snarled, leaping forward toward them as they tensed.

"Strike hard, and strike fast!" Lily commanded, his voice raising as he received a stiff nod from those around him. He swept forward with a burst of speed, the Crescent Moon mark on his shoulder suddenly blazing a bright purple as he felt a great wave of power run into his limbs, his pain numbing a moment.

"Give it all you've got!"

 _"Divine's Great Arms that strike from the sky's, I grant thee that lifeblood of Gods!"_ Moon snapped lowly, her Magic increasing ever more as she swiped her paws out toward the four suddenly advancing toward the charging Shadow- a blazing brand of pure white engulfing their bodies and boosting their power exponentially.

_"Heavenly Strength; Divinity!"_

The two forms of Iki and Uno swept up past Lily in seconds, jaws parted and teeth bared as their paws glowed fiery blue- they leapt into the air at the same time toward Shadow, who's head lift as they jumped just over her, fur flashing in bright blue.

"Rifts and waves of Etherious, coursing through air and space." Iki murmured,

"Clouds of power, that rend and destroy all that is touched." Uno growled,

"We call upon the Etherious rend of air and fire, gather and strike down!" They said in unison, blue light swirling above them as they seemed to float a moment just over Shadow's head- their claws outstretched toward her.

"Etherious; Double-rend Storm!"

A sudden flurry of bright blue Magic struck down in a jagged form of some sort of Lightning made from Etherion, their fur standing on end at the pulse that swept up around them as the attack rammed into Shadow with a large boom, earning a yell of pain as her Magic failed to block the entirety of the attack and her skin suddenly burned and sliced open, dark blood hitting the cracked and destroyed floor.

Iki and Uno flipped in midair, their tails engulfed in Magic as they swung down- an arc of blue ramming into Shadow and pushing her backward with another boom, blinding her a moment with the blow to the top of the head.

"Take that, you big old meany!" Happy shouted, ramming head first into Shadow at top speed- a blue of bright white from the Aid Spell that Moon cast. He headbutted Shadow on the forehead, knocking her back a little more and leaving her just a bit more dazed, "That's for Moon!"

"You will pay tenfold for the things you've done!" Lily swept forward suddenly, sword raised and eyes burning in pure, powerful fire. He swept forward at an amazing speed, his sword lift above his head and air shaking about him with pure, sudden power. He began swinging out at her, landing blow after powerful blow in rapid succession, tearing her fur and skin with all the last spurts of his power and strength put into the attacks, giving it his very all- before he swept upward, holding his weapon above his head.

"For the awful things you done, to Moon! To the Guild! To my friends and family! You shall feel the entirety of my wrath!"

His sword sung down, a blinding arc of white flowing from the blade and slicing through the air at terrifying speed. Shadow's head snapped up toward it, yelling in pain as the hit rammed into her head on, tearing at her skin and sending her skidding backward into a wall hard enough to make it crumble, her blood leaving a trail of splatter in her quake.

"Graaaahhhh!" Shadow howled, a wave of black working up around her and tearing out over the room- sending Happy, Lily, Uno and Iki flying backward, yelling in pain as the Magic rammed into their bodies hard enough to crack bone.

"You can't destroy me, you fools!" Shadow roared,

"We don't have to destroy you, to beat you!"

Their attention snapped upward, seeing Moon floating high above their heads- her body engulfed in a sphere of pure white Magic, hundreds of Magic Circles surrounding her and paws held out to her sides, her blue gaze locked to Shadow in anger and flinty determination. They all stared in awe, jaws dropped- as the rubble around them began to shake and jump with the feel of Moon's Magic rising to insane heights, wind suddenly rushing up and ramming into them constantly. It was as if she was an entirely different person suddenly, it was more power and strength inside of her than they had ever seen. It was incredible, daunting and nearly impossible.

"You've hurt the people I love too many time over! I have sat back and watched as you destroyed lives and allowed you to have away at me! No more! I am never letting you hurt another person again, and I'm never going to let Darkness win out over the Light, ever! You're time is up Shadow, you'll never hurt anyone I care for ever again! I swear on my life!" Moon's voice rose angrily, loud and clear- almost echoing over the room as her Magical Pressure rammed into them, knocking their breath from their lungs.

"You're finished!"

Shadow stiffened, waves of black rushing up toward Moon as she swept her paws down suddenly, streams and waves of light suddenly rushing downward, easily shattering Shadow's Magic in seconds.

For Kyo, for the people who had lost their lives to Shadow and her hunger, for Frea- who had lived with this Demon and held her evil on her own. For everyone she loved and held dear- she wouldn't lose, no matter what. Such evil like Shadow shouldn't ever be allowed to roam free and unchecked, it was time her vile being was rendered unable to inflict harm ever again.

She wasn't sure what this was, where all this power suddenly came from. She didn't even know where that Aid Spell had come from, or how she knew how to use this Spell now... It was all just coming to her on its own, like something had been unlocked somewhere inside of her and now it was flowing fast and free- just as fast and strong as her emotions were. She didn't even feel entirely like herself in those few moments, like she was suddenly distant- far from her body as her mind gave way to the burning power rushing through her, her power, power she had never had before. Maybe in her searching deeper for an answer she found something of herself she hadn't been aware of before, she wasn't sure... Maybe it was because she was finally standing up for herself, and for those she loved.

_"Light that flows from the heavens above,_

_Cast down upon darkness and shred,_

_Tear apart evil and render it powerless,_

_For that which cannot be truly destroyed,_

_Must be shred, and banished from where it would do harm,_

_Let it be sealed and helpless,_

_No power to swallow lives._

_Light that burns brightly amongst utter darkness,_

_Pierce through the black and shatter the evil that remains here! Light shine and bind, trap the dark of heart and let it lay still!"_

Moon's power rose to an all time high, the air and walls around them shaking, rubble flying and wind racing. They quieted their eyes at her, engulfed in a beacon of unimaginable light above them.

"Fountain of Illumination; Darkness Shatter and Capture!"

A river of bright white suddenly rained down from where Moon was, crashing down over Shadow's head and engulfing her in insane, core shaking waves of unbearable power. The entirety of the Death Bolt Guild began to shake from its roots, every inch of shadow inside of the room suddenly melted and destroyed by the Light engulfing them.

The four Exceeds remained in fixed silence, jaws dropped and eyes squinted against the brightness- hearts racing and entirely dumbfounded by such incredible power that Moon suddenly set forth, power that seemed to come from nowhere. They couldn't begin to wrap their heads around what they were seeing, it seemed impossible to them- this entire situation seemed impossible. And yet they were witnessing the impossible- it was all very real; they could feel it, the power, all of it. It was... It was amazing.

Shadow's roar of pain and rage was nearly drowned out by the wind and the rush of the Magic, that was soon followed with an incredible boom. The light remained a few more moments before it began to fade, the wind died down and they could see Shadow- now reverted from her beast form- suddenly fall back, eyes wide and completely unfocused, her entire body littered with burns and cuts, dripping in blood.

She fell to the floor with a thud, her body shaking and all strength and sense seeming to have suddenly left her entirely.

For a few moments there was just complete silence, all their eyes wide and sweatdropping, minds groggy and slow suddenly.

One of the most powerful creatures on this earth... One of the oldest creations of Zeref himself...

Shadow... Shadow was beat!

"... She... She did it...!" Happy exclaimed, small tears in his eyes and a relieved smile on his face. It seemed unbelievable, and yet- "Moon..! She really beat Shadow! She's so strong! Even Master and Gildarts couldn't beat her!"

"Incredible..." Uno murmured, eyes wide as she stared around them at the destruction. "To think... An Exceed having so much raw power..."

"Enough to defeat a Demon of the Book of Zeref.." Iki murmured, "It's truly incredible..."

Lily had to agree, he'd never believed Moon was so strong- and yet she was. And he was more than impressed, he was proud and very glad that the trouble was all over... Even more so, he felt respect and admiration swell inside of him for the grey she-cat. He hissed, eyes shutting in pain as he doubled over slightly, his arms crossing over his chest, feeling his blood still seeping through his fur.

"... Moon..." Lily breathed, his eyes snapping upon and head snapping up- just in time to see her Magic fade entirely as she began to tilt, her Aera failing as her consciousness gave way- entirely spent. He stiffened, scrambling to his paws and he rushed forward painfully.

He jumped, crashing onto his stomach with an agonizing flash of pain from the bite he received from Shadow, arms out as he caught her in time to keep her from hitting the floor, with a small poof he changed from his Battle Mode, panting and jaw clenched in pain, one eye shut. His gaze glittered in pain and worry, seeing how wounded she was up close- she looked nearly dead, and growled, feeling his heart clench at the state she was in. To think what she must have been put through...

Happy rushed forward toward them, eyes wide and worried again as he remembered how badly wounded Moon was- and Lily too. Lily slowly sat up, holding Moon to him and letting her rest against him, completely limp and breathing harshly- blood still dripping from the corners of her mouth. Lily's eyes moved over her slashed and bloodied arms, even seeing amongst the new wounds the jagged, pink scars there- scars she kept hidden by wrapping bandages about her arms, he guessed.

"Is she ok?" Happy asked, stopping beside them with wide worried eyes.

"She needs medical attention, a lot of it. And soon." Lily mumbled, win it halfway through. Happy flinched,

"You're hurt pretty bad too, Lily." Happy mumbled, eyes glinting in concern. Lily didn't answer, just sweatdropped.

"Here," their eyes snapped sideways to the large form of Iki as he padded closer and stopped beside them, they blinked in shock- as his body was suddenly engulfed in a soft glow as he shrunk down to their size, in his regular Exceed form. He pulled the scarf from around his neck and folded it up, holding it in his paws a moment.

"Huh?! You're an Exceed?!" Happy exclaimed, sweatdropping heavily. Iki glanced his way, eyebrow quirked and sweatdropping at how surprised Happy seemed to be.

"Yes, we are Exceeds." Iki replied, his ears flicking toward Uno- who was walking away toward the form of Shadow, now in her Regular form, dragging the Nullification Chains behind her. Iki's eyes switched to Lily and Moon, his gaze glittering in worry a moment. "Here, lay her down- it won't be good to move her with the state she's in." Iki murmured, setting the folded up scarf of the floor as he gestured toward Lily, paws extended to help lay Moon down. Lily hesitated a small moment, unsure as to whether or not he wanted to listen to the strange tom, but relented anyway- Iki helping him to lay Moon gently out on the floor, her head resting on the folded scarf. Moving her earned a weak hiss of pain, though she didn't wake up- Lily winced, his hand moving up to cover the deep bite marks in his body.

"You shouldn't try to move too much either." Iki murmured, letting out a small sigh.

"Who are you two? Why are you here? Helping us?" Lily muttered through teeth gritted against his pain, trembling slightly with the effort of staying sitting up.

"Yeah, we've never met before. How did you even know where the Guild was?" Happy mumbled,

"Uno and I arrived at your Guild Hall, we received word that Miss Moon and Miss Frea had been attacked by Death Bolt." Iki explained softly, "We are the Leaders of an Independent Guild mostly composed of other Exceeds- The Twin Cougars Guild. We wished to help rescue Miss Moon, so we asked those who remained at your Guild Hall were Death Bolt was located. We traveled here with Miss Frea, Carla, Wendy and that Laxus fellow."

"You came here with Frea?" Lily murmured, sweatdropping slightly- feeling the anger he was sure the Guild felt all the same, anger toward Frea and her foolishness for coming to Death Bolt being as wounded as she was. And then confusion and anger toward Laxus- who let her come, what was he thinking?!

"And Wendy and Carla?" Happy mumbled, Iki nodded. What were they thinking too?

"We split off from them not long ago, and rushed here after dispatching a man named Hikien." Iki went on, Happy and Lily blinked in shock at the name. "We also passed many of your Guild outside the collapsed entrance, they should be nearly finished with the rest of Death Bolt- and looking for a way to clear the rubble."

"You said you defeated Hikien?" Lily asked,

"Collectively, not on our own."

"What of the rest of the Guild? Last I knew- my Partner was battling with Hikien." Lily murmured, "Did you see him? Was he alright?"

"That Gajeel fellow, correct?" Iki asked, Lily nodded. "He had been separated from your group, and was battling Hikien when we ran into them. He's alright, injured but he should be fine- he was with Miss Frea and the others when we left." Lily let out a small sigh of relief,

"That Hikien guy... He didn't hurt you guys, did he?" Happy mumbled, "You know... He didn't manage to hurt Frea right? She was already hurt enough.."

Iki seemed to tense a little at the question, sweatdropping slightly as his eyes fell away from them a moment. They blinked in slight worry at the reaction, hearts jumping slightly.

"... He... He didn't _touch_ her." Iki replied lowly, Lily stared. Happy just blinked, a little relieved by unsure why Iki seemed tense. Lily felt his heart clench, and he sweatdropped slightly.

_Frea was using Telepathy..._

"I hope Wendy gets here soon, the rest of the Guild too." Happy mumbled, taking a seat and letting out a weary sigh, his eyes glittering in concern as he glanced to Lily and Moon. "We could really use her Healing Magic right now..."

_"Lily!?"_

Lily stiffened slightly, suddenly hearing Frea's voice break into his thoughts again.

 _"Are you guys alright? What's going on?"_ She asked quickly, sounding out of breath and exhausted- though still urgent. Beside him, Happy and Iki stiffened slightly, eyes wide as Frea's voice managed to break into their thoughts as well.

 _"Yeah, the whole place just started shaking!"_ Natsu broke in,

 _"And such incredibly powerful Magic, too..."_ Erza grumbled,

"F-Frea...?!" Happy stammered, but was ignored.

 _"Happy?! You alright buddy?!"_ Natsu yelled, he was ignored as well.

"Its done... Moon did it, she beat Shadow." Lily replied lowly, "She's unconscious now... She's in bad shape, and needs medical attention. Soon."

 _"Damn it..."_ Frea hissed lowly,

 _"Lily, its Wendy! We're on our way to you now, we're moving as fast as we can."_ Wendy's voice broke through,

 _"Is anyone else seriously wounded?"_ Carla's voice broke in,

"Lily's hurt pretty bad too." Happy explained before Lily could reply,

 _"What?! Lily?!"_ Gajeel's voice snapped,

"I'm fine, Gajeel. I'll live..." Lily replied lowly,

 _"And what about Shadow?"_ Laxus' voice asked lowly,

"She's alive... But I don't think she's going to be able to hurt anyone, ever again." Lily replied,

 _"Hold on guys, we'll be there soon."_ Frea murmured, they all murmured a small 'alright'.

Iki moved away toward Uno, starting to work to help his sibling to set the chains on Shadow's wrists, while Happy's eyes fell closed, and Lily let his head hang, jaw clenched in pain and eyes halfway closed, fixed to the floor.

"We won..." Happy mumbled under his breath, "But... Everyone got really hurt... Moon..." Lily stiffened,

Yes they won, but it didn't feel like a victory.

* * *

 

 _Shadow's Energy Signature, it lost nearly every ounce of its potency... Like all her Power was suddenly destroyed...._ And with it, the deep and heavy weight on the air around her suddenly lessened- but she didn't relax even slightly, she couldn't.

Frea blinked furiously, her vision beginning to swim feverishly and blur in and out continually- breathing hard and stifling the urge to wince as they pushed on through the tunnels quickly. She didn't dare slow down, or stop- she didn't dare let herself waver or start to grow off balance, though it was getting hard to keep going.

The feel of the threat had lifted, and yet her heart was still racing. She had to get to Moon, she had to see her Partner- see that Shadow was beaten, that the Guild was relatively ok.

Tomaru had his ass kicked by Chase, Natsu, Gray and many of the others... Moon, she beat Shadow... The Guild took care of the rest of Death Bolt, and Laxus, Wendy, Iki and Uno- they took out Hikien.. She growled a little at the thought of him, sweatdropping heavily as her heart clenched in her chest, and pain seared through her head.

In all reality it was over, the fight was won, Moon was in the hands of the Guild- they found her, they would be going home soon.

And yet... It still wasn't quite over.

Frea sweatdropped a little more, eyes narrowing to slits as a heaviness fell on her heart, so cold and piercing, unlike anything she had felt before.

She couldn't stop, couldn't slow down- though her body desperately needed her to, she was in so much pain it was mind numbing and still she just ignored it as best she could. She ignored the utter exhaustion pulling at her, the black waves lapping at her vision that threatened to thrown her into unconsciousness. She ignored how light headed she was, how out of breath, how weak... She had to keep going.

The stitching along her back was pulling uncomfortably, and now very painfully with her quick moving down the tunnels. Her bones screamed at her to stop moving altogether, her muscles and skin on fire- shoulder searing in pain and agony, moving was a bitch... And she was sure some of her wounds had in fact reopened again.

The Guild was angry with her, Master was pissed at her... She could feel their emotions on the air. And it was all out of worry, and annoyance.

She'd be receiving a lecture, and lots of angry words... And she would take it, just later. Long after they left this Guild far behind.

Gajeel, Laxus, Carla and Wendy followed closely- looking back and forth at her constantly as if they were waiting for her to stumble or fall, easily able to see the pain in her features, and the exhaustion. Wendy had been asking her to slow down, and she just said no- she couldn't.

"Frea..." Wendy murmured softly, eyes glittering. "Please, you need to slow down. You're moving too fast, you can't keep going like this, you're going to make everything worse like this..! Please just take a break!"

"Kid's right Silver, the worst is done with. You're half dead as it is, and even you can't keep going like this forever." Gajeel grumbled lowly, "We get you're worked up about Moon, but Lily's there, and Shadow's dealt with- take it easy would ya?" He sweatdropped slightly, "You're gonna run yourself into the ground at this rate..."

"I can't stop," Frea huffed back, eyes hard. "Moon's Energy Signature... Its really weak, I wanna get there as fast as I possibly can. I still have some energy left, I can keep going, and I'm not slowing down till we're there."

"But Frea..." Wendy started,

_"STOP YOUR FOOLISHNESS THIS INSTANT!"_

Frea faltered, eyes going wide in surprise at the unexpected (and very loud) voice rushing through her mind- followed by the immediate wash of unpleasantness that came from the feeling. She stumbled in her running, skidding to a halt and trying very hard to keep herself from falling over, being as unbalanced as she was. The minute she stopped, her vision started swimming violently and her head began to pound, she took in quick breaths, a bead of sweat dripping down her face.

Wendy came to a stop next to her with Carla, looking a little relieved their rushing had ceased, but worried still when Frea swayed just slightly. Gajeel and Laxus slowed to a stop just behind them,

Frea growled, recognizing the voice instantly- and unaware that he had been able to listen in on the conversation. This Magic was seriously a pain...

"Master-" she started,

 _"Enough! You have disregarded my orders again and again! You should never have been allowed to leave the Guild and come here, you were told to stay still and to rest! You may not care that you're worsening your already awful health by galavanting around like a child- but_ I _do!"_ He snapped angrily, Frea sweatdropped slightly. _"If nothing at all, stop acting like a complete fool and listen to your Master this once when he tells you to do something! The threat is neutralized, Death Bolt is in shambles and Moon has been found- I understand your worry, and know how stubborn you are- but think about yourself, and not just everyone else."_ He snapped lowly, firmly. Frea stiffened, eyes narrowing slightly at the scolding and anger in his voice- and the hints of worry too.

She growled slightly, sweatdropping a little as a silence fell over them a moment, a tense silence. Everyone in the Guild was able to hear Master's angry words, and many of them agreed with his anger- and even in her sense of urgency, in her frustration and her own swirling mass of emotion, she paused.

In her own mind, she knew she had been rather... Unreasonable and difficult, since everything had started. She was quick to react, and volatile, and a bit... Infuriating. She didn't want to admit it- because she was stubborn- but she knew she was being handful and acting like an idiot, and at this point she had managed to calm down enough to realize and accept that.

She was known for being a hot head, but she was being a little too volatile and explosive than normal- and that was because she was considerably worked up about everything that was going on. And now adding on what that damned bastard Hikien managed to do... To Shadow and everything in between, her fuse was short. She was acting in a way she usually wouldn't- in reality she would listen to what Master said on most occasions. She wouldn't be challenging and disregarding Master like this, she usually gave him more respect than that- but she wasn't acting like she usually would.

_'Don't do that to him.'_

She grit her teeth a little as the words suddenly popped into her head, remembering the look that Porlyusica gave her that day. She silently hated that of all the thoughts running through her head in that moment- it was _that_ memory that popped up just then.

The air was thick with pain, and anger, and frustration... But more than anything, it was concern- and it was sparking off of Carla, Wendy, and even Gajeel. She faintly felt shocked to feel just a small spark of it from Laxus of all people suddenly,

The edges of her vision darkened a little more, and she let her eyes close.

_Damn it..._

"... Fine, I'll slow down." She relented lowly, a little grudgingly. Her sudden agreement earned shocked blinks from those around her, before her eyes opened and she looked to Wendy. "Could you please go ahead? If Moon and Lily are really as wounded as I think they are, you should hurry." Frea murmured to the small Dragon Slayer, who blinked at the request, before nodding firmly.

"Yeah, alright- I'll keep going." Wendy agreed, "I'll see to everyone's injuries as quickly as I can!" She turned and ran off up the tunnel, Carla flying at her shoulder as they quickly moved on ahead.

"Please take a little to catch your breath Frea, before you start off again!" Wendy called over her shoulder, "Don't worry about Moon, I'll do my very best to help her!" Wendy promised, Frea nodded slightly. Her silver eyes shifted to Gajeel, who quirked an eyebrow at her when she met his gaze.

"Don't you want to go ahead, to check on Lily?" Frea asked softly, he blinked, before huffing slightly and looking away.

"Lily's gonna be fine, I don't need to rush off to see him. He can take care of himself." Gajeel grumbled, Frea blinked at him, before looking away again.

Frea sighed silently, wincing in the process- her eyes falling closed again as Wendy and Carla disappeared from view.

 _"Hmph, it seems you've finally managed to clear your head some, brat."_ Master muttered, upon her agreement to slow down. She hadn't argued nearly all that much, which was quite the change from her earlier sudden outbursts. Frea simply ignored the comment, she had her reasons for her actions and decisions- even if Master didn't agree nor like them. Nothing could have stopped her from coming here. Nothing at all.

... And yet, _nothing_ had stopped her...

She took a small step sideways to catch herself, her head spinning a moment with sudden lightheadedness as her heart rate began to go down, and her adrenaline lessened some as she caught her breath. A bead of sweat fell down the side of her face, her hand holding on to the arm of her inured shoulder lightly and trying hard to rid the dizziness that kept flaring up. Her body was so torn up, beaten and bruised... She wanted to sleep for a month, but she couldn't pass out now. The extra Energy she'd gotten from Laxus' lightning earlier had worn off, leaving her feel all the more drained and exhausted.

_Things aren't over yet.. There's still something I have to do._

She opened her eyes slowly, glancing behind her to see Gajeel and Laxus had their eyes on her- expressions neutral and completely silent. She had a hard time trying to figure out what they were thinking... And realized quickly that was usually the case with the both of them.

They didn't say much all the time, they spoke through actions not words... And she liked that. About both of them.

_I know why Laxus' has stuck close, he said he was going to keep an eye on me... And Gajeel, he stayed even though I can feel he is worried about Lily._

She sweatdropped slightly, glancing away from them and back up the tunnel.

_Hmph... He stayed so he could keep an eye on me too..._

"Lets go, you two." She murmured softly, "I'll go slower this time around, if you're all gonna get so damned worked up about it." She muttered, sweatdropping a little more.

"Whatever, just don't pass out on us, Silver." Gajeel grumbled,

"I won't. Trust me."

* * *

 

The other Members of the Guild watched her as she made her way into the large room, just after passing through the path cleared through a large pile of rubble that had previously been blocking the way. Gajeel and Laxus followed her closely, still not saying anything.

She could tell from the looks on their faces when they saw her they hadn't been expecting her to look like she did- which, was kinda like crap. She did her best to hide her pain and exhaustion, but that was getting hard- she was breathing a little hard and her movements were stiff, she was so bruised and bandaged it made their hearts drop a little.

Her silver gaze moved among the members, seeing them bearing their own wounds. Scratched, bruised, cut, and tattered- but none of them seemed seriously injured. She felt a small wash of relief fall over her at the thought,

But the looks of shock on their faces toward her were nothing compared to the looks of utter horror and shock that crossed their faces when they saw the state that Moon was in- and then they felt rage and worry flare in their hearts. They couldn't possibly fathom what the Exceed had gone through, she was so bloodstained, her body broken and beaten. Her arms ran red with countless slashes, furs singed and flecked in dirt and grime as she lay motionless- Wendy bent over her limp form and hands glowing blue as she set to work as quickly as she could.

They had expected Moon to have been somewhat hurt when they came to rescue her- but the way she was in, that took them by utter surprise, and their anger to Death Bolt grew again. But even more, they couldn't imagine what Moon had been through to make her look like that, to hurt her so badly... And they realized it was nothing more than she had lived through when she had been in Death Bolt the first time.

How had they never known? About her past, all the pain and suffering she must have endured?

Frea's eyes glittered in deep worry and hints of anger when she lay eyes on Moon's form, having come to a halt not far from Wendy as she worked, Lily beside them and Master close at hand.

Her fists clenched at her sides, jaw tightening as her eyes narrowed to slits.

_Damn... It..._

"Moon..." She growled under her breath lowly,

_... Those... Those freaking bastards...!_

"Frea..." Her attention snapped to Lily as he spoke up, though her eyes didn't leave her Partner's unconscious form, Wendy looking worried as she worked away.

"You were right, about Moon's Magic." The black tom-cat told her lowly, "She beat her... But how did you know she had the Magic, and knew a Spell that could beat Shadow..?" Master's narrowed gaze fixed to Frea, a frown pulling at his lips as he crossed his arms over his chest. Frea's head had tilted down, so her hair shadowed her face from view- though the anger about her was clear.

"... I was just guessing." Frea replied lowly, earning shocked blinks and sweatdrops from everyone in earshot. "I wasn't very sure of anything, I was simply guessing about all of it... All I knew, was what Carla heard in her vision, and what I could feel myself. I knew Shadow was here, I could feel her Energy Signature easily... But I felt another one, something I hadn't felt before. And decided I might as well give it a shot."

"So, all of that... What you said...?" Lily stammered lowly, eyes slightly wide. "It was all a guess...? A leap of faith...?" How could she have even possibly guessed at something like that?! Something so unbelievable, and impossible!?

"... Shadow doesn't show up anywhere, without..." Frea mumbled under her breath, seemingly to no one in particular. Her eyes remained fixed to Moon a few moments longer, glinting.

_... I never felt it before... I missed it... How did I manage to miss it...?_

_... I'm so damned.... blind..._

She suddenly started forward, walking straight passed Wendy, Lily, Happy, Carla, Master and Moon altogether without a word or even a glance back- her silver gaze locked ahead and on to the slumped form of a girl, her hands in chains and hand above her, head bowed and unmoving. Everyone around her blinked in shock, stiffening slightly as she started forward without warning.

"Frea...?" Wendy, Happy and Lily murmured,

"What the hell...?" Gajeel grumbled under his breath,

"What are you doing?" Master called quickly, taking a step after her,

"Gramps."

The Old Man stopped suddenly, surprised to hear Laxus say something after having been utterly silent since arriving. Master still felt angry with his grandson for him letting Frea come at all, but when he turned to face the young man- his frown faded, and he blinked in confusion.

Laxus' gaze was fixed to Frea's form firmly, eyes narrowed slightly and arms crossed over his chest, expression neutral. But there was a sort of serious was about him that caught the Old Man off guard, and how firm his voice suddenly was.

"Leave her be, you can yell at us later." Laxus grumbled lowly, Master blinked in shock- not sure why Laxus had stopped him in his tracks at all- all he could tell, was that Laxus' wanted him to let Frea go.

Master narrowed his eyes, caught off guard by his grandson's behavior suddenly in regards to Frea- it didn't seem all that off, to be honest... But something was different.

Deciding he'd let it go for now, Master fell silent and watched in stiffness as Frea approached the slumped figure at the end of the room- to which they knew to be the defeated form of Shadow.

Frea's movements didn't slow as she crossed the hall, she didn't say anything- but suddenly the air around her seemed to shift slightly, move, grow grayer.

Laxus narrowed his eyes, suddenly feeling as if the world around him seemed to grow just a little quieter- as if he was suddenly watching Frea walk across an invisible threshold. She didn't seem like a part of the physical world for a small moment, it was as if she was growing farther and farther away into a distance that didn't exist, and an odd feeling washed over him, something cold, and heavy.

He didn't know why he stopped the Old Man, he just had the feeling he should. Frea was acting off- anyone could see that, but for more of a reason than most people would get. Hell, he wasn't sure he fully got it- but he could guess.

Hikien- that bastard drudged up some deep, and very dark memories from the deepest places of Frea's head, and let them run free. He made her relive things she had hidden, and for good reason. He didn't know what they were, but he knew they hurt- and the mark they left on Frea, after getting hit by Hikien's Magic... Something had cracked.

He kept seeing glittering drops of moisture hitting the ground at her feet, he kept seeing her tears. She had been crying, Frea didn't cry. And seeing it- it pissed him off, and made his heart ache a little too.

She wasn't ok, she was broken more than she was letting on but that dark, sighing mass of emotion and pain was taking a toll on her- making her act off, seem a little more distant, and extremely unlike herself.

He didn't know what it was, but he had the feeling Frea had some things to deal with- and he had the feeling she needed to do them. Alone,

And he was fairly sure she wouldn't appreciate the Old Man snapping at her, no he didn't know what she was planning to do- he only somehow got the feeling it was important. And this odd feeling he got only grew as she headed toward the very thing that had earned a look of true fear in her eyes, fear he never seen in her before- it was like she was just growing farther and farther away. Passing into some small fraction of the world that remained on the boundaries of the real, and the unreal... A place where few people went.

_... What is that about her... That I don't get at all...?_

* * *

 

Everything was deathly quiet, the sounds of the Guilds murmuring behind her faded to nothing. Their feet over the floor made no noise, she couldn't even hear their breathing... She felt their presence behind her less and less, as the onslaught of emotion that prickles from them became a distant thing. Her attention wasn't on them, it was only on what lay before her.

Yes.. She wanted to be by Moon. Yes, her body ached and vision spun relentlessly.

But she couldn't stop. _This_ needed doing... And a deep shard pierced her heart, leaving her cold and tense... _Afraid._

Her eyes narrowed, body growing rigid as the figure shifted as she drew nearer, their broken and beaten body slumped, hands in chains above their head and hair falling about their face freely. The chains clinked as they moved slightly, apparently able to hear someone drawing closer to where they were, letting out a small hiss.

She came to a standstill just in front of them, their head tilted downward and breathing heavily, her own fists clenched at her sides. She sweatdropped, swallowing slightly and eyes glittering as she simply stared for a little while, trying very hard to quell the surge of emotion inside of her that kept churning quicker and quicker.

She knew this Energy Signature... She knew it instinctively. And she knew the other one instinctively too.

_How the impossible seemed to crop up today... Three separate Energy Signatures... In a single body..._

"Come to gloat... Have we...?" The figure hissed lowly, shifting slightly again, voice low and wispy- almost distorted, as if there was more than one voice. Frea stood still, eyes narrowing a little more. "... Damn that cat... Such a Magic... I'd thought that pest was gone for good..." Their head tilted upward, finally peering up at Frea- who stiffened slightly.

Her silver gaze locked with a gaze of one blood red eye, and the other a hauntingly familiar green. The girl's hair was split, the side of the red eye a pitch black color, while the green was paired with hair of a sickeningly familiar brunette. Frea was faced with a shocked look from the other for a moment, before she scowled darkly.

_'Shadow lives on in another form... As do I...'_

"You're alive... How quaint." The girl growled lowly, both sides of her split appearance seemingly angry at the realization she was still very much breathing. "... Tomaru couldn't even get that right... Fool of a man..." Her scowl turned into a twisted grin on both sides, mismatched eyes alight in anger and malice.

"Frea dear, you look so afraid..." The side with the green eyes smiled in a sickly sweet way,

"I can smell the fear from you, how does it feel to be faced with the very things that made your life a living hell, hmm?" The other half asked, voices changing in between as if they were two different people to the two split appearances- to which, they were in way...

Frea stiffened, fists clenched at her sides a little harder, staying absolutely silent.

"Hmm? Too afraid to admit your fear?"

"Come now... After all this time, are you really so stubborn? You know who you are, what you are... How weak you really are, did it ever occur to you why you were chosen to have Shadow and Winter sealed inside of you in the first place?"

"Or are you afraid to admit that, too? Since you already know the answer?"

Frea stiffened a little more, eyes narrowing to slits and shoulders hunched slightly, sweatdropping heavily as she remained in strained silence, her emotions running wild and out of hand, though outwardly she did her best to hide it.

Those voices, the words, the eyes... They all sent waves of shivers running down her spine, icy chunks forming in her veins a deep cold pit to fall in her stomach. She wanted nothing more than to turn away, keep away... But she stayed still.

"Such a fool... You play the part of being big and strong, like nothing can hurt you. You act like a hero, put on a face so the world doesn't see the small, weak, cowering and scared little child you really are. You've been lying to yourself for all these years, but we know. We know what you really are, you can't fool us. You're weak, useless- you couldn't even rid yourself of the things hurting your 'family'. You're too weak to defeat us, let alone anything really. Keep denying it Frea, we know you'll never admit your fear. But we know,"

There was a wide, toothy and dark, malicious smile, the ofher's face darkened and vile intent dripping from their person as Frea simply gazed at them, sweatdropping heavily, riveted to the spot.

"Of course we know. We're your worst nightmares, and always will be." They chuckled darkly,

Frea let her eyes close, slowly falling to rest on her knees, hands folded in her lap and head bowed slightly as she knelt just in front of their slumped figure. She remained close, close enough their breath washed against her face lightly, close enough she felt their deepest pain, deepest anger and deepest evil Energy and intent, it was nearly stifling, it was so close and so powerful... so hauntingly familiar she felt herself tremble a little- but she didn't move away even an inch.

"I know I couldn't beat you." She murmured softly, earning blinks from the miscolored eyes. "I was never strong enough to defeat either of you, not on my own, and not with Winter's help either... I know I can't beat you. I was happy when I thought you were gone, relieved... Because deep down I felt I couldn't get away. I've never been able to get away, not really... You've always been haunting my steps, every step of the way." Her eyes opened slightly, resting on their form calmly,

"I never wanted to admit it, I couldn't... But I know now, you won't ever leave me in peace. You'll always have some way back, where you can cause harm, and I can't have that. I truly wanted to believe that, that day- when I did that Unison Raid with Winter- I wanted to believe you were both gone, and out of my life forever. I didn't understand how you could still be here... But I know it's my fault." Her words were quiet, calm, soft. Her silver gaze remained locked to the green and red gaze evenly, seeing sudden confusion and shock pass across both halves of the split appearance.

"I was always afraid of you, I am afraid of you." She admitted, earning utterly shocked looks. "It was my fear... My haunting, the haunting I had of you- that was enough to allow you to stay. My fear of you ran so deep and so strong, even if I never wanted to believe it did- it was powerful enough to allow you one last lifeline to this world, enough to let you come back. My inability to admit it... _That_ let you come back, and everything you've done. That is my fault." Her eyes glittered slightly, letting out a small, silent sigh.

This was never something she believed herself capable of saying, nothing she thought she'd ever admit to. They were right... She played at being strong, but she knew better. She kept her truest emotions hidden in the deepest pits of her being, because she hadn't the strength to face them. Admitting such things... It was harder than she ever imagined it could be. Saying it out loud was hard, she was hesitating as she said things, her voice low and tense- but she couldn't stop. She needed to do this...

_... Even if it means, admitting things... I never wanted..._

"I was afraid of you... And for that, I let you hurt countless people. I made it possible for you to stay alive, and others have suffered greatly for it... Moon, and Kyo... The Guild... And so many others... But most of all," Frea eyes glinted, leaning forward as the other stiffened at her action, trying to move away and looking suddenly nervous.

"That girl whose body you've taken over. Someone innocent, and someone whose life you've taken away and destroyed. Murdered and maimed countless people with _her_ hands." Frea murmured lowly, eyes suddenly growing steely. Her nose was inches away from the other, hands on her knees.

"W-what... Are you doing...?" Both voices hissed lowly, mismatched eyes glinting. "Back off...!"

"It's my fault, I know. But now, I'm not afraid of you any longer. I won't be."

The other stiffened, their body growing rigid as Frea leaned forward even more, her arms coming up to wrap about their person tightly, their head in the crook between her shoulder and neck, the hug firm, with no indication she would be letting go.

" _I'm sorry_ , for _everything_ that's happened to you, and to everyone else... But I won't be afraid of you two any longer. I won't let you haunt me forever, I'm done. And its past time you leave."

Her voice was low, calm, and completely steady- all despite the way her heart leapt to be this close, to feel so strongly the Energy Signatures that had walked in her worst nightmares for years. She should have been shaking, stammering... Her voice shouldn't have been so level, yet it was. And her apparent lack of true fear, that caught the other off guard entirely.

Their eyes widened in utter shock and near disbelief, unable to understand why she seemed so calm and strong all in that moment. Having any sort of contact with them should have made her shake, or even visibly stiffen... And yet she didn't seem perturbed by it at all. She was calm, steady.... _impossible..!_

 _How?_ How could anyone be so strong against the things that had caused them so much harm? So much pain and torture? There was no way... Their face pulled into a shocked, yet angry scowl, feeling something shift inside of their body suddenly- as tears dripped from their eyes steadily, though no sadness nor remorse shown on their face- just anger.

Frea's attention moved toward the sudden haze of purple that appeared in a world that had grown a dim gray around her, where Death Bolt was lost to a stretching expanse of nothingness- and the White Plane suddenly came into view. Darker than is usually was, which somehow seemed to fit the collective mood.

Jynx appeared before her, just behind the figure to which she still held tightly in her arms. Their eyes met for a small moment, red on silver, expressions neutral and saying nothing- just silence.

Jynx drew her hand forward, as it slowly plunged into the center of the woman's back as if she were made of water- Frea felt her stiffen under the action, and felt pain spark from them immediately.

"You... Little..." They hissed lowly, trying to push away but Frea held on just a little tighter.

There was a small flare of bright white beside Jynx, as icy blue eyes locked with her own and the form of a tall, thin figure with flowing pure white hair appeared faintly. Frea blinked,

"... How could... How can you... Not...?" They went on, voices blurring and muffling as their pain increased all the more- the Energy Signatures beginning to fade.

Frea stiffened slightly, suddenly hearing them let out a low, malicious _laugh,_ their shock and anger fading entirely. A wide grin drew across their face, their chin pressing into her neck a little as they drew their lips up to her ear,

"Hehe... You may not be afraid of _us_ any longer, Frea..." They hissed lowly, their voices cold and dark. "But now there is something you are all the more terrified of... Something deep, and ancient... Something too powerful, even for you... Something that will swallow the world in chaos, death, and darkness." Frea stiffened, sweatdropping heavily as sudden icy needles tore out at her heart, a cold lump forming in her throat. "... Something that will be your undoing, and you _know_ it very well.."

Frea's eyes closed, jaw clenching slightly as her heart sped up a little and a wash of powerful emotion ran through entire being in the next instant- her thoughts flashing to one thing in particular, dread pulling her down into a deep swirling out of despair and heartbreak massing in her own being.

Jynx's hand pulled out from the woman's body, in her fingers curled two bright shining balls of light- swirling in black and red. Frea relaxed slightly when she felt the Energy Signatures fade all the more, her suddenly tight grip loosening about the woman's figure.

Jynx remained expressionless, though her red eyes glinted in weariness. She slowly turned away from Frea, eyes narrowed as she handed one of the swirling masses of red and black light toward the faint figure beside her- her red eyes matching with icy blue ones.

_Two souls that should have been banished long, long ago... Two souls that managed to remain._

_... Two... That slipped through the cracks..._

Her eyes narrowed more, jaw clenching slightly as she handed it over without a word- nodding to the other figure as white light encased the ball of black and red, shining with a Magic Circle a small moment- before they both faded away.

_And now where Light has begun to shine once more... To encase Darkness and keep its evil at bay..._   
_Locked together as one, never alone._

Jynx's gaze moved toward Frea a moment, sweatdropping slightly. It was uncanny... The knowledge Frea seemed to have on all manner of things that no one should know anything about. It was almost as if she held some deep pit of obscure knowledge somewhere inside of her, a pool of information that few to none in the world had ever known, or ever would. It was not the first time Frea seemed to piece together the impossible... And she had to wonder, why was it Frea seemed to inherently know so much...?

Jynx blinked, looking away as her red eyes trailed down to the second mass in her hand, frowning deeply as she gripped it firmly, feeling its malicious and vile nature oozing from it continually... A truly black soul. Evil. _Tainted._

Jynx turned her back on the pair of Frea and the other woman, the vast emptiness of the White Plane around them beginning to fade.

 _One of those moments that cannot be avoided..._ A situation tailored so Fairy Tail would face these enemies, that Frea would meet those that had walked in her deepest nightmares for so long... But what did this prove? If anything at all?

_What is the significance of this..?_

"... The battle has been fought and won, Energy Dragon." Jynx murmured softly, "Do your best, not to take this win for granted... Much worse is yet to come, and soon I fear." Jynx paused, eyes closing a moment.

"Of course... You already know as much."

Jynx faded away into nothing as the Death Bolt Guild around them suddenly came back into view, and the sounds of the Guild around her came back. Frea's eyes remained closed, hearing Jynx's words easily- but saying nothing in return. She didn't need to.

Frea pulled back from the hug, her eyes opening to rest with weary, dull green ones. The young woman's hair was no longer split, it remained a deep color of brunette as her eyes both became a green hue she was too familiar with.

The young girl looked up at her wearily, swathes of pain and sadness and heartbreak racing through the green depths- the look of a person who's life had been ripped to shreds. She knew the feeling all too well, though she hardly knew this girl.... a girl, from what she could piece together of everything that had happened, and from her appearance.... those hauntingly familiar green eyes. And the connection with Shadow....

Tomaru had called Kasumi his 'Parter' while they had been in Grimoire Heart together.... but Parter was stretching it a little, it was more like _lover._ Tomaru's son... Moon's friend, Kyo... and his sister, Lyla.

The children of the woman who had done so much awful to her.... who had.... Frea sighed, pushing the thoughts away, her mind shredded and aching enough already.

"I am sorry, for everything you've suffered through, Lyla..." Frea murmured softly, her hands holding the girl's face gently as she let their foreheads touch lightly. In her senses, one Energy Signature remained... One Energy Signature, belonging to one body.

"But now... You are free."

* * *

 

Moon's mind was continually teetering on the edge of wakefulness and an ocean of nothing but swirling, cold black waves.

She felt like she could hear voices lurking lowly from far away, growing closer and further in fine with how close she came to waking up- only to fall back into the black.

_The Guild... Lily, Happy... Those two... Everyone... Are they ok?_

_Did... Did we win...?_

Worry and fear weighed in her heart heavily even amongst her swirling and distant thoughts, she could only think of everyone else- she could only be worried about their safety, about whether or not they were ok. She hoped dearly that they were,

She hissed, her jaw clenching at the great waves of pain sweeping through her entire body continually, her pain and the extent of her wounds catching up with her, tearing at her. Everything hurt, breathing was painful, everything was agony, her head was spinning, she doubted she could move anymore even if she tried.

_Did... Did I do it...? Did I beat Shadow...?_

She wanted that to be the case, in her heart she truly wanted Shadow defeated. With the Dark Demon beat the Guild would be safe, and she would have gotten payback... Payback for Kyo, for all the people Lyla and Shadow hurt... And payback for Frea.

Her heart clenched painfully, the grief pulling at her again at thought of Frea. At memory of seeing her beaten and hurt so violently and brutally by Tomaru... At seeing her strung up to the doors of the Fairy Tail Guild Hall.

_Frea... Everyone... I'm so sorry..._

"... Is she gonna... Wendy...?"

"... Wounds... Really bad... I'm doing..."

"I... I am so sorry..." Moon breathed lowly, pain and sadness gripping her heart. "... Everyone... I'm sorry... I dragged you into this..."

"Don't be sorry." Moon stiffened slightly, her mind managing to pull free from the black waves without her at first realizing it- able to hear the lurking a of the people around her, the blurry figure of the room of Death Bolt's main hall appearing above her, accompanied by the soft pale blue glow of Wendy's Magic as she worked away to heal her wounds.

Moon's eyes moved to the side, seeing Lily looking down at her. "You've nothing to be sorry for, Moon." He murmured gently, "You were already told before, so don't apologize."

"... You guys... Are you all... Ok...?" She breathed, wincing harshly. "And... Shadow...?"

Lily smiled slightly, eyes softening a little as he nodded. "You won, Moon. You did a splendid job, you are truly one of the strongest Wizards I know." He told her softly, she blinked at the words, eyes glinting a little as she let a small, exhausted smile slip.

"... I'm glad." She breathed, "I just wish... Frea... Knew..." Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes, ".. That Shadow is finally... Beat..." Her eyes fell closed, missing the blink of slight confusion that Lily gave her.

She wanted in her heart, for Frea to know that she had done away with the creature that had hurt her, made her life hell... she wanted Frea to know that Shadow's reign of terror was over.....

"I know, and you did great." Moon stiffened, her body going rigid and eyes snapping open, wide and heart leaping into her throat.

_That voice...!_

"Just don't let all that power go to your head, alright?" She murmured, tone weary but not lacking a little amusement as she said the words. Moon sat up, hissing at the pain of moving and causing Wendy to stop healing her, Lily stiffened as she moved- looking a little worried she was moving so much so quickly.

"Moon, you really should lie down," Wendy told her softly, but Moon's eyes were fixed on someone else.

Frea blinked from were she was settled down beside them, one knee propped up with her elbow of her uninjured shoulder resting on top of it, her silver eyes rest on Moon, looking a little confused to the utterly shocked look her Exceed Partner settled on her. She was pale, and nearly every inch of her being covered in bandages or bruised or cut, and she seemed exhausted, and strained and maybe even a little frayed- but even more so... It was better than what Moon had thought.

Moon stared, eyes wide and sweatdropping heavily, her jaw dropped slightly as her entire being began to shake with a sudden flux of insane and powerful emotion- of shock, pain, sadness- but most of all, sudden relief. Her eyes watered, the tears spilling over as she remained fixed, her eyes locked on to Frea.

Frea blinked, sweatdropping slightly at the sudden onslaught of powerful emotions sparking from her partner so suddenly, eyes widening a little to see her begin to shake and the tears start to flow freely.

"What's with the look...?" Frea murmured, looking a little unsure. "Moon, are you- huh?!"

Moon moved faster than anybody managed to rect, or even thought she could move at all. Frea broke off in her question, reeling slightly as Moon jumped forward despite her injuries and pain, ramming straight into her stomach as she settled in the Energy Dragon Slayer's lap, her blocked and torn arms wrapping about her torso as Moon buried her face into Frea's shirt, her tears staining the fabric. Frea went still, eyes wide and glittering as a sudden swath of pure happiness and joy began to spark from Moon in seconds- followed by the calming and powerful wash of pure relief. She blinked in confusion, not sure what was going on- or why Moon had reacted in such a way at all, let alone why she was suddenly so happy and overjoyed- especially after all the awful things that had happened during this mess.

Frea's hands gently landed on top of Moon's head as she continued to cry, a small smile pulling at her lips and eyes closed, nuzzling her head into Frea's torso in a sudden wash of affection. The Guild around her looked nearly as shocked as she did, quite caught off gaurd by Moon's sudden reaction.

"Moon..." Frea murmured, eyes narrowing. "Hey... What's the matter?"

"I... Frea..." Moon stammered in between her crying, her voice cracking painfully- Frea felt her heart clench a little, feeling Moon still shaking. "... I... I thought I lost you... I thought Tomaru... I thought he... Killed you...!"

Frea stiffened, her silver eyes growing a little wide at the words, sweatdropping slightly. She could feel how much pain Moon was in, how afraid and torn up she was- and she felt how overpoweringly happy she was in that moment, at seeing her. It was like some great mass of dark had been lifted away, leaving her lighter...

_... She was so happy..._

Frea's eyes softened slightly, slowly closing as she let out a small sigh and wrapped her arms about Moon's form, drawing her closer and holding her tightly.

_Moon... She was so hurt... And just knowing..._

"... Its alright Moon... Its fine... You can't get rid of me that easily." Frea murmured softly, "... Everything's alright now... Its done. Its over."

Frea's hold around Moon's sobbing form tightened a little, silver eyes locked to the ground.

Death Bolt... A Guild full of evil, a Guild where so many awful things had happened, where countless people had suffered.. Where the Guild had been hurt, nearly killed... A place... So, so very dark... And now it was over. She had Moon back, and she never wanted to let her go.

She sweatdropped slightly, feeling a flash of pain sweep through her head, feeling dark shadows beginning to creep up to the surface in the deepest pools of her now very frayed and stretched mind.

Its over... But she felt that all of this... This would be a new thing to haunt her steps. And still yet- there was something worse to come.

But she wouldn't ignore it for now, she didn't care- all she cared about was Moon. She wanted Moon happy again, safe and healed... She had promised to protect her Partner, and she knew very well she had really failed, and she hated that.

_I'm sorry, Moon..._

Her eyes slowly shift about the injured and tired appearance of the Guild around her, feeling her heart clench a little.

 _I'm sorry, everyone..._ Moon hadn't reason to apologize. This was more her fault than it was ever Moon's, it all started when she lost to Tomaru.. When she failed to defeat Shadow...

_... When that Thing made me lose. Everything that's happened, all this pain and heartbreak and fear.. That's all on me..._

Frea let her eyes close, taking in a small sigh, giving Moon a reassuring squeeze that she hoped would help to calm her down a little.

"F-Frea...?" Moon whispered lowly, a flash of sudden shock ramming into her. Moon's head tilted slightly, to get a better look at Frea's features, seeing in her eyes something deep, and tired... something dark. Moon felt her heart flutter suddenly, feeling immediately something she had never once felt before- Frea's mind.

She'd never been able to even come close to Frea's mind since she had known her, it was as if she was invisible to her in a way... and now suddenly she could feel it, she could reach out, lock on to it- but why?! When she reached forward, she stiffened, feeling an incredibly powerful mass of painful and dark feeling coming from Frea's mind, much too powerful, too heavy.... what... why are her memories...?

_'There's a good reason no one can get into my head,'_

"You.... your mind...." Moon stammered, Frea sweatdropped, eyes closed.

"Don't." Frea murmured, low enough only Moon could hear her, tone firm and incredibly stony. "Moon.... just don't try to read my memories, alright? I'm fine, you need to rest, don't use any Magic, ok?" She murmured, Moon blinked, looking incredibly unsure, but nodded a little anyway, her own eyes closing. Frea let out a sigh, feeling her head start to spin as her pain and exhaustion settled in more.

_... all of this....._

_...... that feeling, the foreboding... it's still there...._

"... Lets go home.

 


	52. I'm Not

**Chapter 52**

**I'm Not**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

Something wasn't right.

It wasn't a shock, anyone supposed... With what happened with Death Bolt, with Frea, Moon, Shadow... All of it, things were bound to be tense and somber for awhile yet. The Guild needed time to heal, to process and to understand what happened, to wrap their heads around it all. They needed time to set themselves and their emotions straight- they knew that; but something was just... Different.

"I don't want pity guys... I don't want you to say you're sorry, or look at me any differently. Ok? I'm fine... You know what happened, but we don't need to talk about, alright?" Moon mumbled from where she was settled on the bartop, bandages covering large expanses of her person and a looking exhausted- but her blue eyes remained clear and resolute as she faced them.

The Guild seemed to stiffen a little at the sudden words, glancing around themselves and sweatdropping slightly.

They did pity her, they were hurt and angry... Because they hated the things Moon had been put through, they hated everything about what had happened, and they were simmering in their anger and hurt- all of it, because they really cared, of course.

Moon shook her head at them, eyes narrowed and expression resolute- it wasn't the look of someone who had been through the things she had, the awful things... She looked strong against it all, but they had to wonder- what did she look like when she wasn't facing everyone? When she was alone, left for her thoughts and memories to swirl back into places deep and dark?

"I don't need you guys to treat me like some broken toy that needs to be handled carefully, I don't need you to worry about me or how I'm handling all of this... I'm alright. I've been able to deal with the things that have happened before with very little issue, and it's gonna be no different now. I am alright... Or at least I will be soon. Please don't think you need to console me, or tread lightly, alright?" She murmured softly, smiling slightly. "After all, I'm back here in the Guild where I belong. Of course I'm gonna be alright, you believe it." She smiled softly, almost lightheartedly.

They all seemed to pause a moment, maybe a little taken aback by how calm and well put together she seemed to be. It was a shock, that she could be so content and strong against what she must have gone through... For the first time, many of them seemed to begin to see just how strong Moon really is.

They nodded, relenting to her words.

"Alright Moon.."

"You got it."

"We're just glad your back and safe."

"Me too." Moon murmured, dipping her head slightly. "And I'm glad nobody got seriously hurt," she sweatdropped slightly, knowing it wasn't entirely true... Lily had gotten pretty beat up, Chase too, and Gajeel even...

Moon's eyes flicked sideways toward the hall that lead to Fairy Tail's Infirmary- to which she knew Frea was inside, having been confined there and actually listening this time around.

Moon knew well, Frea wasn't ok either. Something was wrong, something was... Different, and she couldn't place what it was.

Frea had been very quite since things had happened, she had been silent and tense- nearly all the time, though she managed to hide her tenseness for the most part. She seemed considerably frayed and stretched out- and seemed constantly on edge since coming back.

And she wouldn't say anything either, she kept insisting she was fine- but Moon knew better than to believe that.

It wasn't even Frea's physical injuries that worried her the most anymore- though Frea was hardly healthy. Her little excursion to Death Bolt had reopened nearly all of her wounds, including the long slice running across her entire back. She was weak and in a lot of pain all the time, and her Magic was slight... But there was something else too. Something different, something more... Something deeper.

She could only think of it as some sort of... Well, haunting. A sort of metal pain, like her mind was filled with too many thoughts all at once, things Frea found awful, painful. And feeling that whatever block Frea had previously had on her mind was suddenly gone- she couldn't hardly imagine what had happened to do that, or how it had felt.

And Frea wasn't willing to talk about it, she just wasn't even talking at all for the most part- it was like she was lost in her own head.

Frea hardly left her alone, as she expected she supposed. Frea was very wiling to give comfort and solace when a Moon really needed it, and she was gentle and kind more so than she usually would be- she had been a terrific rock to hold to these last few days. Moon appreciated her Partner's kindness and understanding more than anything, and felt her own aching fear and the dull sharp sting of the latest events biting at her heels fade slightly when Frea was around.

Moon felt her heart clench at the thought, feeling worry seeping into her bones all the more at Frea's sudden distant behavior, even despite her action for being a comfort to Moon herself.

_I just wish... I knew what was wrong..._

"Umm... Miss Moon...?"

Moon's attention snapped to the present, finding that the minutes had asked to slip past without her noticing- so caught up in her own brooding as she was. Lily was seated beside her- he hardly left her alone when she wasn't with Frea, and a part of her loved the silent comfort his presence seemed to give off- both her and Lily's eyes moved toward the two figures approaching the bar slowly, looking slightly nervous.

Moon blinked, a little surprised to find the figures of Iki and Uno before her- she had noted they seemed to stick around the last few days, though she wasn't entirely sure why. She had hardly had time to speak with them- little was she aware they had already spoken with Frea, asking how to go about getting to know Moon themselves. They weren't sure of it, and even now they hesitated.

"You two," Moon murmured, head tilting slightly. "I didn't know you were still hanging around the Guild. Though I guess that's a good thing, I never thanked you two for your help in fighting Shadow." They shuffled nervously with their paws a little, Moon blinked, her head tilting a bit more. "Something the matter?" Moon asked,

"... There was something, we wanted to tell you..." Uno mumbled, paws folded in front of her eyes eyes flicking side to side in nervousness. ".. Something about... Why we came to Fairy Tail in the first place, it wasn't just because we heard there was trouble." Moon's ears twitched slightly, "Its... well, this is gonna sound a little odd but just hear us out, ok?" Uno murmured, eyes finally trailing up to Moon- who blinked in surprise at the sincerity and even the... The longing she saw in them. For a moment, Moon felt a small, unfamiliar tug in her chest.

"Alright..." She murmured, head tilted slightly.

"... When we hatched, the man that took us in told us the day he found our eggs, there had been three, not just two." Iki took over, eyes steady but seeming still nervous. "The other egg he saw had rolled away before he could get to it, and he wasn't able to find it again. For some time we wondered what happened, where that egg had ended up, what happened to the Exceed inside of it, if they were ok or not..." He placed a paw on his chest, "We... We've felt like something was missing, so we started looking into it."

Moon blinked, sweatdropping slightly. She wasn't entirely sure why they were bringing this up at all, an egg that had been lost years ago? There were a hundred eggs that had been sent to Extalia, a hundred and of them... She knew seven of them had been recovered for sure. Those of Happy, Carla, Uno, Iki, Lector, Frosch and her own. There were 93 eggs still missing, 93 Exceeds still out around the world. So this egg they mentioned alongside their own, what was the reason for mentioning it?

"Since none of the eggs sent here from Extalia know who their parents are, we were never really sure who was related to who, or even that we are siblings." Uno murmured, gesturing toward Iki. "Because we don't know for sure, we took it on faith and have been... Calling one another brother and sister has always felt right to us. We accepted it, and because our eggs were found together- we took that as a sign of relation to one another. We also figured we must be, simply based on similar appearance." Iki and Uno alike gestured toward the white splash on their foreheads with a paw, Moon faintly recalled her own similar mark a moment.

"We figured if we were brother and sister, that egg that got lost may have been another sibling to us." Moon blinked, seeing a sudden light flash across their gazes a moment, stiffening slightly.

"So as we began looking into that missing egg, we found out about the creatures living in that region. We collected notes on the terrain, the weather, possible floods, landslides, everything we could think of." Iki murmured, "For a long while we never found anything, except that that area was frequented by creatures known to prey on anything and everything any animal would consider an easy meal, like a newly hatched Exceed." Moon's ears twitched, the sudden memory of outrunning that creature looking to eat her, and the sting of her ears being shredded to pieces floating to mind suddenly.

"We never found anything, and thought that maybe there was nothing to find." Uno murmured, paws folding in front of her, eyes moving up to remain level with Moon's. "We gave up, until we ran into another Exceed by the name of Samuel. He came to our Guild, having heard of a Guild made up of Exceeds and being curious. When he met with us he told us of working with Fairy Tail, and with you- of how smart and powerfully adept with Magic you are, and how you had this same mark." Again they gestured to the white splashes of fur on their foreheads lightly, "We were intrigued, so we looked into you."

"Its crazy... But it was like the moment we saw you, something clicked. Something here, just seemed to start to fill up." Iki lay a paw over his chest lightly, as Moon simply stared, mind starting to reel as she worked to process what they were trying to get at. "The more we collected and learned about you and the things you've done here in Fairy Tail, the more we started to feel like we knew you, we felt we knew you more deeply than we could, and we couldn't explain why. And more and more we just got the feeling, the deep sense that we were connected- the same feeling the two of us have shared and attributed as being the connection we have as siblings."

"We feel it ever more deeply now, and it stays strong- that feeling we both have for you." Iki and Uno said in unison, Moon could only stare, her eyes growing wide and body rigid as she felt her heart suddenly leap, and a tug in her chest pulled again. Her eyes met them, and their sincere expressions, the longing and the hope in their gazes, how much they believed in every word they uttered, how deeply they truly felt what they were feeling... Something profound, innate, instinctive maybe. Something true.

"For you- we believe full heartedly. You are our sister, Moon."

It was like the world spun, her mind whirling as thoughts and questions all crashed down in an instant as she tried to process something so inherently earth shattering.

She had never ever, ever... Never thought that maybe, maybe there had been something more. Since hatching, she was alone, she was scared, cold hungry and hurt. That was all she ever knew, she had had to focus on living- and had never thought that maybe there had been something else in the world for her, connected to her. She had never considered or thought of family, of bonds of siblings, she had always felt detached and on her own. So now? To have two Exceeds so sincerely telling her this, to see how deeply they felt what they said in their hearts- that they were family, though they had never known one another- it sent her reeling.

Was she supposed to believe what they said? It seemed a long shot, their basis... They just seemed to know- because they felt it. A bond, a bond of family that had endured not ever knowing each other- did such a thing even really exist? Could she be connected to these two, never having felt that something was missing? Never having felt the bond they seemed to?

But even in that moment as the world dropped away from under her into endless free fall- she felt something, something stir deep in her chest, something foreign... Something deeper than anything.

_What... Is...?_

Her face fell, head hanging slightly as her expression was lost in a shadow that fell over he face, and she fell utterly silent. She didn't move, she didn't say anything- Iki and Uno exchanged wary and nervous glances. Perhaps this hadn't been the best idea after all?

"Listen Moon... We understand if you don't feel the same way, we just.." Iki mumbled, breaking off.

"... We just... We had to tell you. Even if it all sounds insane..." Uno mumbled in finish to her brother, like clockwork they were. They're heads fell, almost in an apologizing way, ears falling and eyes closed.

"... Even if you don't believe what we do..."

Both Iki and Uno jumped slightly, unaware that Moon had moved toward them, until her arms had wrapped around them both in a tight embrace. They blinked, eyes wide and sweatdropping as Moon pulled them to her, her face hidden as she buried it in her shoulders.

Lily, who had been listening in utter silence the entire time the two said their piece, crossed his paws over his chest and smirked slightly, eyes glinting in happiness. While Iki and Uno had seemed to take Moon's silence as condemnation for their belief of being siblings with each other, Lily could tell Moon wasn't disregarding the idea... In reality she was just coming to terms with it, trying to understand what she felt herself. It wasn't really like Moon to outright condemn any idea, especially a belief held on to so firmly like these two seemed to hold to it.

"... Thank you... For telling me how you feel." Moon murmured, her voice low. "Its a lot to process, but I am very glad you told me... I can see how much this means to you two. How deeply you believe in it." She held them tighter,

"... I've been all by myself for most of my life, I've never had any real Family until I met Kyo, and then Frea, and Fairy Tail. I never knew what Family really was, but there is.. There's something I still don't recognize, something I never felt before- and I feel it now."

Iki and Uno stiffened, small drops appearing at the edge of their eyes as Moon pulled back, smiling to them as soft trails fell down her cheeks.

"So if it seems I don't believe you, its because I don't understand what this feeling is, because I've never felt it before. Its not that I don't believe you... I feel something too, and I need to work through it." She smiled a little more, a genuine, pure smile.

"But thank you... This feeling, its pleasant."

* * *

Sheer agitation, her nerves on high at all times, unrelenting prickling and pain... She felt so damned, unbearably vulnerable.

Her nerves and her body and her mind- they were all fried to a crisp, everything hurt, her head seared in pain, her body ached unbearably, thoughts and memories and things she wished she could forget bombarded her mind over and over despite how much she tried to fight them back. She felt herself pulling apart at the seams, desperately trying to keep herself together and under control- she didn't want anyone to see how shredded and pulled apart she was, she couldn't let them see it...

_... I do always... Put on an act..._

The momentary distractions afforded to her by talking with Moon or comforting the Exceed- as well as the small interruption in her whirling thoughts by Uno and Iki- they were all small and slight. Even the lecture and harsh and angry rebuttals she had received on behalf of the the Guild- and most notably Master and Porlyusica- that all mattered little. It did little to claw at the swirling mass of black and pain and the incessant feeling of vulnerability, and even worse- the feeling of slowly losing grip on reality itself.

She couldn't ward off the wild thoughts and memories, she couldn't shake the emotion that hurtled at her in their quake- she couldn't even think clearly, or calm down. Those moments when things passed into silence, those moments she lost herself to a world of darkness and anguish she never wished to return to- a world that she had been forced to relive, and subsequently was now forced to be bombarded with. And it was all because of that damned bastard... _Because of...!_

... She did her best; to be caring and attentive for Moon. She wanted to be there for her Partner... So she pushed past what she could, even if doing so exhausted her more. She had failed to keep Moon safe and away from Death Bolt in the first place... And she hated herself for that failure. Now she would do anything and everything, little else mattered, even herself.

Over and over, she remembered how happy Moon had been to see her again. How relieved she had been... And she remembered Moon's unbelievably potent pain and sadness, both emotions so deep and so strong she nearly flinched. She felt her heart ache terribly every time she looked at Moon- at her wounds, her exhaustion... And her anger toward herself grew more.

Moon was hurting, more than she'd let anyone outside of Frea see. Moon after strong around the rest of the Guild, she acted as if she had all her emotions under control... And maybe she did have some of her emotions in check. Maybe yes, she was somewhat ok, and getting better... But there was no mistaking the haunting, the fear and the pain in her person when they were alone. Frea's heart ached all the more- she hated those emotions, hated feeling them more than she ever had.

And then she was plunged back into the pits of the past she had hoped would remain buried- far away from any place they could torment her so.

It had never been this bad... But now, now it was just awful. She had always been able to keep her emotions and memories in check, but now they just ran wild, tearing at her mind day in and day out- never ending, always so strong and so potent. She couldn't focus on anything else, couldn't ignore it.

Frea hissed, holding her pounding head in her hands as her eyes scrunched closed. Her back leaning up against the headboard of her bed in Fairy Hills, Moon curled up asleep beside her- her fur shining silver in the pale moonlight filtering through the window.

She hadn't slept since combing back from Death Bolt... For a week, she hadn't gotten nearly any sleep at all. The nightmares had come back... Stronger and more haunting than ever before.

She seldom had nightmares, over anything... But now suddenly, every instant she let her mind fall and sleep take hold- she was met the torrent of agony and torment she had tried hard to bury for good, things hardly anyone could bear... Things she had lived too many times over.

Things that truly, utterly hurt.

She was exhausted, she was in pain, her mind was shredded, emotions running feverishly... And the sense, the feeling, of vulnerability never went away. And inside she felt herself growing colder, folding in on herself a little, quieter and distant... She wasn't her.

She hated this, feeling this, going through this... _Damn it... I am a damned... Freaking... Coward..._

_"Such a fool... You play the part of being big and strong, like nothing can hurt you. You act like a hero, put on a face so the world doesn't see the small, weak, cowering and scared little child you really are. You've been lying to yourself for all these years, but we know. We know what you really are, you can't fool us. You're weak, useless- you couldn't even rid yourself of the things hurting your 'family'. You're too weak to defeat us, let alone anything really. Keep denying it Frea, we know you'll never admit your fear... But we know."_

Her fist clenched about the shirt over her chest, head tilted and jaw grit against the voices hissing through her ears.

_I... I thought if I... Admitted... Then..._

Her grip about her shirt tightened, her frame shaking slightly. There was an incessant prickle at the back of her mind, something like the chill breeze that blows through an open window... Open, exposed.

_He managed... He did this to me... Because he broke the Seal... He shouldn't have been... Able..._

Her jaw clenched, a bead of sweat falling down her face- her entire countenance was trembling in the wash of emotions surging though her, emotion she hated, emotions she wasn't used to- nor ever let rule her body, but she was powerless now.

_Hikien broke the Seal... And now I can't get a grip on... On my memories... On my emotions... On anything..._

_... Did he... Really manage...?_

_... To... Break... Me...?_

A shiver ran through her core, her other hand coming up to clap over her mouth softly- the rush of emotion making her already battered and frayed body suddenly swirl in a bout of queasiness. She was so worked up and tense and swirling in her unbridled, powerful emotions her body was reacting in ways she hated all the more- and her health was just getting worse she was so tense.

_I... I can't... Keep going like.. This..._

More than anything she couldn't bear to feel so out in the open any longer, she needed something... Something to make her feel controlled, reserved... She needed to get a grip damn it..!

Frea slid from the bed slowly, careful not to wake Moon up as she stepped on to the floor- her legs shaking despite how hard she tried to stop them, a wave of exhaustion falling over her like a great wave. Her head spun, followed by a blinding flash of pain that tore through across her back- the stitches pulling uncomfortably at wounds that weren't healing, her body didn't have the strength nor the energy to.

This had never happened before... Nothing of her past had ever managed to hit her this hard before. She'd never been rendered so... So weak and... And afraid...

_Hikien's Magic, it must have... Amplified everything... When he lost control of it..._

She swallowed, taking a moment to steady herself before pulling on a pair of skinny jeans over her pajama shorts, leaving her tank top as it was- besides, moving to put on the jeans was painful enough, the shoulder Tomaru plunged a sword through was hardly moving as she wanted it to- putting on another shirt would have been nearly impossible.

Frea slipped from the room silently, careful not to wake Moon- not even bothering to put on shoes, as she silently made her way through the dark and sleeping expanse of Fairy Hills- out into the light of the full moon outside, and Magnolia's silent form.

_I have to..._

Walking hurt, she was going slow, teetering slightly every once in a while as sheer exhaustion pulled at her heels every step of the way, head spinning as lightheadedness settled in heavily. The stitching along her back kept pulling in her movement, her shoulder flared in pain though she did her best not to move it too much.

Porlyusica had allowed her to go home- under the rule she wouldn't be running off away from Fairy Hills at all. Moon had the job of watching to make sure she did just that... But honestly, being cooped up in Fairy Hills made all her agitation all the worse, and she couldn't stay. She needed space, she needed room to work... This Spell...

_... I can't keep living with... My mind so wide open..._

She swallowed hard against the sensation of queasiness that rose again, eyes narrowed and sweatdropping heavily, a silent and solitary figure among the empty streets of Magnolia. She passed through slowly, past all the dark shops and sleeping houses, aware of the Energy Signatures of the people in town as they slept on... All of them lost to the swirling of her own Emotions running wild and raging against her broken and battered mind and body.

She hated this, feeling this way. And damn it, she couldn't help it...!

She never slowed nor let up until she reached the center of town, coming to a small stop just before the glittering expanse of the fountain set within the courtyard. The water lay still in the bottom, not spewing water as it usually would in the middle of the day, the top silent and free of water.

Her hand gripped at her injured shoulder a little, eyes narrowing to slits as she paused, silver eyes glinting slightly in the dim of the night.

She couldn't let her mind stay open and accessible any more... That's what put her on edge the most. She wasn't at all comfortable with being so open like that, and in fact she felt incredibly vulnerable because of it. Her nerves were on high alert... A part of it was because of the feeling of openness, and because she was constantly aware that anyone with any Magical Talent for Telekinesis of the like could easily reach in.

There was a reason no one had ever been able to get inside her head, there was a reason she had placed that Seal on her mind in the first place.

_This... What's going on with me, all of it.. How I feel, all the memory... The nightmares... I was always trying to keep it locked away... And Hikien trudged it all up, amplified it, and threw it in my face._

Her grip about her shoulder tightened a little, body growing rigid.

_All of it.. He made me..._

Frea shook her head furiously, all too aware her body had started to shake again with a rush of emotion she didn't want.

_I can't leave my mind open anymore... It's gonna drive me insane... And maybe, if I replace the Seal, maybe I'll be able to control what I remember better._

Her eyes glinted in the dark, sweatdropping more.

She dearly hoped that was the case.

Her hand unfolded from her shirt, slowly extending sideways as she held both her index and middle finger out, silver light working about her hand and fingers softly, eyes closed.

She winced silently, using Magic was painful too... And hard. With her lack of any actual sleep, she hadn't managed to recover hardly any of her Magic Energy at all, and what little she had left, and with how exhausted she was... She hoped it was enough. It had to be enough.

_No more of this._

* * *

Laxus huffed slightly, eyes glaring at the ceiling above his bed moodily, arms crossed behind his head and moonlight filtering through the window to bath him in soft rays. His fangs ground down in one another slightly, sweatdropping a little with narrowed eyes- irritation sparking slightly.

His attempts at sleep had been futile, he couldn't fall asleep- because his damned mind was wandering too much.

Something was definitely off, something wasn't normal, like it should be... And hell if he knew what.

He frowned slightly, alright... Maybe he had an idea.

After everything that had gone down with Death Bolt, the Guild in its entirety had been on edge, angry, and somewhat somber. A lot of the Guild seemed to have a hard time coming to terms with what Death Bolt had done, and even more so they hardly understood what had gone on with Shadow.

It seemed like the Dark Demon had just popped up out of nowhere, with no rhyme nor reason. They didn't know why, or even how she managed to come back, or even survive the Unison Raid that Winter and Frea had laid out on her- Erza mentioned she hardly believed it was possible, and she had been there to see it happen. Apart from how Shadow was alive- how the hell had Moon of all people been able to beat her?

That bit had been explained a little better he supposed, though none of it had been a definite answer. There were still too many questions, too many missing gaps on what had gone on. Frea had tried to explain some of it to the Guild when prompted, but even then she wasn't much help. If she knew anymore, she didn't say it, and didn't give any hint she was going to go more in depth- a part of him hated her for that. And a part of him knew, just somehow knew- she did know something the rest of the Guild didn't.

Her and her damned secrets...

His jaw clenched, eyes narrowing more.

And speaking of... Frea wasn't exactly acting like... Well, her.

Not that he had much time to talk to her, not with the Old Man chewing his ass out for letting her run off to Death Bolt in the first place, and her being busy with Moon and the questions of the rest of the Guild- but he could just tell. It was an itch at the back of his mind that wouldn't go away, and over and over he kept seeing those glittering droplets of moisture fall at her feet.

Over and over he kept remembering her crying, and despite himself, his heart clenched at it and he felt something strange stir in his chest too.

He needn't talk to her to see she was being very, very silent and distant to everyone. He didn't need to hold a conversation to see the look of haunting in her eyes, or see how tired she was, how much pain she was in. He could see all of it easily, and it kept nagging at him- because deep down he felt for sure something was definitely not right. She wasn't alright, something had shattered when they were in Death Bolt, something inside of her had just... Cracked.

And the Frea that came from that break was quiet, distant, caught up in her own head... And nearly unrecognizable.

And damn it, why couldn't he stop thinking about this?!

It just kept nagging at him, the feeling that she was different. She was in his head more than she had ever been, but it couldn't be because he somehow cared about her. He had never cared what went on with Frea, he had never given any thought to the things that went on in her head, of how she felt, or hardly anything... But now he couldn't stop thinking about it.

Because deep down he knew he should have payed attention. All these years he had known her, he had never put any thought into what she must have gone through in her life, what she had endured- and he knew very well it was nothing good. It was awful, painful, dark... Probably nothing less than torture. Maybe it was a wonder she managed to stay as confident, kind and well put together as she had all these years- but now she was breaking, she was remembering things she had tried to forget, and it was because Hikien managed to get his hands on her.

His jaw clenched, a small flash of anger rising up a moment- resentment, and some of it toward himself.

He let Hikien get the chance... Damn it!

He'd never willingly admit it, no... But in a way he did care, and he deeply cared that he had failed to keep his promise. The promise he made to Frea, that no one would touch her. He had had every intention of making good on his word, but he had failed at doing so, and he hated that. Because now, that change in Frea; how off she was acting, everything she was probably feeling, all that pain- it was his fault.

Perhaps he shouldn't have let her go to Death Bolt at all...

Laxus huffed, sitting up and climbing from the bed, growling under his breath slightly.

 _Why can't I get that damned woman out of my head?_ She'd been in his thoughts more often than not recently, with Ivan, with Death Bolt... And even before that if he was being honest. Odd, considering he'd never given Frea any thought when they were younger- now she seemed always on the corners of his mind.

_... I changed too. Not just Frea._

But this sudden change in Frea, it did poke at him a little- and that feeling nagged at him all the more.

He pulled his coat over his shoulders easily, walking out the door and shaking his head in slight irritation. He knew well enough he wouldn't be getting any sleep with all the thoughts swirling in his head, so he figured he might as well take a walk.

He made his way through the trees surrounding his home as he headed for Magnolia; his feet taking him toward town without his direct thought, trying very hard to clear his head. He took in a deep breath, letting the cool night air wash over his senses,

All the while, that nagging sensation never lessened.

_She's always hiding things... Secrets from the Guild... But what is it she hides most?_

He huffed, shaking his head at himself. It was a little annoying, how hard it was to think of something else. He just couldn't... Couldn't shake the tense feeling, that odd feeling in his chest. The feeling of something very wrong, could it be- he actually cared, more than he thought he did himself..?

_Hmph..._

He took in another breath, arms crossing over his chest and eyes falling closed, focusing on the silence that the sleeping form of Magnolia provided. He had come farther and farther into the center of town in his thoughts, and he slowed slightly, eyes opening as his nose twitched a little.

_What in the.. Hell...?_

Nearly the first thing he caught on to, was the scent of blood- and then immediately after that, he caught a scent that had become so damned familiar he'd know it anywhere. Something light, cool and sweet... A scent that brought with it small wisps of his dream from a few weeks prior, remembering how it wrapped about his person so heavily... He felt his face heat up a little, flusterdness rising as he pushed the thoughts away.

On to the matter at hand, what in the hell is she thinking? She was supposed to be confined to her room... And smelling the blood, he figured her wounds were still raw. So why the hell is she running around town in the middle of the night?

He frowned slightly, sweatdropping as that strange feeling in his chest flared more strongly a moment... It was a lie to say he didn't know what the feeling was he supposed, he just didn't know how to admit it all that well. But he knew it... It was worry, concern. Something he had never felt before recently, not really- and certainly not for her. He'd never cared... But now... Now maybe...

_Idiotic woman..._

His steps quickened slightly, as he veered off toward the center of town, eyes narrowed and focus on her scent. He could smell blood easily, and figured she had reopened some wounds- like the idiot she is- by walking around. Though inwardly, he thought her wounds should have been mostly closed up by now, with how much work Wendy had put into her.

He would never understand why she could be so stubborn about staying in bed and resting, she never did stay still. She was too high strung, too fiery, but then again- that was the Frea he knew best. But right now, he had the feeling it was more than stubbornness that had prompted her out so late- he had mentioned it before, something about her was just off. Very off.

That feeling in his chest grew stronger. As did his agitation, and annoyance.

Laxus made his way over the cobblestone of the street steadily; eyes narrowed as he looked ahead, suddenly aware of the soft silver glow coming from the central courtyard inside Magnolia- a flash of annoyance rising up inside of him as he growled under his breath.

And the idiot was using her Magic too, how dumb can she be?

He came to a halt, arms crossed over his chest and eyes narrowed. He stopped on the outskirts of the small square in the center of town, where there rest a large fountain- the water had ceased to spew water, but what was left of it in the bottom was glittering and dazzling with the silver light shinning all about the area- soft trails and Magic Circles of Frea's silver Magic that glowed and moved lazily, calmly.

Frea was standing on the top most part of the fountain, hands clasped in front of her and eyes closed as her Magic spiraled around her person slowly. Magic Circles circled the fountain around her, connected by trails of the Magic moving across the ground, before they converged toward the center, toward Frea.

The expression on her face was one of concentration and pain, a bead of sweat falling down her face, jaw clenched and body rigid. She looked pale and strained, as well as extremely exhausted- he wondered how long she had been standing up there.

He took a step toward her, intent on telling her to knock it off, or even ask what the hell she was doing- but he stopped. He wasn't sure why, but he paused- and simply watched.

It was just the feeling... He ought not to interrupt just yet.

Frea shifted slightly, as if she was suddenly off balance slightly- Laxus stiffened a little but she remained planted where she was. Her Magic swirled in soft circles around her, glittering bits and pieces of it dotting against the ground like small crystals. A Magic Circle appeared above her head, pieces of her Magic slowly falling down over her person like snowflakes of pure silver, bouncing off her person in small bursts of light- as her expression was taken over by pain and straining.

The cool night air rung with the sudden soft chime of a bell from somewhere that couldn't be placed, a cold, clear light ring that danced on the air for no more than a moment.

The light of Frea's Magic slowly faded, the Magic Circles disappearing and the Magic itself breaking down into a fine dust, before disappearing from sight altogether. Frea let out a breath, panting in short breaths as she sweatdropped heavily. Her hands fell as she doubled over slightly,

She stepped off the top of the fountain, landing in the basin full of water with a splash, legs shaking and suddenly off balance- every last shred of Magic she had suddenly spent, head spinning and vision blurring to black. Her body surged with blazing pain the moment her feet hit the bottom, her back flashing red bit and mind pounding in time with her frantic heartbeats- but more than anything, amongst her wild and torn apart thoughts, and running emotion- there was a sudden sense of _relief._

That vulnerability, the sense that kept her on high alert, that didn't let her relax... It was fading, her mind was sealed again, that hole that Hikien had torn in the wall she kept around herself had been mended.

She groaned, gripping her injured shoulder when the impact from landing sent agony racing through it. Her feet were cold, bare as she stepped through the water and lightly stepped over the edge of the fountain on to the cobblestone- hardly caring the bottom of her pants were now soaked.

She stumbled, panting heavily as her knees gave out and she was forced to sit down, hissing in pain as she landed hard, head spinning and the world around her being thrown in several directions. Her eyes narrowed, hazy and dull with sheer exhaustion as she tried to focus, weariness pulling her down into a dark abyss.

Her body was so worn, so hurt and she hadn't any strength left... Everything she had left was spent now on that Spell, a Spell too complex to have even thought of using it in the state she was in, and yet she did it anyway.

Her vision went dark as all sense of the world fell away from her struggle to keep awake at all, and she started to fall backward.

Her back fell against Laxus' knee as he suddenly appeared behind her, arms crossed over his chest and eyes narrowed. She winced slightly as the slash across her back was bumped, but didn't wake up, still panting heavily as the moonlight shown down on her pale and utterly exhausted features. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen her looking this awful. It was like she hadn't slept in days, or eaten. She looked sick, and strained, and broken... She wasn't like the strong, stubborn, utterly hot-headed Frea he was used to. Now... She looked fragile, shattered.

He looked down at her, eyes narrowed and lips pulled into a frown. He'd never understand her,

He didn't know why she was out here, or even what sort of Spell she had been working. But he did know she was in seriously bad shape- and using her Magic had only seemed to make it that much worse. At least enough that she passed out right after finishing it, and from the looks of her he doubted she'd be up and running around any time soon.

He couldn't imagine what had drove her to do this right now when she was in such bad shape- but it must have been something big, and he was fairly certain- if anything he thought about what Hikien drudged up was true- it was something awful too. And something painful... And enough to make her act like she had been, to change her like he had noticed. Even now in unconsciousness... He could just see that pain, and that haunting she must have been going through this last week.

There was a twinge in his chest again.

He let out a slightly aggravated sigh, eyes closing as his head tilted back in near defeat.

"... Why do you have to be such an idiot...?" He grumbled, sweatdropping slightly.

"Tch... You're such a pain in my ass."

* * *

_Mmm... Damn it... What... What happened...?_

_Don't tell me... I passed out...?_

Frea let out a small groan, her body aching as her mind strained to pull away from the exhausting black waves that continued to pull her down.

The scent of the night air hit her nose; mixed with the overwhelming scent of something familiar, and something sweet all at once.

Her eyes fluttered open slightly, blinking to try and clear the haziness that was still so ever persistent. She struggled to understand what was going on, feeling her body rock slightly in rhythm... With the steps of the person carrying her on their back. Her arms were resting on broad shoulders, her body pressed up against their back as their hands held her legs and kept her upright- her chin resting in the crook of their neck, nose still twitching at the familiar scent- and the comforting feel that came with it. Her body felt cold against his warmth, her legs freezing from taking a dip in the fountain.

She blushed just slightly, but honestly she was too tired to get worked up about such unusual contact right now.

Her eyes fell closed again, jaw clenched slightly as she shifted, attempting to move her arms to hook around his neck- and wincing at the stab of pain in her shoulder.

"... Damn it.." She mumbled lowly, sweatdropping a little. "... Tch... I wasn't supposed to pass out..."

"Hmph... What did you expect?" Laxus mumbled lowly in response, his eyes shifting sideways once he realized she had come to. "You look like shit, Frea. You should have guessed using Magic was a dumb idea." He grumbled, his tone lacking the conviction it should have had. "Have you even slept? Or eaten for that matter?"

Frea stiffened slightly, eyes narrowing as she tensed in his hold without meaning to at the sudden questions. Did she really look that awful? That he noticed all that instantly? To be honest she hadn't thought of food... Since coming back from Death Bolt. And sleep, as she had said- hadn't been something she was able to get. Not with the Nightmares...

"... I..." She mumbled, suddenly finding herself at a loss for words- she wasn't sure she could even explain what was going on... And she wasn't sure she wanted to try. And why should she explain it anyway? She didn't have to explain a damn thing,

It wasn't something she wanted to get into, not with other people, and not with Laxus- who had been a rival to her for so long. She knew she looked awful, deep down- she knew she was weak and broken right now, and she hated it. And she didn't want to admit it, not to anyone.

"... Hmph... You don't have to explain anything." Frea's eyes widened in surprise at his sudden gruff words, "That's your business, I know you have your reasons for doing the things you do, even when you really aren't in any condition to do them... So I ain't gonna press it. Just try not to be such an idiot all the time, alright?"

Frea paused, eyes narrowed at the ground ahead of them as Laxus continued to walk- and they fell into a moment of silence. It was surprising that was his response, and it shocked her more than she realized... Because she assumed he would press the subject, he would ask her what she was up to and ask for an explanation. And even more, there was no conviction in his voice, no anger, and no annoyance... He just seemed exasperated, and maybe even a little...

"... What is with you...?" She mumbled softly, eyes falling halfway.

"Hmm?" He huffed, eyes shifting sideways in her direction, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"... You're not acting like... You." She mumbled. "... You're being... Not so much of an ass that you usually are..."

"Tch..." Laxus grumbled, vein ticking on his forehead. He shook his head, taking in a small breath. "... And you're still an idiot." Frea let out a weary huff, eyes falling closed again. It was true though, the fact that he was even here was off for his usual behavior... And the fact he was carrying her with little qualms about it was off too. Not that she was complaining...

"... Listen, Frea."

Frea opened her eyes again, blinking once, her silver eyes glinting in the moonlight. She tilted her head slightly, suddenly able to feel the seriousness sparking off of him slightly.

"...look, I get you don't talk about the things you're feeling all the time, and I get you like to keep things secret, and that's fine. You don't have to tell anyone what you don't want to, and I get that maybe... There's things you don't talk about for good reason." His tone dropped and Frea stiffened, eyes shifting sideways and away from him a moment.

... there was the flood of long since buried memories that suddenly rushed up to ram into her. All of the things she had kept hidden and under lock in key in the deepest corners of her mind... Things she kept at bay, for fear of what... What they...

They all came crashing down over her head in seconds, and uncontrolled flood, rushing through all on their own accord... plunged into the sea of agony and fear and despair that rushed over her own head, feeling the wounds she experienced, the pain... The heartbreak, agony... The sheer torture.

Her grip around his neck tightened slightly, without her meaning to. She shut her eyes a moment at the sudden surge of emotion bearing down on her head, a flood she quickly attempted to stop.

_... Is it... So obvious... That I...? That my... Memories...? My past...?_

"... Whatever you've got buried, you bury for a good reason. And I get that... I never thought about it, but I always knew. I don't expect you to go talking about any of it, and I'm not asking you to. Just realize... If you don't find a way to work through whatever is going on, you ain't gonna be able to keep going at the rate you are now." Laxus went on, his tone low and quiet, eyes fixed ahead as the pair of them moved forward in the silent town. "... Don't get me wrong... I know how strong, hot-headed and stubborn you are... But even all that ain't gonna keep you running if you don't try and start taking better care of yourself, and quit worrying about everyone else more than you. If you're hurting, or your exhausted... Don't feel like you've gotta do everything on your own, and don't think you are alone either. Whatever you've got going on... You ain't alone in it, and you've never really been able to realize that."

"... You don't have to act like everything is fine all the time."

_That... That.. Idiot..._

_What the hell...? Why... Why is he acting like this...? So different... Saying all of..._

He wasn't being the bull-headed, arrogant bastard she had grown to know. The same sort of person that had seemed to fade away entirely as of recently- as her anger and annoyance she had held for him all these years began to fade away until she didn't see him as a rival anymore. Things had grown less tense between them, where they hadn't been able to hold a conversation or be in the same room together- now they could be in eachothers company, and it didn't bother either of them.

They'd never been close, they never talked to one another in normal conversations, they never had any need to. They didn't share things, not with each other and not with either people to be entirely honest- they were both reserved and kept to themselves more than people may realize.

Laxus had been around more often than he ever had been... She was running into him, being near him a lot more than she ever had, talking to him. It was like they ran into one another at every turn, and with the sudden flux in how often they seemed to bump into each other- something about them had just changed. Between them, there was something different than before.

Something... Something she didn't get... And something that suddenly, with all the out of character things he was saying, his off behavior... Her emotions seemed to hit an all time and high, and she cringed.

_That... I... Idiot..._

Frea's arms pulled in, her fists bunching about his coat and her face burying in his back, jaw clenching as she let out a small 'tch...'. Her body started shaking slightly, shoulders hunched as she pressed her nose and eyes into his back and the ruffling fabric of his coat.

_"... Such a fool... You play the part of being big and strong, like nothing can hurt you. You act like a hero, out in a face so the world doesn't see the small, weak, cowering and scared little child you really are. You've been lying to yourself for all these years, but we know..."_

_... And now... Its bad enough... That... Even..._

She buried her face in his back even more, hands gripping his coat harder as she fought to gain control over the spinning of her mind and feelings. As her shattered and cracked mind swirled and fell away into an abyss that she had been trying so hard to stay out of- a deep chasm of pain and long side buried emotions she had kept under lock and key.

It was cold, and deep, and such agony... And yet she could feel the warmth of her cold and suddenly trembling form against Laxus' back, could smell his scent through the salty tang of the tears she hid in his coat. Her breath caught in her throat as she kept herself silent, cursing in her head the sudden weakness, as she suddenly crumbled despite herself. She had been grasping at straws for a week now, hastily pulling the seams that were breaking apart back together, she had been gasping and struggling to stay above the surface- and now she was finally going under. But she wasn't drowning,

She felt awful, frayed, broken, exhausted and utterly weak under the torrent of emotion that ceased down over her head like a pitch black ocean- and yet as she sunk below the surface, she felt warmer. And all around her, was the prickly, airy, sweet scent she had become so used to- the familiar Energy Signature of someone she didn't really know anymore. Someone who had changed... Maybe for the better.

But damn it, she hated this.. Hated losing it like this, and yet she couldn't stop it. She didn't like falling apart, and certainly never in front of anyone- and yet at the moment, she couldn't do a damn thing, and somehow she didn't feel the need to,

Her shoulders shook, body tense and trembling as she buried her face into his back even more, fangs grinding down on each other, _how was it him saying that managed to break me... So damned easily...?_

Her grip on his coat grew harder, Laxus' gaze shifted sideways as he felt Frea's body begin shaking against his back slightly, ears catching to the sound of her stifled breaths, nose twitching slightly at the salty tang on the air- feeling her press her face into his back roughly, and the sudden damp. His eyes fell closed, sweatdropping slightly as he let out a small breath- feeling that strange feeling in his chest grow sharper,

_And so the walls crumble..._

"...you... you damn... Jerk..." Frea hissed, her voice hitching painfully in her stifled gasping. He sighed slightly, as they continued forward, his feet leading him toward Fairy Hills. For a very long while he just continued on in silence, eyes closing and sweatdropping as he felt her body shake against his- as the same woman he had known to be so strong and who could always stand tall against anything suddenly caved in under the pressure of the awful horrors that bastard from Death Bolt must have put her through. As all of it crashed over her head and broke her apart, too fast for her to keep herself together like she always had.

"... I'm starting to wonder if it was a good idea to let you go running off to Death Bolt on the first place." He mumbled, sweatdropping a little more as he continued to carry her through the silent form of Magnolia, that incessant feeling in his chest never going away and only growing deeper as he felt Frea shake against his back. A good question... Considering how Frea was now, how broken and hurt... _She's crying_. Frea never cried before... And now its like she can't stop.

His eyes snapped open, suddenly feeling Frea shift- a sudden soft bump against the side of his head as Frea lift her fist and lightly knocked her hand against his ear in a soft, exhausted attempt of a hit. Her hand fell back on his shoulder, her other one moving to rub against her face, taking in a small breath, as suddenly her tears ceased, and she fought to steady her breathing.

He blinked, eyes shifting sideways though he couldn't see her face.

"... Don't be stupid, you dumbass.." Frea murmured softly, her voice almost wispy and hoarse, his eyes narrowed slightly. "... You don't get it... But letting me go was the right thing..."

_... And the thing I appreciate more than you could possibly know..._

"... Sorry... If Master chewed you out for it.." Frea mumbled, Laxus blinked, eyebrow quirking slightly- hearing a sudden calm work its way into her voice, weariness and exhaustion too... But something softer.

How on earth could letting her to have been the best..? And what the hell didn't he 'get'?

For a long while he stayed silent, blinking once or twice as he tried to wrap his head around the sudden change in behavior. He didn't get it, how she had suddenly seemed to shatter... How hurt and weak she was so suddenly, and how quickly she seemed to be able to pick the pieces back up, start pulling herself together again, if however slowly.

And suddenly now she's worried about how angry the Old Man was? It didn't make any sense, her mid just have been on other things... And yet she thought of that just now, and apologized to him for it.

_What an idiot... Of all things she worries about that now...?_

"... Hmph... Let the Old Man yell." He grumbled, but what didn't he get?

Coming face to face with Shadow must have been painful, what Hikien did must have been torture... Moving and going there after taking the beating she had most have been excruciating she was in so much pain. Going to Death Bolt had been a bad idea from the start, and it had only gotten worse as it went on. And now, this was the result.

So how on earth could it have been the best thing?

"... I know it doesn't seem like a good thing, Laxus.." Frea's soft voice broke him from his thoughts, as if she could read them. "... And I know... Given what happened... It seemed like a disaster... But it was better to let go, and get hurt- than to keep me at the Guild, angry.. It doesn't make a lot of sense, but it was better the way it went..." He sweatdropped, it didn't make a lot of sense to him... But when did anything Frea did or said ever make a lot of sense? Damn it, why is she so damned confusing all the time?

"... Whatever you say.." He sighed, deciding it best to drop the subject- she sounded exhausted, and maybe it'd be better if she just gave it rest for awhile.

"... I'm sorry."

He blinked, stopping a minute in his walking and glancing sideways, he felt her shift, her voice was so low he barely heard her,

"Hmm?"

"... For being such a pain... I don't mean to be a bother... Or anyone's problem..." She whispered softly,

"Well, you are a pain in the ass." He huffed back, she stiffened slightly. "But don't be an idiot, what did I just say to you?" He huffed back, "Quit worrying about that, you don't have to act like everything's ok. You can lean on other people,"

Frea blinked, eyes halfway closed as she took in a small breath, taking a moment to let what he said sink in slowly.

"... You're such a freak..." Frea whispered, way too low for even Laxus' heightened hearing to catch on to the words.

None of this made any sense to her, not that her frayed mind was really able to comprehend it all being as exhausted as she was. She didn't get his sudden behavior, she didn't get what it was that changed to make him say the things he had, things she never believed she would hear from him at all. It just wasn't like him, as her reaction... Well, it wasn't really like her either.

_Hmm... I don't even really feel tense about acting like this... Around him... That's new._

Frea settled her chin into his shoulder, eyes falling all the way closed as he continued up the hill toward home, the grass around them shimmering in the soft light of the moon overhead. She took in a soft breath, wincing slightly as she adjusted and hooked her arms about his neck, her shoulder flaring with a sharp jolt of pain.

_... Hmm... Things have... Just changed... A lot more than I realized... Huh..?_

"... You know, Laxus.." Frea murmured softly, "... You aren't such an arrogant, annoying git... You're actually really a softie deep down..." Laxus stiffened, a small blush dusting his cheeks as his eyes closed.

She let out a small breath, something halfway between a tired chuckle and a sigh.

"... Who'd have known..."

Her arms wrapped about his neck a bit more tightly, her head tilting to rest against his neck softly,

"... Thanks... For... Everything..."

Laxus let out a breath, but didn't reply- there wasn't a need to, silence was content between them, and it was utterly normal now. Everything had changed and yet, silence was constant, and comfortable- there was nothing left to say.

They came upon the front doors leading into Fairy Hills, Laxus slowed to a small halt, glancing sideways as his ears caught on to Frea's soft breathing, blinking.

"... You awake?" He murmured,

"... Yeah," she mumbled back, "... Thanks for bringing me back... I guess I really wasn't up to walking back on my own, hmm?"

"No," he grumbled softly, "... You good to go up to your room on your own?"

"... Mhmm, I think so..." She murmured back softly, "Besides, you wouldn't be allowed in the building anyway- that's the rules."

"No one's awake." Laxus huffed back lowly,

"There's a Magical Barrier over the Building." Frea replied lightly, Laxus blinked in slight surprise. She chuckled softly, "Courtesy of Levy..."

"Keeping the Iron Freak out?" Laxus grumbled, Frea laughed lightly.

"So you noticed that, huh...?" She chuckled quietly, a small weary smile spreading across her face. She shook her head slightly, slowly letting her feet hit the ground, standing straight though her back hurt to do so. Her hands left Laxus' back slowly, as she stepped up and past him toward the door a little unsteadily, her back to him. He watched her carefully, aqua gaze narrowed as she stopped at the door,

"... You know, Laxus." Frea murmured, "... you really do have a different side to you than the one everyone can see." He stiffened slightly, sweatdropping as he blinked in slight shock and question. She let out a small breath, "... I guess we both have sides of ourselves we don't usually let other people see, huh?" She added in softly,

"..." He shifted, his mouth opening to say something in reply- but the words wouldn't form, he hadn't anything to say. It was like he just need to say anything.

"... I'll be fine, a lot more than fine now. I feel a lot better already, I think I'm gonna just sleep for a long while." She went on, hardly pausing a moment. She turned to him, giving him a small, tired smile that seemed so bright despite the pain and the haunting look in her silver gaze. "Like I said, thanks. I guess I'll see you in a few days, right?" She smiled a little more, her hair brushing against her shoulders and face softly, shinning silver in the moonlight.

He blinked, looking a little confused- and for good reason. How could she seem so content and happy, after having broken down not a few minutes before..?

Frea chuckled, "Ah, don't give me that face. A few days of sleep and some food, I'll be good as new and ready to join in on the excitement."

"The what?" He mumbled, sweatdropping heavily.

"The Rainbow Sakura Festival is in a week and a half," Frea smirked. "The whole Guild's gonna participate, so I expect I'll see you then." She smiled a little more, waving a hand to him as she headed back inside.

"You should get some sleep too, Laxus."

The door closed as he was left outside the looming figure of Fairy Hills, alone and silent, his eyes fixed to the door as it shut. His thoughts kept running through hearing her cry, his chest tightened at the thought. He kept seeing her so solemn and quite... And then suddenly she seemed to brighten, to seeing her entire hurt, haunted, painful demeanor suddenly shift to something much more calm..  
Much more put together.

How could she... Be such a damned mystery? And why the hell did that feeling in his chest only grow stronger as she walked away?

He remembered the rage and the anger he felt when he saw her strung up on the Guild Hall, the anger he had felt when Hikien managed to get his hands on her. He remembered the strange, deep pull in his chest when he saw her pain, and how hurt she had been- the tug that he felt in his heart when he saw the fear in her eyes, fear he'd never seen in her, and fear he never thought he would.

He hadn't been expecting to find Frea when he went out, he hadn't expected to find her- so broken and so hurt and so broken up, and he certainly hadn't been expecting to ever see Frea of all people in such a way, and yet he had.

And clearly, she hadn't been expecting him to act like he had- even he hadn't any idea why he was acting off from his usual behavior. It was the sort of behavior he didn't show around anyone, and yet it was the same sort of behavior he seemed to have more often than not around Frea of all people.

_... What was... That...?_

* * *

Frea moved up the stairs slowly, her hand grasping to the railing as she bit her lip and stifled the urge to wince, her back was flashing in pain and her shoulder was so painful it was numb now. She continued up toward her room, eyes closed and sweatdropping heavily as she teetered and stumbled a little.

She was so tired, she felt like she could sleep up until the Festival for its entirety.

She glanced up, moving down the hallways toward her door- faintly aware of the Energy Signature of Erza in the room across from her own, and the soft snoring of Moon inside her own room. She smiled slightly at it, stopping outside the door and resting her forehead against the cool frame a moment.

Sleep... For the first time in a week the thought sounded splendid, and for the first time in a week, her body felt relaxed enough to actually give into it. Her mind felt less unhinged, more balanced... She felt better.

_... I have a feeling it isn't all because I replaced the Seal..._

She shook her head slightly, smiling just faintly before pushing inside the room quietly.

_... Maybe... I needed that... Not just replacing the Seal. Maybe I needed someone to tell me to quit acting... Someone who I didn't care if they saw me break down... Someone I knew wouldn't press anything. Someone to talk sense into me._

She smiled,

_... We did change, a lot... But the way things are now... Its good._

* * *

"Moon,"

Moon grumbled, rolling over in her sleep and pulling the pillow over her head.

"Moon..." The voice got louder, a bit more pushy and she growled. She hated being pulled from sleep, always had- and she hated it right now.

"... No..."

"Mooooon!"

"What?!" Moon snapped, rolling over and head snapping up as she threw the pillow away from covering her head, blue eyes opening to the softly light room- early afternoon light filtering through the window beside the bed.

Her gaze landed on Frea, who's arms were crossed over the edge of the bed from where she sat on the floor, her chin on the bed top and eyes halfway closed as she held Moon's gaze. Her hair fell about her face and shoulders loosely, Moon blinked, eyes narrowing as she took a moment to see who it was that was waking her up.

Frea smiled slightly, almost sheepishly as she let we head tilt.

"Sorry," she murmured.

"... You're up." Moon mumbled, settling down to sit with her paws crossed. "You've been sleeping for four days straight." Frea smiled sheepishly,

"Yeah, I know." She mumbled, Moon quirked an eyebrow.

"... You took a shower?" She murmured softly, noticing the dampness of her hair. She leaned back a little, "You're dressed.."

"... Uh, yeah... I was hoping to go to the Guild." Frea smiled slightly, almost pleading. "... I'm hungry. I was thinking maybe Mira could cook something up...?"

Moon blinked, simply staring for a long while. Frea had been quiet and distant since everything happened, and she certainly hadn't been up for talking let alone food... But suddenly she slept for four days, and her mood seemed considerably brightened and relaxed all of a sudden. It was a relief to see her cheer up a little to be sure... But why so quickly? What caused it? Moon had the distinct feeling she missed something.

Moon let out a small sigh, deciding it was best to just accept the lightened attitude and not to question it- it was better to see Frea getting back to her normal self, and she was relieved about it. Frea acting so off for so long put her on edge, and she felt better to see the Energy Dragon Slayer acting more like herself again, it meant Moon could worry less and relax a little more.

"You haven't eaten food in a long time, huh?" Moon smiled slightly, seeing Frea smile nervously at the question.

"... Yeah. I'm starving." Frea murmured, eyes glinting as she clasped her hands in front of her in a pleading way. "Can we please go to the Guild to get some food? Master said you're supposed to keep an eye on me, so you have to come with."

Moon smirked slightly, shaking her head at her Partner a little and chuckling under her breath.

"You sure you're up to walking there?" Moon murmured, "Or do you need me to carry you?" Frea's eyes shone on delight at the silent approval for going, a toothy grin spreading across her face.

"No, I'm good to walk. I feel a lot better after sleeping." Frea replied brightly, silently adding that she had made it to the center of town even when she had felt like utter shit- so there really was no reason to be carried to the Guild now, but Moon didn't need to know about the little nighttime excursion. "My back's starting to heal too, and my shoulder, finally. I'm feeling just fine."

Moon nodded slightly, smiling just faintly as she slowly got to her paws. She hopped off the bed and moved toward the closet, pulling out a black dark blue skirt, a black shirt, black sleeves with bows on the top, and a pair of fishnet tights. Frea watched her move across the room, seeing the fresh pink scars fully visible among the old and faded ones.

She blinked, glancing away and letting her eyes fall closed as she waited in silence.

Since coming home from Death Bolt, and since the Guild was told of Moon's past and what happened, she'd stopped wearing the familiar bandages about her arms and legs to hide the scars, and switched them for tights and sleeves instead- which, as she was sure many others would notice- made her look a lot cuter, and maybe even a bit more confident. Frea smiled to herself, Moon dealt with everything a lot better than she had... She didn't seem hardly fazed, the first few days had been painful, and Moon had been fragile- but soon after she pulled back together, calm, confident, and stronger than ever.

She wished she had Moon's amazing resolve.

"The Rainbow Sakura Festival is in a few days," Frea said suddenly, earning a flick of her ears from Moon, who blinked at the comment, pausing in the tying of one of the bows on her sleeve.

"Hmm?" Moon hummed, "I've never heard of it."

"Its a big thing in Magnolia, almost as big as the Harvest Festival and Fantasia Parade." Frea explained,

"Those I've heard of."

"Well- the Guild joins in on the Festival every year, we play Bingo and have a picnic up in the fields just outside Magnolia, and wait until dark to see the Rainbow Sakura's bloom." Frea went on, her back leaning against the bed as she propped her knees up in front of her, wincing slightly at the uncomfortable sensation that came from the wound across her back. "Some years, there's a Caravan that comes through and we spend the night out around a huge bonfire in the middle of a grove of the Sakura's, with music and food.." Frea felt her stomach grumble as she smiled at the thought, Moon glanced back toward her, smirking as she saw the slightly dreamy look pass over Frea's face at the thought of food.

"Sounds like a lot of fun." Moon commented,

"It usually is." Frea murmured, "I think it'll be good to have a nice, fun break after all the heavy stuff that's been going on. To take some time and unwind a little," Moon nodded,

"I agree." She murmured, "This Festival sounds like a great idea to relax and have a little fun too, I'll be looking forward to it." She paused, giving Frea a small smirk. "Though, I doubt Master is going to be thrilled with letting you run around, regardless if you're feeling better or not." Frea smiled nervously and let out a sigh, sweatdropping a little.

"You're probably right..." She mumbled, shaking her head a little.

"Well, you ready to go?" Moon asked, Frea's eyes glinted as she slowly got to her feet, clapping her hands in front of her softly and grinning toothily,

"Yes please!" Moon laughed a little and turned toward the door,

"I'm sure everyone will be glad to see you up." Moon murmured as they headed down the hallway,

"It'll be good to see the Guild again, I miss the noise." Frea laughed, "Maybe Uno and Iki will still be hanging around the Guild too, we never really got a chance to talk." Moon's ears twisted at the names,

"... Perhaps they will be." Moon replied, Frea blinked.

"... They told you, didn't they?" Frea asked, pausing at the top of the stairs as Moon took the first one down. Moon stopped, turning toward her Partner and blinking. Frea blinked in return,

"Yes." Moon murmured, "They did." She smiled, looking away. "At first I didn't know what to make of it... To think I had siblings all this time and never knew it... It was a shock."

"But you believe it?" Frea murmured softly, head tilting slightly.

Moon nodded slightly, "It's a stretch, their story... But somehow, I just have a feeling." Moon replied softly, "Somewhere inside me, I feel like I have a connection with them- that goes beyond words, something deep. I could feel it when I looked at them, I felt it when they told me how they felt."

Frea smiled, her eyes softening slightly, a sudden sadness working its way into her expression- but it faded before Moon could see it.

_"That feeling... That only true siblings can have..."_

"Being back in Death Bolt was awful." Moon murmured, "Everything that happened... I felt so weak and powerless, I was so hurt and haunted I didn't think I could get over it, but seeing you alive, Frea- that made everything hurt less. And when I saw the two of them, Iki and Uno, and I felt this strange feeling deep inside my heart... I was happy. I don't know them, hardly at all- I never knew them, and yet I was happier just being there, seeing them. I think that feeling is what helped me to pull myself back together as quickly as I have, I just felt so much more at peace, so much more content." Moon shook her head at herself, "I'm not sure how to describe it really, how I felt."

"You don't have to, Moon." Her eyes snapped over toward Frea, who was smiling down at her with glinting eyes,

"I know how you feel, I can feel your emotions. It's clear to me what it is, I couldn't miss it." Frea smiled, Moon's eyes widened slightly. "And in reality, its a simple thing. Its the same thing you feel for me, and for your friends, for Lily, and for Uno and Iki. It has different forms, but its always just one thing." Frea's eyes shone, a small, cheery and yet calm smile on her face.

"Love."

* * *

"Frea!"

Frea's attention moved from her food toward the sudden calling of her name from across the hall, still aware of the amused smile she was receiving from Mira behind the bar, and the slightly brooding stare Master set on her from where he was seated on top of the bar. The Old Man was slightly unhappy she was up and about, as always- but he didn't seem too angry, and a part of that was because it was clear to him that Frea was indeed doing a lot better than she had been.

Her eyes landed on the brightly smiling forms of Lucy, Levy and Wendy as the trio made their way up to the bar,

"You're looking so much better!" Wendy smiled, looking relieved as the three of them settled in at the bar around the Energy Dragon Slayer, who smiled softly in return to them.

"Well, I'm feeling a lot better now." Frea replied,

"You had us worried for awhile there, it's been a week and a half since you were back at the Guild." Levy commented,

"Yeah, sorry about that." Frea smiled sheepishly,

"But at least you're back," Lucy smirked, a mischievous glint coming into her eye. "The boys have been getting restless, Natsu and Gray, they've been worried about you."

"Gajeel was worried too, though I don't think you'll hear any of them admit it." Levy chuckled lightly, Frea blinked, smiling slightly with a small laugh under her breath.

"Were they now?" Frea laughed, though inwardly her heart clenched a little. She hated people worrying over her, and hated she had given them a reason to worry at all.

"Where's Moon?" Wendy murmured,

"Over there," Frea smiled, tilting her head in the direction of a table behind them, where Moon was smiling as talking away with Iki and Uno happily, laughing as they exchanged stories, while Lily sat beside Moon with a small smirk on his face, listening contently. Levy, Lucy and Wendy smiled a little at the sight,

"They seem to have grown on eachother quickly, haven't they?" Levy murmured,

"Moon looks adorable in her new outfit too!" Lucy smiled,

"I'm glad they were able to get to know one anther. Iki and Uno seemed really anxious to meet Moon." Wendy smiled softly, her hands clasping in front of her. Frea nodded a little, smiling just a bit more.

"She really likes them," Frea murmured softly, taking a sip of the smoothie set in front of her by Mira. "I'm glad they showed up, they've been helpful."

"I had heard they had some impressive Magic, though I haven't seen it for myself." Levy commented,

"Yeah, I heard that too!" Lucy commented, "Though you'd figure their Magic would be pretty impressive, being Guild Masters."

"I dug into their Guild a little, they've worked a lot of pretty substantial jobs since starting up, they aren't all that popular, but the Twin Cougars seems a formidable Guild just looking at it." Levy put in, Frea smiled slightly- of course Levy looked into it.

"I wonder how long they'll stick around?" Wendy mumbled quietly, "If they are Guild Masters... Is it really good to be away from their Guild this long?" Wendy sweatdropped, holding her cheeks in her hands as she frowned sadly. "I don't want to see them go, but I know they'll leave eventually."

"Maybe they'll stick around for the Rainbow Sakura Festival." Mira suggested, smiling nervously. "Though it doesn't seem like the Guild will be doing its regular festivities this year, with everything that's happened recently."

Frea's head snapped up, her head whipping about toward Master who sweatdropped at the shocked look on her face, and maybe even the slightly unhappy expression.

"What?!" Frea asked, "You cancelled?!" Everyone else blinked in slight shock at her sudden reaction to the words. Master looked her way calmly, though he seemed just as surprised about her reaction as everyone else.

"Given the things that happened, and what's been going on recently I thought it best." Master replied slowly, Frea blinked in shock.

"... Come on Master, we do the Rainbow Sakura festival every year. We shouldn't bail on it just because we've hit a rough patch." Frea argued, "It'd be nice to do something fun to wind down a little." She tilted her head, putting on her best and most innocent smile she could possibly muster- feeling for a moment like a child, but she hardly cared. She clapped her hands in front of her,

"Please, lets do the festival this year." She smiled just slightly, seeing his eyes narrow as he sweatdropped- feeling the sudden uneasiness and sudden nervousness spark from him- it was a combination of feelings she recognized easily, as him about to give in. She hardly ever did this, gave him such a face or asked so very nicely- and she did it so rarely it worked so well when she did use it.

He let his eyes fall closed, refusing to look at her for a minute as he frowned slightly- suddenly a little agitated with himself. Frea continued to smile softly, as Mira let out a small laugh of amusement and everyone else around them blinked in surprise.

He hated it when she used that look on him, and he knew very well he couldn't resist it either.

"... Damn it." Master hissed under his breath, shaking his head a little. "Fine, I'll announce the festivities are back on." Frea smiled a little brighter, as Master turned a serious look on her, "Don't take this as leave to run around willy-nilly!"

"You got it, Master." Frea smiled, "Thanks."

Wendy, Levy and Lucy exchanged small glances, looking quite shocked how easily Master had given in to the request, having been previously unaware how much sway Frea seemed to have over the Old Man.

Frea smiled happily as she sipped on her smoothie some more, seemingly cheery as Master let out a small disgruntled huff beside them, but otherwise let it be.

Frea smiled a little more, letting out a small humm.

When the Featival was over... She would start back into looking into that Thing, and what she would do next. She knew very well something was coming, and it was coming fast... Whatever huge catastrophe was coming to her and the Guild and even Fiore itself... It was going to be here soon, the air grew thicker by the day, the foreboding heavier. She could feel it.

But with everything that happened... She just needed time to try and pull back together, to calm down and relax. And even more than that maybe, she needed the Guild to cheer up.

They tried hard, she knew- to act happy and at ease, but people always seemed to forget she could feel others emotions. And what she felt from the Guild, it was horror, pain, tenseness, and true and deep utter sadness... And she could guess it was because of what they had seen, experienced.

The image of her being crucified to the Guild Door would never go away, and to them it dug hard and hit deep. The image of seeing Moon so tortured and beaten, that wouldn't go away either. Seeing either she or Moon so wounded and nearly dead...

... She hadn't meant to cause them so much grief and heartache, and feeling the emotions they felt made her heart ache all the more.

She wanted the Guild to do the Festival, because she wanted them to move on and really brighten up. She hoped it would help to get them to forget, and move past.

Wendy, Levy and Lucy smiled to one another, before starting up their own conversation as Frea and Mira listened quietly, all the more content to simply listen like usual.

Frea's silver gaze shift from he three girls toward Master still being entirely silent on her left, his eyes closed and arms crossed over his chest. The Old Man was reserved to silence most of the time, but she knew he wanted to talk to her. She was also aware he had stopped himself from doing so as not to cause her anymore stress than she had already been through. Even when he had chewed her out for going to Death Bolt, he hadn't really- he was treading lightly around her, because he was worried, she could feel it. But she knew he had questions, and was slightly surprised he hadn't tried to ask already.

She let out another sigh, eyes falling closed and biting on the straw to her drink. _After the Festival... I'll be back on track, trying to understand what's coming. After the Festival... Maybe I'll have my thoughts together enough to try and explain it to you, Master._

"Frea!" her attention snapped back to the present, hearing the familiar voice suddenly as the scent of cake hit her nose. She looked up from chewing on her straw in her thoughts, turning around to see a glint of red hair, and faintly seeing that Levy, Lucy and Wendy had moved off at some point without her realizing.

She winced, her head being pulled roughly into Erza's armor in what was supposed to be a hug, but her head banged painfully against the steel and she hissed under her breath, silently hating herself for not seeing that coming.

"E-Erza.." Frea stammered lowly,

"It is such a relief to see you looking so much better!" Erza smiled, Frea managed a small smile in response.

"Y-yeah..." She mumbled, pulling away gently as Erza let her go- after a small moment of hesitation that Frea found a little odd, as if Erza didn't want to let go just yet. She shook the thought off, leaning back in her seat comfortably as she turned to face the redhead fully, hands on the stool in front of her and still smiling slightly- the happy emotions bouncing off Erza a welcome feeling.

"I had planned to knock on your door if you stayed shut in any longer." Erza smiled slightly, "But I had a feeling you'd be up soon," Frea smiled slightly,

"I just needed sleep." Erza nodded slightly, taking a seat beside her and leaning in a little. Frea blinked, her eyes trailing from the sudden mischievous glance Erza cast her way, and over toward the plate of food that Mira set down on the counter in front of her with a soft smile.

"I'm sure you slept rather well, especially after your late night excursion..?" Erza murmured, her voice dropping and a smirk pulling at her lips. Frea stiffened, her teeth clamped down with a sudden nervous snap on the sausage link she had bit into.

"We saw you come back to Fairy Hills in the middle of the night," Erza went on, Mira chuckled lightly, giving Frea a knowing smile.

"With Laxus," Mira trilled quietly, blue eyes glittering in amusement. She and Erza smiled in amusement, seeing Frea look down at her plate quickly, her eyes hidden by her hair as her face turned a crimson red, hoping suddenly they were talking low enough that no one else, especially Master- had heard what they said.

"We hadn't realized you two had grown so close, that you'd be spending a night out together." Erza smirked,

"Its really quite sweet." Mira smiled, hand resting on her cheek lightly as her head tilted. "You two are just adorable."

_They always... They always do this! Its like try really really do enjoy teasing me about this... Damn it!_

_I was so out of it I didn't even think maybe somebody had seen me come back with Laxus that night! And of course it was these too!_

"Its not like that..." She grumbled lowly, though the conviction that was supposed to be in her voice was rather lacking. "I went for a walk, we happened to run into eachother, that's it."

"So carrying you back to Fairy Hills was entirely necessary?" Mira smirked and Frea felt her face burn more.

Deep down she had thought that maybe she had managed to get passed this, this sudden feeling of embarrassment and flusterdness that seemed to spur when she was around Laxus, and when someone else teased her on the subject. They had grown much more lax with one another- her and Laxus- recently, and lately she hadn't been overly nervous around him, because things between them had changed drastically.

_A good change... But why am I still reacting like this? I don't get it._

Taking in a breath she frowned slightly, straitening up, her eyes closed as she bit down into her food again hotly,

"Say whatever you two want, it doesn't matter. There's nothing going on, nothing important, so I don't have to argue nor justify it to the both of you." Frea muttered around her food, eyes still closed. "We're just friends, so stop reading into things."

She was faintly hit by a flash of surprise that sparked from the both of Erza and Mira suddenly, but she pointedly didn't look their way or give them any mind.

She missed the surprised blinks from Mira and Erza at he firm and somewhat decisive words, especially at the mention of her and Laxus being friends.

Never once had Frea ever called herself a friend to Laxus or vice versa, on several occasions they had called each other enemies and said they hated one another. To hear her say they were fiends now and so suddenly, and without hesitation or thought on the matter caught them slightly off guard. It hadn't ever seemed possible the Energy Dragon Slayer would ever consider Laxus her friend, but suddenly hearing it, they were a little happy and even pleasantly surprised. Mira and Erza exchanged small soft smiles between eachother, they of course were only teasing Frea because they cared for her, and felt they could. They didn't do it to be mean, they did it because they both knew Frea wasn't good at coming to terms with her own feelings, and had started to see something growing inside Frea that hadn't quite been there before.

Master had perked suddenly, having caught on to the last bits of the small conversation between the three girls. His eyes shift sideways, looking slightly surprised- similarly in reaction to Frea calling his grandson 'friend'. It was a huge change in her usual behavior about Laxus, and a change he had noticed only faintly.

He glanced away, eyes closing as he smiled just slightly.

* * *

"So,"

Laxus' attention shift toward his grandfather, who was seated not far from him on the bar. Laxus was settled on a stool, mug in hand as the day came to a close and listening faintly to the small argument going on between Natsu and Gray, to which Gajeel was partaking in as well. This was normal, despite the fact there was no brawling involved- instead they were seated at a table around Frea, who was listening to their bickering with a gentle, amused smile but not interjecting. For most of the day, there hadn't been any brawling- the members had been much more mellow, those three boys especially. One had to wonder if there was any particular reason they had kept themselves in check today,

Laxus' attention shift toward Makarov as the Old Man said something suddenly, though the Old Man didn't look in Laxus' direction, and only remained sitting with his eyes closed and mug in his lap. They hadn't said a word to one another since Laxus had sat down, which in reality was normal for the two of them- silence.

"Hmm?" Laxus huffed lowly, taking a sip of his mug and looking away again.

"How are things going between you and Frea?" The Old Man asked, Laxus blinked, his mug falling as he glanced toward the Old Man warily.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" He grumbled lowly,

"Simple curiosity, you two seem to be on much better terms than usual." The Old Man replied easily, Laxus sweatdropped slightly, eyes narrowed.

"... We're fine." Laxus replied lowly, looking away again and not sure at all why it was suddenly brought up.

"I never asked why you let her go to Death Bolt." The Old Man went on,

"You were too busy snapping my head off." Laxus grumbled lowly, Makarov nodded slightly.

"I was angry with you, and with right to be." Makarov reminded, "She was in no condition to be moving, let alone to go to the very place she'd be in the most danger- and I knew you were aware of that. But still you allowed her to go to that Guild, and accompanied her as well." Master glanced sideways, seeing that Laxus was still looking away from him, his grandson's eyes fixed to the mug in his hands. "A few years ago you would have let her run off, just to spite me. But you would never have gone with her, so knowing you did makes me wonder why you chose to let her go, and why you followed."

There was a long span of silence that fell between the two of them suddenly, Master watching Laxus silently as the Lightning Dragon Slayer continued to stare into his drink, as if his mind was on another planet.

In reality this was a question Frea had wondered about to, because Laxus' actions had been very much unlike him when it all happened. Master was right, a few years ago he would have let Frea run off on her own, and probably not cared what happened to her as she did so. But instead he went with her, he let her go willingly... And it was odd he had done so.

Laxus' eyes closed slowly, letting out a small sight that seemed only slightly irritated,

"She wasn't going to give it up." He said suddenly. Master blinked, "She was so beat up I could have knocked her out and been done with it easily, because I knew she'd never quit fighting about going to that Guild, she's too stubborn and too much of a hot head. But I wasn't going to hit her, or knock her out.. Even though that might have been better, seeing as how she ended up getting hit by that Hikien bastard."

Master blinked, seeing Laxus' hands grip about his mug tightly in sudden anger that the Old Man hadn't been expecting.

"... She was beat up enough, I wasn't going to do anything else to her." Laxus said lowly, "I went with her thinking I could keep her out of enough trouble she wouldn't get any worse than she was, and let her go because I wasn't looking to fight with her for it. I let her go because it felt better than forcing her to sit still."

Laxus' eyes opened, narrowed to slits as he fell silent a moment, his thoughts flashing back to a few nights ago.

Letting Frea go had seemed like the worst mistake, seeing as how much damage Hikien managed, and how much of her past that had been drudged up at all once. He had seen how torn up and broken she seemed to be, seen the one person he never expected to break suddenly crumble before his very eyes... And yet at the time, letting Frea go had felt like the right way to go.

Even now he wavered on whether or not it was really the wrong thing.

_"... Don't be stupid, you dumbass... You don't get it... But letting me go was the right thing..."_

Laxus shook his head slightly as her words suddenly rang trough his head, eyes shifting sideways to glance behind him slightly, catching sight of Frea still smiling away as she listened to the bickering going on next to her, how at ease she was and considerably bright and cheery she seemed.

_... It hurt her, a lot more than she'd let the Guild see..._

_... But even then, it's like she needed to go to Death Bolt, to face the things she's spent her life battling._

Maybe he did get it, at least a little.

"... Tch, why does it matter? The Guild's fine, everyone came back and Frea's fine now. She went to Death Bolt, and now its over with, nothing you can do to change what happened now." Laxus grumbled, his eyes moving back toward his grandfather with a surprisingly pointed stare. "You worry too much, you old geezer. Frea's fine, and I know that Death Bolt wasn't the end of it- there's still that Thing going after her, and I know you're worried about it." Master blinked in slight surprise at the sudden change in subject, and how utterly serious and firm Laxus was being just now.

If Frea could face her past, if she could face all of the awful, break down and manage to put herself back together again, and push on like she was- she could get past this new enemy too.

She'd changed, she'd grown and become stronger. She wasn't the same Frea from all those years ago, she was stronger, and still she was more understanding, more gentle... and he had the feeling that what had happened a few nights ago, the words exchanged between himself and Frea, how she had crumbled. Frea was reserved, and didn't let other people in... and he knew she had broken, and it had been with him, and she seemed better for it.

That thought struck him the most out of anything, his eyes closed and he let out a small growl at himself.

"Frea's not gonna go down easy. Whatever's coming, she'll beat it. So quit getting worked up over it." Master blinked,

Laxus downed the rest of his drink and suddenly got to his feet, no longer looking toward his grandfather at all.

Master stared in silence, mind reeling at the sudden words and firmness growing in his grandson so suddenly.

"Tch... Annoying geezer." Laxus grumbled in slight irritation, before promptly turning and walking from the Guild hall without another word. Master watched him leave, sweatdropping slightly and surprised, lost for words as his saw his grandson- someone he had thought he knew very well- suddenly shift into someone so very very different.

_Laxus..._

* * *

 

"Hehe..." Bixlow chuckled from where he was, leaning against the railing of the top balcony overlooking the ground floor and the bar, his tongue hanging out as Freed beside him smiled slightly, arms crossed over his chest and watching Laxus leave the hall. "The boss got all defensive, huh?" Bixlow smirked, Freed nodded just slightly.

"Indeed..."

"I didn't know there was anything going on between them," Bixlow murmured, smirking still, "Not until what happened with Ivan."

"I hadn't noticed before then either," Freed replied. "But I don't think it's as simple as that, what it is that's going through Laxus' head." He chuckled, "I doubt Laxus understands it himself."

"He's never been with a woman who could beat him to a pulp, huh?" Bixlow snickered,

"... Nor one he ever cared for more than a passing fancy." Freed sighed, "I haven't seen Laxus with so much faith in one person before, and I never thought he'd have faith in Frea of all people. Not with how they used to act with one another."

"Well, they certainly aren't anywhere close to being 'with' eachother." Both Freed and Boxlow glanced around to see Chase had settled to lean against the railing with his back beside them, blue eyes fixed on the roof overhead. "The both of them don't even know what they're thinking, let alone feeling. Teach is just as clueless.." Chase smiled slightly, sighing as Freed and Bixlow blinked.

"... I don't like Laxus all that much, I never have. But I know how Frea feels about him, I've been able to feel the flux in her emotions whenever Laxus is brought up, or is around her. Its nothing huge, its a single shift in her Energy, but I can feel it, Frea just doesn't know what it is, and I don't think she even really realizes or understand her own emotions at all. Just like Laxus." He chuckled slightly, shaking his head as he glanced downward toward his old mentor.

"I've been wondering for awhile now, how long until they both start to get it...?"


	53. Never Forget....

**Chapter 53**

**Never Forget...**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

**.:+:.**

"Well hello, welcome! Welcome, ladies and gentlemen!" The tall man atop the train of caravans and carts called out happily to the crowds below him, bits of Magic and small Spells dancing above their heads as he grinned at them. "Welcome! It is our pleasure to entertain you lovely citizens of Magnolia this year for your annual Rainbow Sakura Festival! We hope you enjoy the activities we have planned! It's sure to be a dazzling night!" The crowd let out happy cheers, the Magic over their heads moving and swirling in different forms and shapes- not unlike that of the Fantasia Parade.

The town was in full swing as the Rainbow Sakura parade hit its head. The sun was sinking behind the hills as the lights in the town began to glow- and the more people there began to crowd the streets.

Frea stood at the edge of the gathering crowd, arms hooked over her chest and all too aware of the set of eyes watching her from afar- specifically, the eyes of Natsu. She had become aware he was following her movement through the bustling town, staying at a distance though, like he wasn't keen on her knowing he was tailing her.

She had been following the other girls of the Guild around town for awhile, but eventually she had broken off and started wandering on her own. Master had announced to the Guild that they would be doing the festival again this year, which was met with quite the bit of approval- though earlier in the day the Bingo game the Guild usually held may have gotten a little too heated... None the less, once Bingo was over the Guild split up to walk around and enjoy the festival before they all met up again to watch the height of the sakura's blooming.

She had left Moon with Iki, Uno and Lily- and when she left they had all been having quite the wonderful time. She smiled at the thought, happy Moon was having fun.

She shifted sideways, her gaze moving to the side but not moving her head as she caught sight of Natsu from the corner of her eye. She could feel even from a distance he seemed rather tense, and maybe even a little... Brooding. He had kinda been acting off the last few days, since that first day she came back to the Guild.

_What the hell....?_

With a small sigh she shook her head, turning in his direction (to which, he was buried in a bush that grew off the side of the small square she was settled in, and at the back of the crowd). He ducked down into the leaves quickly when she turned, she shook her head again and went straight toward it, her hip cocked and arms crossed over her chest as she blinked, stopping right in front of the foliage.

"Natsu, what are you doing?"

For a small brief moment there was no answer, Frea rolled her eyes a little.

"I can smell you, hear you, and sense your Energy Signature Flame-Brain. Don't try and ignore me."

Natsu stood up from along the leaves slowly, looking a little nervous as she just quirked an eyebrow at him. "H-hey Frea..." He chuckled slightly, running a hand over the back his neck in slight embarrassment.

"Why have you been following me?" She asked bluntly, he blinked, glancing away a moment. "You've been following me since the Bingo game ended, Natsu. You've not been very subtle either." She silently added that he had been rather _clingy_ since she came back to the Guild too, he hadn't spent his days brawling, in reality he had mostly stuck close to her, talking and arguing with Gray and Gajeel... Who both also hadn't really left her alone either.

Natsu lightly hopped out from the bush, Frea turning slightly to face him as he landed beside her, still rubbing the back of his neck.

"Sorry." He mumbled, "I was just.... Making sure you didn't get into trouble." Frea blinked in slight surprise, head tilted slightly. "..... Or you know......" He blushed faintly, a wash of nervousness and embarrassment sparking from him, mixed with the feeling of.... Concern.

".... Pushed yourself too hard, you're still healing and all."

Frea's eyes widened slightly, sweatdropping a little as she blinked at him.

She'd known Natsu a long time, and she knew him pretty well if she did so say herself. She knew more than anything, even though he was quick to act, a hot head and maybe even a little bit of an idiot at times- he deeply cared for everyone in the Guild, and she knew he'd not hesitate to jump in on behalf of someone else.

But protectiveness was something new to her, at least when it came to Frea herself. Natsu could be protective of other people, Lucy, Erza, Happy, the Guild... But he'd never been that way about her, at least not as long as she could remember. If anything _she_ had been more protective over _him_ than he'd ever been of her. And this sudden behavior seemed to catch Natsu as off guard as it did her, seeing as how he wasn't sure how to explain why he was following her very well at all.

And she suddenly realized he had been doing this since coming back from the Guid, he'd kept from brawling like usual, and stuck so close because deep down he was worried about her, and for it he was being protective- enough to keep him from acting as he usually would, and have him following her about the town.

Gray and Gajeel had been acting a little off since she came back to the Guild as well, similar to Natsu- they had stuck close to her at the Guild and hadn't fought at all. Thinking on it now, she had faintly been aware of catching a glance of those two everyone once in awhile as she walked about the town on her own, though they were being less direct than Natsu.

She supposed she probably shouldn't be surprised... Those three were protective and cared very deeply for the Guild, and she supposed it shouldn't be a surprise they cared about her too, especially after what had happened as of late, and how much trouble and hurt she had been in over and over. She considered Gray and Natsu like little brothers, she had since she had met them all those years ago when they joined the Guild. And she thought of Gajeel as a very good friend, she appreciated his quiet, and gruff, outlook and knew he was loyal to a fault... She had hoped he thought of her in a similar light.

_... They did stand up to me, when I tried to go after Death Bolt. They stared me down, all three of them, and refused to budge... Because they didn't want me running off to get hurt._

Frea found herself smiling softly, something warm stirring deep in her chest at the thoughts.

Natsu stiffened, seeing Frea move toward him suddenly and head snapping up as she did something she hadn't done.... Since he was a little kid.

Frea's arms wrapped about his shoulders and neck, pulling him into her as she rest her head lightly against the side of his, smiling still as her eyes closed and she held him close, her scent slowly mingling with his and dancing off his nose. Natsu stared, eyes wide and mind suddenly drawing blank at the unexpected response, and rather odd gesture coming from her.

"I never said thank you, Natsu." She murmured softly, earning a blink from him. "For trying to keep me safe, back when I tried to run after Death Bolt. You stopped me from doing something stupid, you've grown up a lot." She chuckled,

"So thank you, really."

Natsu blinked, feeling like there was so much more she meant than what she said, like... The hug was telling him more, that she wasn't just happy he had tried to stop her, but she appreciated something about him much more than simply that. It wasn't like Frea to hug him, she wasn't usually this gentle.... She wasn't usually this calm and so sincere either. He got the feeling she had picked up on what he was feeling better than he had expected, she usually did- and as usual, she seemed to understand his own feelings better than he really did.

His eyes fell closed, his chin lightly resting in her shoulder as his own arms raised up to return the gesture lightly, gently- still very much aware of the sharp, metallic tang of blood he could still smell from her, and knowing her wounds were still healing.

"Yeah, you got it." He replied softly,

 _I'll need to thank Gray and Gajeel too,_ Frea thought, eyes opening to glance up and around at the Magic floating past.

Something told her she wouldn't have to wait long to run into them either.

Frea pulled back, smirking slightly as she rest her hand on his head and ruffled his hair a little.

"Come on Flame-Brain," she smiled, "We still have time before the height of the bloom, let's walk around some, ok?" Natsu blinked, before smiling and nodding.

"Sounds great." He grinned back, his mood lightening considerably. She nodded and turned, lightly tugging on his scarf to get him to start following, before letting go and making her way through the crowd and toward the stalls lining the edge of the square. They began milling through the stands slowly, passing through people and passing through small patches of dazzling Magic floating about.

She lead him over toward a food stand, tossing a few coins the vendors way from her pocket, before picking a stick of Fire Chicken from the top and turning back to Natsu, who's eyes shone in delight at the food. She chuckled as he chowed down, leaning against a bench and lightly biting into the ice-cream cone she had gotten for herself,

She smiled slightly, listening contently as he started mumbling on about a recent mission he had gone on with Lucy, all the while still chewing quickly on his food. Frea glanced sideways, her silver eyes moving across the crowd and the other stands.

They moved around the rest of the stands, looking over the food and eating most of it in Natsu's case (where Frea seemed more than happy to pay). They moved about, enjoying the sights and enjoying each others company. Natsu blinked in slight confusion, noticing suddenly that Frea was holding three small bags stuffed with something he couldn't tell what, he must have missed her buy them when he had been busy eating. He would have asked but she kept moving,

"Where is Lucy, by the way?" Frea asked suddenly, Natsu blinked.

"She's hanging out with Erza I think." He replied, "Why?"

"Just curious, you two are hardly ever apart from each other is all." Frea smiled slightly, Natsu smirked.

"Well, Lucy's a part of my team." He grinned, Frea shook her head just slightly, slowing up a bit as her eyes cast sideways, still holding lightly to the three bags in her hand.

"What are those?" He asked, leaning in from where he walked at her shoulder, stopping as she did. She smirked, holding the bags away from him.

"You'll find out in a minute," she smiled, he tilted his head. She smiled and started to the left suddenly, over toward a stand at the edge of the street. Natsu blinked, eyes widening slightly to see Juvia and Levy standing at the stall, smiling as they looked over the trinkets. Beside them stood Gajeel and Gray, both their arms crossed over their torso's and looking wary.

Frea smiled, catching their attention as they noticed her approaching them. Natsu followed closely, as Frea stopped in front of them with a small toothy grin.

"There you two are." She smiled, they blinked. Levy and Juvia remained wrapped up in their browsing,

"Silver," Gajeel grumbled,

"What are you two up to?" Gray asked, quirking an eyebrow at the both of Natsu and Frea, as well as the bags in her hand. Natsu shrugged,

"I've been looking for the both of you." Frea said in a matter of fact way, they both blinked at her. She grabbed Natsu and pulled him forward as she stepped forward and stepped between the both of Gray and Gajeel, hooking her arms around all three of their necks and shoulders and pulling them closer to her, grinning still. All three boys stiffened, sweatdropping a little at the action but not pulling away.

"What the hell-?" Gajeel huffed,

"Hey?" Natsu huffed, his hand moving up to hold her arm as he rammed into Gray due to her hold.

"Frea..?" Gray mumbled, eyes glittering slightly.

"Look, you three. Just listen a moment." Frea murmured softly, "I realized it when I ran into Flame-Brain." Frea's voice suddenly dropped a little more, to a soft tenor, her grin fading to a soft smile as her eyes closed. "I never did say thank you, to any of you for trying to keep me from running after Death Bolt, or everything you did when fighting them. I should have, but I was so wrapped up in my own head I forgot to think about how you guys were feeling... And I get it, more than you realize." She squeezed them a little tighter in her grip,

"You three are family, much more than you even know. Don't think I didn't notice how you've been sticking close the last few days, or how careful you've been around me. I did, I just didn't think as to why- but I get it now." She chuckled softly, "But I know you three enough to realize you won't admit why you've been acting off, so I won't mention it. Just know that I truly appreciate it, and I love you three for it all the more." Her eyes opened to glance between the three of them quickly, still smiling all the while.

Frea unhooked her arms from around their necks and stepped forward past them, turning with a small smirk as they blinked, she had managed to hook the string of the three bags she had been carrying around their necks, one each. They glanced down at the bags, before glancing back up at her in confusion, sweatdropping slightly and eyebrows raised.

"What are these..?" Gray asked slowly,

"Yeah..." Natsu mumbled, sniffing at the bag as Gajeel silently did the same, the Iron Dragon's eyes narrowed as Natsu's eyes widened slightly.

"Just a little treat." Frea murmured easily, smiling brightly. They opened the bags, eyes glinting as they saw that each one had some sort of candy in it- for Gray and Natsu's case anyway. The bag Gajeel had was filled with fine bits of metal and clean cut iron fixings and the like. The candy Natsu had was spicy flavored, while the candy Gray had was more mint flavored and the like. They blinked in surprise, it wasn't often Frea did something like this....

Frea smirked, her hands resting on her hips as she saw a small smile spread across Gray and Gajeel's face, and Natsu grinned.

"Enjoy it, cause pretty soon here I won't be going so easy on the three of you." They blinked, sweatdropping slightly. "Once I'm all healed up I'll be needing the three of you to help me train." She smirked, fangs flashing slightly as Magic circled overhead, glinting off her hair slightly. "We still have this Things ass to kick, remember?"

For a few moments they simply looked at her, the flux of shock dancing from them sparking against her skin like little bursts of electricity, but she ignored it. She was right of course, they got through Death Bolt, and Shadow- but that didn't change the fact that that Thing was still out there, and it was bound to rear its head again. And soon, she could feel something deep and dark drawing near, and she knew very well she needed to be ready. And it was going to take a lot of work and maybe a few miracles to get her even close to being ready to face this thing.... She doubted she'd ever be truly ready, but she'd have to try.

She promised Master she'd try.

"Training on my own is all well and good, but we're gonna have to really go all out if we're gonna have any chance against It." She went on, eyes closing and still smirking faintly. _Confidence,_ not that she felt all that confident to be entirely honest.

They blinked, exchanging quick glances between themselves for a moment. They didn't like that Frea was planning so soon to start moving and fighting again, but even then they knew she was right... And they supposed it would be better if they were prepared for what was coming.

Besides, hell if Frea was gonna let them out of it.

"Yeah," Gray murmured.

"You got it, Silver." Gajeel grumbled,

"We'll be ready, don't doubt it." Natsu said firmly, Frea's eyes opened to pass over the three of them a small moment, before she grinned and nodded.

"Good." She smiled, Levy and Juvia walked up, smiling softly as they laughed to themselves and stopped beside the four of them, blinking in surprise at the notice of Natsu and Frea.

"Oh, Frea, Natsu, I didn't realize you two were here!" Levy smiled,

"Juvia didn't see you either." Juvia murmured, head tilted as her blue gaze passed over Gray, Natsu and Gajeel all standing shoulder to shoulder, facing Frea as if they were being addressed by her. "Juvia wonders... What were you all talking about?"

"Nothing." Gray mumbled, tucking the bag Frea had given him inside his pocket with a small glance away from nervousness. Juvia tilted her head, sweatdropping slightly.

"What's that, Gajeel?" Levy prodded, pointing to the bag in his hands. Gajeel smirked down at her with a near nasty smile, snickering as he patted the Script Mage on the head.

"Nothing for you, Shrimp!" He snickered and Levy glared a little,

"Don't be so rude, stupid Gajeel!" Levy snapped, looking annoyed. Gajeel only smirked wider, and Frea smiled slightly, hooking her arms behind her back.

"Come on." Frea murmured, earning everyone's eyes. "The Caravan should be ready to have a show soon, let's go watch, alright?"

"Sounds great!" Levy smiled,

"Juvia agrees." Juvia smiled slightly, she earned nods from the three boys as they began to move back off toward the park and the square inside of it. Frea fell to the back of the group with Natsu at her side, happily eating away at the candy she had given him, smiling slightly as she took in a small breath.

Of all the emotions on the air, happiness was the strongest, and she sighed in pleasure at the feeling. It had been too long since she had been surrounded by so many happy people.

"Juvia! Levy!"

The group turned slightly as they came upon the square, seeing Lucy waving at them with a bright smile, Erza, Mira, Lisanna and Cana beside her as the group of girls moved toward them. They paused a moment to let them catch up, Lucy stopped in front of Levy, while Erza and Mira pulled up beside Frea and Natsu, Cana slinging an arm over Lisanna's shoulders and drinking a bottle of booze.

"Lucy!" Levy grinned, "I was hoping we'd run into you here! I wanted to watch the show with you."

"I've heard this traveling Caravan is really popular!" Lucy smiled,

"They've been to Magnolia several times over the years," Erza smiled, arms crossed over her chest and dressed not in her usual armor, but in a white blouse and blue skirt.

"And they're shows are always exciting to watch." Mira said, her blue eyes casting above them to the ever floating bits of Magical display that was going on over Magnolia. "It seems this year will be no different."

"I've always enjoyed them myself." Erza murmured, earning a nod from Mira. "You always enjoyed them too, didn't you?" Erza glanced Frea's way, who chuckled lightly.

"Can't say I hated them." She smirked, "You guys used to goggle over these shows all the time when we were younger, I just enjoyed how amazed you were with it." She smirked a little cheekily, gesturing at the lot of Natsu, Levy, Cana, Lisanna, Erza and Mira, earning blushes of embarrassment from all of them collectively. Lucy and Juvia giggled in amusement, while Gajeel smirked slightly at their embarrassment.

"But yeah, I like the shows as much as the next person." Frea went on, smirking slightly. 

Frea's attention swept up toward the sky, seeing an array of fireworks erupt over the square, and glancing over the heads of the people she saw that upon the stage that had been set up, appeared the man who lead the Caravan- who she recognized having seen him over the years.

"Hello ladies and gentlemen! Turn your attention to the stage if you please, our show is about to start!!"

Lucy and Levy seemed to beam, eyes shining as they turned to the stage and nearly jumped in excitement. Juvia glanced up to the stage, holding to Gray's arm as she smiled, nearly as excited and Lucy and Levy though she contained herself a little better. Frea smiled some more,

"It's starting!" Lucy exclaimed happily, "Come on Levy, let's see if we can get closer!"

"Juvia is coming too!" Juvia called, moving along with Lisanna and Cana as they moved closer. Gray was dragged along by Juvia still holding to his arm, as Lucy grabbed hold of Natsu before he could react, and Levy snapped at Gajeel to follow- who grudgingly moved after them through the crowd. Everyone else hung back near the edge of the crowd, content with their spots as they turned toward the stage, which was soon erupting in Magical displays and colors as the crowd cheered and smiled.

"They seem really excited." Mira commented with a small amused smile.

"It's good to see everyone enjoying themselves." Erza murmured,

"This is good for the Guild." Frea murmured softly, "It's good to wind down and have fun." She smiled slightly, the two other girls smiling a little themselves at her content expression.

"I agree." Erza murmured, all of their attentions turning to the show at hand.

_... Even if it won't last long._

"Hello Frea, my love! It has been too, too long, Dove! _Much_ too long!"

Frea stiffened slightly, sweatdropping a little as everyone around her went rigid, their eyes growing wide and looking astounded at the sudden sing song voice that called out toward their small group among the packed square, easily heard above even the cheering and the roaring of the crowd before them, and the boom of fireworks and other bits of Magic at work above their heads.

The two girls beside her heads snapped toward her, looking stunned and eyes growing wide at the name of 'dove' said in such an adoring manner.

She could practically hear them both thinking collectively,

_'Who the hell is that?!'_

She sweatdropped, smiling a little nervously as she turned around, recognizing the voice immediately.

"Iidren (Eee-drenn)... It's been a long time." Frea smiled softly, still looking a little nervous and even a bit embarrassed. She stiffened, just as she turned someone swept her up in their arms lightly, earning a wince when they bumped against the wound on her back. She was twirled once, before being set down lightly, and he pulled back, crystal blue eyes glinting in pleasure and happiness as he smiled to her, landing a small kiss on her forehead before she could pull away or say anything. Frea blushed lightly, but let it slide.

Erza and Mirajane stared, standing behind her and the sudden appearance of the man, eyes wide and hands covering their mouths as they watched with wide, slightly stunned looks, blushing themselves at the sudden unexpected affection, and especially at the kiss to the forehead. They had never seen anyone like that with Frea, not even close! She _never_ let _any_ boy get close like that, and certainly never let anyone land _a kiss!_

Iidren smiled, his bright blue gaze locked to Frea and brown hair swept back to the side, the bottom of it pulled back into a small ponytail. He was taller than her, and lean, though not without muscle, and dressed in dark jeans and a tight fit white shirt with no sleeves, several bands and wrappings covered his arms and wrists, as well as with several metal studs piercing the skin in a similar way to Gajeel's own. Two small silver loop earnings were in his ears, and across his upper left shoulder ran a tattoo of spiraling and a nearly scale like design. Two belts crisscrossed at his waist loosely, a set of keys hanging from a loop, along with several pouches that held some various items or other. He looked older than Frea by a few years, but only just so- and he smiled brightly and cheerfully as his hands remained holding to her arms lightly, in familiarity, and Frea smiled back, seeming to slowly get over her initial shock, but still seeming slightly embarrassed.

"Look at you Dove! You haven't hardly aged at all since I last saw you!" He smiled, pulling his hands away but not before lightly brushing against her cheek, his eyes glittering. "It's been over eight years, and you look nearly the same."

"Ah, yeah." Frea chuckled lightly, "That's what happens when you get stuck in a Spell for seven years that doesn't let you age." She replied easily, cocking her hip slightly and not seemingly hardly bothered by the brush against her cheek, or how close the new arrival seemed to be standing near to her, or even the nickname- and such an affectionate one at that! _'Dove'?!_

The two girls behind her were nearly reeling, eyes wide and hardly believing their eyes. They exchanged glances between themselves and Frea and her new company, minds racing,

_Who the hell is that?! And why does he seem so.... So friendly toward Frea?! And she's accepting it?!_

Iidren's eyes widened slightly at the words, before he smiled and shook his head, "Ah... You and your Guild are always getting in a mess, so I suppose I shouldn't be surprised." He chuckled lightly, "No matter how long it's been, or what happened- you're still as beautiful as ever Dove. That I know will never change."

_Did he...?!_

He just called her beautiful?!

Mira and Erza exchanged looks, utterly taken aback and blushing themselves at how forward this man was being- he was flirting with _Frea!_ And entirely blatantly at that!!

Frea blushed just faintly, and shook her head at him, still smiling. "Geez... Even after eight years you're still a huge flirt." She told him lightly,

"Hehe, but you never tell me to quit it. So you mustn't mind too much, Dove." Iidren replied easily. "Speaking of mind;" Iidren murmured, hands resting on his hips as a slightly scolding look came on to his face, "I have a mind to scold you for worrying me so much! Shame on you for being so reckless! Here you are, walking about without a care in the world just after the events involving that nasty Dark Guild." He leaned in, the scolding look growing all the more firm as Frea sweatdropped and let out a silent sigh. "I have half a mind to sweep you up carry you home! Resting is important Dove, you know it very well!"

"You and most of the Guild seem to think the same way." Frea replied, shaking her head slightly. "But it's been nearly two and half weeks since all of that happened, I'm fine." She smirked slightly, "Besides, you know I wouldn't let you just pick me up and carry me away. Especially not in the middle of the festival." She chuckled and Iidren pouted just once, a bit forcefully- but couldn't help but crack a smile as she did, her earlier blushing suddenly entirely gone.

"Oh I don't know Dove, you seem to have been through quite the ordeal. You sure you'd be able to stop me?" He smirked and Frea's eyes flashed, smirking slightly at the attempt of a challenge.

"Would you like to find out?" Frea smirked, "Even beat to hell, I still put up quite the fight. Ain't no way you're gonna win so easy."

"It's been a long time Dove, you were always quite good, but I'm even better than I was those eight years ago- and better not just at _brawling_ either." Iidren smirked, leaning forward slightly with his hands on his hips, a sudden glint coming into his eye as he mentioned being better at other things, it was as if he...

Mira and Erza turned bright red, thinking maybe he had been hinting at something else when he said that.

"You'd have your work cut out for you." Iidren smirked,

"Hehe, I thought you were a lover Iidren, not a fighter." Frea shot back easily, arms crossing over her chest and hip cocked.

"With a love like you Dove, it isn't simply enough to be an ordinary sort of lover. For a woman like yourself, a man more suited to contend with your warrior spirit is needed." He smiled, eyes glinting. "Wouldn't you agree, Dove?"

Frea shook her head slightly, letting out a small sigh but smiling still none the less, he was a huge flirt sure, and he was very forward- both things Frea usually wouldn't ever let be directed at her by anyone- but she couldn't help herself, he had always seemed to make her smile, that's why she let him keep on as he did, where had it been anybody else, she would have chased them off by now.

Dan from Zentopia's Legion had been very forward about calling Frea attractive and spouting affection, and at the time Frea had been ready to snap his head off for his comments- but that wasn't the case with this man now.

"Same old you," she murmured, he smirked.

Frea stiffened slightly, suddenly feeling people press up behind her rather closely, and feeling a leering sort of vibe on the air. She blinked, glancing just slightly over her shoulder to see that Mira and Erza had come up just behind her, huddled slightly with their hands to their mouths, eyes wide and faces red at the small exchange going on between Frea and the man they had never met before, or even heard mentioned.

Frea blinked a few more times, feeling the sudden swath of emotions sparking from the two girls like electricity- and too many all at once for her to piece through.

"Frea!" Erza murmured lowly, hastily into her ear. "Who is this man?!"

"And why are you two so familiar with one another?!" Mira chipped in on her other ear. "Why didn't you ever say you were with this guy?"

Frea blinked, sweatdropping slightly and looking confused for a small moment.

".. With...?" She mumbled, eyebrow quirked and head tilting slightly. "What do you mean with?"

Erza and Mira both leaned in, blushing furiously themselves at the sudden development and leaning in closer.

"Is he your boyfriend?!" They demanded in hushed whispers, Frea blinked in shock.

"What..?!" She stammered, blushing suddenly herself, though only faintly. She frowned, fangs baring a little and looking quite taken aback by the question. "Hell no!!"

"Oh but I might as well be, Dove." Iidren leaned in suddenly, smirking as he winked at her. "No man will ever love you more than I." His eyes flashed, "And no man is a better lover than I am either. Especially for a woman so fierce." Mira and Erza were practically steaming in their flusterdness,

Frea shot him a look that told him he wasn't helping, and he smiled at her.

"How... How very forward..." Erza stammered,

"It's... It's somewhat inappropriate..." Mira stammered as well. The both of them had never considered Frea in that sort of way at all, and now that they were, they found themselves embarrassed. Frea had always been an older sister figure to them, and since the Energy Dragon Slayer had given no previous sign of being involved in anything one could consider romantic in any way, they were quite caught off guard.

"... How could we not have known, Frea was so.. so...?" They both stammered, turning bright red again as if they couldn't get the words out anymore.

"Shut it!" Frea snapped, blushing now at the reaction she was receiving from the other girls- they had the wrong idea damn it!

"It's nothing like that! Quit making crap up!" She hissed, Iidren chuckled under his breath. Frea rounded on him, "And tone it down a little would you? I don't need people thinking I'm some sort of perv!" Iidren chuckled and shrugged slightly, not entirely perturbed by the situation at all.

"I only said what was true." He replied easily,

"But you said it in a way that was purposely meant to make them think about it in the _wrong_ way!" Frea growled,

"Hehe, guilty as charged." He replied, winking at her playfully. "Would you like to arrest me, officer? And perhaps punish me as well?"

"Iidren!!" Frea snapped hotly, Mira and Erza were wilting, faces bright red as steaming. He smiled, holding his hands up in defeat as he dipped his head.

"Sorry Dove, I couldn't resist."

Frea let out a low growl as she shook her head in slight exasperation. She promptly turned her back on Iidren and face the two girls behind her, hands on her hips and gaze steady.

"Alright, listen! This idiot isn't anything but an old friend I would hang out with during the Sakura Festival. We met one another a long while back and have kept in touch whenever he comes into town. That's it, there's nothing else to it." Frea growled with a firm stare at the two.

"That hurts Dove, I thought what we had was something more?" Iidren leaned in next to her ear and she sweatdropped slightly, biting the inside of her cheek.

"He's a huge flirt, but he's still an _idiot."_ Frea grumbled, shooting him a half angry glare. "So quit jumping to conclusions you two."

"... Why the Sakura Festival?" Erza managed to stammer, still working to get a hold of herself.

"A fine question!" Iidren butted in before Frea could answer, he smiled and lightly pressed his hand to his chest, eyes glinting in slight amusement, "I travel with the Caravan you see here tonight! I only ever manage to find myself here in Magnolia when the Caravan comes in for the Sakura Festival. So alas, my time with my dear Frea is short and limited- but it is always worth it."

"You work with the Caravan?" Mira murmured, blinking a few times before a look of recognition passed across her face. "Wait a moment, I've seen you perform before!"

"Right! You're the one that balances on the tightrope, aren't you?" Erza asked, nodding slightly as she remembered in the same instant Mira had. Iidren smiled a little at being recognized,

"That is one of my several talents, yes." He replied, "Though I regret to inform I will not be performing tonight." Frea blinked,

"Why not?" She asked,

"Well to spend more time with you of course." He replied cheekily, Frea quirked an eyebrow. "That, and I am in charge of preparing the bonfire later tonight. So I will be busy with that." He added in, Frea nodded slightly.

It was a regular occurrence when Iidren and the Caravan he traveled with came into town. After the height of the festival and the shows that were put on, the Caravaners would set up a huge bonfire and invite the town to settle around it. There was usually food and drinks served, and the members of the Caravan would play music with flutes and drums. Many people just sat around the fire and talked with one another, but there was also usually a huge dance that would happen around the fire.

It was a big thing, and a lot of people joined in with those in the Caravan already dancing, who were dressed in costume for the occasion. Everyone else who joined in from the town usually dressed up for the occasion as well, all to get in the spirit of things, and then there would be music, dancing, conversation and food long into the night until the fire went out. Frea had been to the bonfire, the whole Guild went, but she had never joined in more than the food and talking to other people.

She had gone every year, expect one, when she had been around.... It was actually at the bonfire she had first met Iidren, now that she thought about it.

* * *

 

_"Hello!"_

_Frea's attention snapped from watching the moving figures dance and twist in intricate circles and moves around the confines of the fire._

_She turned slightly, seeing a tall young boy roughly her age (15 at the time) with bright blue eyes and messy brown hair. He smiled at her as he stopped beside her, hands on his hips and blue eyes glinting. Frea blinked, subconsciously sweeping her hair back from her face, and hooking her arms behind her back._

_Her silver gaze swept up and down his figure, her head cocking slightly as she looked him over._

_"Hi." She smiled just slightly, "Aren't you one of the people with the Caravan?"_

_He grinned, "Yep!" He replied cheerfully, "I'm super happy to see that someone as pretty as you recognized little old me!" Frea blinked in shock, a blush covering her cheeks as she felt her face heat up._

_"P-pretty...?" She stammered, suddenly very flustered. The boy nodded affirmatively,_

_"Oh yeah, I've never seen a girl prettier than you before." He said, Frea blushed harder._

_She had never really had any of the boys in the Guild really be so forward toward her like this, many of them never dared to... To... He's flirting with me, right? Or is he teasing me..?_

_"... You're just saying that." She mumbled,_

_"No, I really mean it." He smiled and Frea blinked in shock at the sincerity in his voice so suddenly. He chuckled lightly, though Frea felt a small flash of nervousness spark from him suddenly. He rubbed the back of his neck, sweatdropping slightly but still smiling all the while. "I actually saw you earlier watching the show, and I could hardly take my eyes off you... I was trying to work myself up to coming to talk to you all night, but I never mustered up the courage...." He admitted and Frea blushed again, eyes glinting. "... Well, till now."_

_"Really?" She murmured. He nodded, blue eyes shining._

_"My name's Iidren by the way." He smiled, "I saw you at the festival last year too, but I was too chicken to come talk to you." He chuckled, Frea laughed lightly. "Do you live here in Magnolia with your parents, then?"_

_Frea shook her head a little, "Uh, no, actually." Iidren blinked in question, "I'm actually member of the Guild here, Fairy Tail, I stay in an apartment by myself and work jobs and stuff."_

_Iidren's eyes lit up in surprise and sudden gleaming interest and intrigue._

_"Woah, what?!" He exclaimed, "You're a Wizard?! And you're a part of a Guild?!" He leaned in and smiled widely, looking considerably impressed, Frea smiled flusterdly and nodded slightly,_

_"Yeah,"_

_"That's so awesome! You work in a Guild all by yourself and you're my age too! That's so impressive!" He grinned. "I bet you're a really good Mage, probably one of the best in your Guild, huh?" He smirked slightly, "I had a feeling you were pretty great, and not just beautiful!" Frea couldn't help but blush again at that. "Geez, you're so cool! Cooler than me anyway, I can only use basic, low level spells for fireworks my dad taught me, and walk on a tightrope."_

_"Oh I'm not that good..." Frea chuckled in embarrassment, she would keep saying that of course- even though Iidren and the Guild had told her how impressive she was on a regular basis._

_"You're really modest, huh?" Iidren smiled, Frea glanced away. "Hmm, you'll have to learn you can be a little cocky, especially if you are as good as I think you are." He grinned, "But it's still kinda cute, you being all embarrassed like that."_

_What is with this kid?_

_Frea bit the inside of her cheek slightly, feeling her face still a little hot and her heart fluttering slightly. She was usually embarrassed when people gave her praise, but this was the first time she had felt... This kind of embarrassed._

_It was a different sort of embarrassed she wasn't familiar with, at all. And she couldn't quite explain it other than.... It kinda seemed like what she would feel when she had a crush on a boy. And she never really had before, but of course- no other boy had really been this flirtatious with her either, and she certainly hadn't expected that she wouldn't be angry about it._

_I've never liked anyone in a romantic way before.... So I don't know what it's supposed to feel like.... Her heartbeat in her chest was a little louder than she could remember it being._

_... Is this... What it feels like..?_

_"You're blushing really hard there, Dove."_

_Frea's attention snapped back toward him, blinking a few times in surprise and confusion. He smiled at her, arms crossing over his chest as he chuckled at the surprise on her face._

_"You never gave me your name, so I think I'll call you Dove." He smirked, "Your eyes and those markings under your eyes remind me of a silver dove I loved once, so I think it fits." He lightly twirled the silver ends of her bangs with a finger, she felt herself blush a little harder. "You're hair's pretty like this too, I really like it on you."_

_"... Frea." She mumbled a little breathlessly. Iidren blinked, smiling slightly as he tilted his head slightly._

_"Hmm?"_

_"My name, it's Frea." She said a bit louder this time around._

_"Ah, that's a very pretty name. And one I'll never forget." Iidren smiled, Frea glanced away again._

_This guy.... Is such.... Such a freaking... Flirt...._

_"Why don't you join in the dancing?" Iidren smiled, stepping a little closer. Frea looked back up to him, blinking a few times. Iidren gestured over toward the fire and the shadows moving in and out around it._

_"You might have fun, you know." Iidren smiled, Frea smiled just faintly and shook her head a little._

_"Ah.. No, no. It's not really my sort of thing.." She mumbled, her arms hooking behind her back and taking a small step back from him. He simply stepped toward her again,_

_"Well, if dancing isn't your style- perhaps you'd like to spend some time with me?" His blue eyes glinted lightly, Frea blinked at him, head tilted slightly._

_"We don't have to join in the dancing, there's still plenty of the festival left to enjoy." Iidren went on, "The Sakura's are still in bloom, and I'm sure the stalls in the town square are still running. We could go for a walk, grab some food.." He smirked slightly, "Hang out, have fun."_

_"..... Why are you so intent on spending time with me?" Frea asked slowly._

_"I thought I already told you." He smiled brightly. "I've been wanting to talk to you for about a year now, I've really been hoping to get to know you more. You really are the prettiest girl I've seen, and I can tell you're even more awesome than just in your looks." He grinned, blue eyes shining in excitement... And hope._

_"I wanna get to know you, Dove. Really get to know you, I think we could have a lot of fun together, so why not give it a try?" He held out a hand toward her, almost grinning from ear to ear as she stood in shocked silence, her silver eyes glinting in the light of the night and the fire around them. "Who knows, you might really enjoy it. And everybody needs to have fun sometimes, right? With someone special?"_

_Frea blinked, head tilting slightly at that, 'someone special'._

_What did it even mean... To have someone special?_

_The Guild was special to her, every single person in it- she loved them as she'd do anything for them, but what Iidren was talking about... She knew this was a different kind of 'special person', and it was something she hadn't ever felt before._

_"You're special to me, Dove. So come on, let's have some fun, hmm?"_

* * *

 

_.... Someone special....._

_... That feeling he mentioned, when he said that to me..... It was something new, and I've felt it seldom in all my time... Except, I think..._

"Speaking of which." Iidren brightened up slightly, smiling as he addressed all three woman with a cheery smile. Frea was broken from her thoughts and focused on him again. "I do hope you will all participate in the dancing around the fire tonight! The more the merrier, after all. I do remember you are quite a fan of the fire dance, right?" He said with a glance toward Erza, who smirked slightly, a gleam coming into her eye.

"Ah, yes!" She smiled, "And I have a new outfit that I've been planning to try out, I think I'll wear it to the dance tonight."

"Splendid!" Iidren smirked, looking to Mira who was nodding as well. "And you?"

"I'll join in, it's always fun." Mira smiled,

Iidren's crystal blue gaze fixed to Frea next, smiling slightly as he looked toward her. "And what about you Dove? Will you be joining in on the fire dance tonight?" He crossed his arms over his chest, giving her a pointed look. "You've never joined, don't you think it about time, Dove?"

Frea smiled, looking away from him and tilting her head. "Hmm, who knows, maybe I will." She looked back toward him, her eyes glinting. "That'll depend on the rest of the night before then, I think." Iidren smirked, holding a hand out to her, blue eyes glinting.

"Well then Dove, shall we? Everyone needs to have fun sometimes, right?" He asked, Frea smiled and lightly took his hand, pulling him after her and waving a hand back at the two girls they began to leave behind.

"We're gonna go grab some food and walk around a bit, kay? We'll meet you at the bonfire later!" Frea called back to the shocked faces of Mira and Erza watching them move away, looking slightly stunned still at the sudden turn in events.

"That was... Unexpected." Mira murmured, her arms crossing lightly over her chest. "I've never seen Frea so familiar with a boy before, not like that anyway."

"Indeed, she's never stood for any man to talk to her like Iidren does, yet she lets him...." Erza mumbled, "... It's very odd indeed...."

It somehow made them think that maybe there was a little more between Frea and Iidren than the Energy Dragon Slayer had said.

"Who in the hell was that with Teach just now?"

Mira and Erza glanced around to the sudden familiar voice, seeing Chase had walked up with Aisha next to him, his eyebrow quirked and arms over his chest.

"Chase, Aisha..." Erza mumbled in slight surprise.

"Oh, well that was Iidren, he works with the Caravan." Mira replied, "Apparently he and Frea are old friends, they met one another at one of the Sakura Festivals in past years and kept in touch." Mira chuckled lightly as she tapped her fingers together. "They seem really close..."

Chase sweatdropped slightly, exchanging a small glance with Aisha who shrugged slightly.

_Close?_

Chase had only caught a small snippet of the interaction between Frea and that Iidren man before they ran off, but what he had seen of it sent him reeling slightly. He hadn't ever seen Frea act like that around anyone, so carefree and relaxed, and happy.... And what he felt flashing on the air toward him was nearly stunning itself.

That Iidren guy, the emotion flickering from him... That was love, true, deep and sincere love, and it was for Frea.

_... Teach..... what you were feeling...._

He sweatdropped,

_.... What the hell is going on? I've never heard this guy mentioned before, not once, and suddenly he pops up from nowhere...?_

Could it really....?

He sweatdropped more.

_No way..._

* * *

 

"Feels like old times, eh Dove?"

Frea smirked, taking a small bite from the light blue popsicle stuck between her fangs, she glanced toward him as they stood under one of the trees in the fairly crowded area of SouthGate park, Iidren close by with a popsicle of his own.

They had been walking through the stalls, enjoying one another company as he chatted back and forth with her on what he'd been up to over the years, while she explained to him what had gone on with Tenrou and Acnologia as best she could.

They were content with one another, much more so than Frea usually was with people- the both of them were fast friends, and they were very close to one another though no one had been aware of that. But they trusted in one another, and knew one another better than other people probably did- Iidren, though Frea had never mentioned him to the Guild- was one of the people she would consider very close to her.

Frea had never been very sure what it was about him that she had latched to so quickly when they had met all that time ago, but they seemed to click, and they were at ease with one other, and always had a good time in each others company, no matter what they were doing. They had such a strong bond with one another it was nearly uncanny, and it was a sort of bond that lasted even though they hardly saw one another. Besides seeing him at the Sakura festival, she had only ever met him by chance on a job in large towns like Hargeon or Crocus... And those times were far and few between.

"Yeah, it's been too long." Frea replied, "I didn't even see you hardly at all before we went to Tenrou, we missed the Sakura Festival that year, and you weren't there the year prior." She chuckled, "Well, at any rate you certainly look older."

"Hey, not everyone gets frozen in time for seven years." He shot back lightly,

"It wasn't a personal choice, trust me." Frea mumbled, shaking her head slightly.

"I know." He murmured. "I would suppose none of what's happened recently was much of a choice you'd like to make either, hmm?" Frea glanced away with a small sigh, taking another bite.

"... No not really. It's been hectic, much more so than usual." She admitted. "... I mean things are usually busy around me, you know that..."

"...But it's different this time around." Iidren murmured, Frea nodded at him.

"Mhmm." She hummed with another sigh.

_... It's never been hard to talk to one another, we always seem to know what the other is thinking... Hmm._

".... You really did give me a scare you know, when I heard about what happened with Death Bolt." Iidren murmured, grimacing slightly. Frea's thoughts flashed back toward Iidren, seeing him looking toward her with a gentle expression that bordered pain. "About what they did to you, how they hurt you, and... Well, you know." Frea stiffened, "And now what you've been talking about with that Thing that's coming after you? And the things that happened in those places, Nvindorr and Hilshine." He paused a small moment,

"... It's not really like you to get beat so easy, Dove." Iidren went on, "I know how powerful you are, Dove. And I know you aren't easy to beat. It has me wondering you know." Frea looked away, but she could feel Iidren's eyes locked to her, glinting in the low light. "... The things that have been going on with you, the things you've been facing, there much more serious than they've ever been..... Much more powerful than you're even admitting, right?"

_..... He's always been able to do that.... See right through me in a way nobody else can... Not even the Guild...._

"Come on Dove, I know that look." Iidren murmured softly, she still didn't look up toward him. "You've always been modest, but you were always optimistic at the same time- and now all that optimism is gone.... Almost like you know..." His eyes glinted, a small worried frown pulling at his lips as he took a small, tiny step toward her.

"... Like you know you're not going to win this time."

_...... Hmph....._

Frea's eyes closed, silence suddenly falling between the two of them.

That... That was something she hadn't admitted to, not entirely anyway. She knew with this rising sense of foreboding and darkness, she knew things were getting worse, and she knew she wasn't likely to walk out of this rising danger in one piece, or even at all..... She had told Master as much, and had promised to do what she could... But she never admitted _that._

She never admitted that she knew, knew so deeply and truly, that she might lose- but that she _would_ lose. Because she knew she wasn't powerful enough for this, not against this Thing... It was too big, even for her. And much too big alone and on her own... And that's where she stood.

But she never admitted it out loud, but Iidren seemed to know what it was she felt easily... He somehow always had.

".... You're right." She murmured softly, her silver eyes opening to land on the popsicle still in her fingers. ".... I know what's coming, better than anyone else... And I know I won't win. I know this all ends badly." She sighed silently. "And I know better than anyone.... The true danger I'm going against. No one else really understands the severity... And a part of me doesn't want them too. I know I'm not strong enough to win against this Thing, I know there probably isn't anyone who is.... I know this is a battle that I will lose. I just haven't the heart to admit that to the Guild.... I'm still trying to be optimistic for them, but I don't feel optimistic at all."

_I know what's coming... And I know I can't avoid it._

_"One way or another, you will face this Ancient Evil, and that time is approaching fast."_

_"While I do not know why, of by whom it was decided, or even the instance in which it was set to come about- but you, Energy Dragon- tied to you is something great, large, and incomprehensible. Something dire, a current of events that ties into your life, for now, and from you, you will be plagued by an ancient force that even I do not know. It has been decided that you should be involved in this coming catastrophe, of which I am beginning to believe is much more than any of us can imagine, more than we could ever dream, things will happen, things will change- and yet through it all- it will be you. You cannot escape it. You swore to defeat this Ancient Evil, as you should- but had you not it would not matter. I believe you are the one meant to combat it, you are the only one who can- you were the one chosen to."_

_I know.... I've always know how this ends._

_".. Whoever you are, and whatever that Ancient Power was that attacked you, and this Land... There is a large rift now, something massive- with you in the center. Surrounded by darkness."_

_"What is that supposed to mean?"_

_"Everything you've already begun to guess, as I'm sure."_

_Hmph.... You were right, whatever the hell you are... I knew already._

"... And still you're going on ahead to face it, huh?" Iidren murmured softly, she could feel the worry sparking from him incessantly. "Even knowing?"

Frea looked up toward him again, she could see the concern etched into his face, see the worry and the fear in his eyes as he looked to her. It was the same look she saw so often from the Guild these days.... She gave him a small, gentle smile, and he sweatdropped at it.

"You know I have to." She replied softly, "Even if I lose... I have to try, to try and protect the things I love the most. I'll always do everything I can to do that. Nothing else matters."

" _You_ matter, Frea." Iidren replied, "Don't think so little of yourself, Dove. You matter to so many people, to your friends, your Guild, you're family... To me." Frea blinked,

"Iidren..." Frea murmured, her eyes glinting as his eyes fell closed.

His hands rest lightly on her shoulders, moving up to her neck as he pulled her forward into him, their foreheads touching lightly as she sweatdropped, her eyes glinting.

* * *

 

_"Frea..."_

_Frea felt her back press up against the tree behind her, Iidren closing in on her as he smirked and lay his nose lightly against the side of her neck, his hands slowly falling to her hips. The forest around them was deserted, nothing but the sound of the occasional bird and the distant humm of the town could be heard, the sky overhead dotted in stars as the moon shone a silvery white overhead._

_Frea hooked her arms around his neck, her nose pressing against the side of his head as she pulled him up against her closely, fingers curling into his hair._

_"This is a step up from flirting, Iidren..." She chuckled lowly, silver eyes glinting as she smirked._

_He smirked, running his nose against her neck, his breath warm against her skin as she let her eyes fall closed._

_"Hmm, well I've been playing at the flirting since we met almost five years ago." He replied lowly, "I think it's time I get to know you a little more than I already do, learn to love more about you that I don't know about yet."_

_His hands hooked about her lower back as they drew closer, his face moving up toward hers as they came face to face, their foreheads brushing and lips barely apart. Their eyes met as his lips in her forward,_

_"I love you, Frea."_

* * *

 

"Iidren..." Frea whispered, banishing the memory as it suddenly surfaced.

".... I know, Frea." He whispered softly, "... I know, I know how I feel about you, I always have... And know very well how you feel too." His lips twitched upward in a small, half-smile for a brief moment. Frea frowned slightly, her eyes closing as she sweatdropped.

"I've always loved you, and I know you care for me... But it isn't quite the same. I know that." He murmured. "And I know that someday... You'll find someone who makes you feel how I feel about you. I'm just happy I was able to spend the time I have with you, I'll always cherish the memories I have with you, Dove. No matter what."

Frea bit the inside of her lip, sweatdropping as she slowly hooked her arms around his shoulders, feeling her heart clench slightly.

He was hurting... She could feel it, and it hurt her too.

"... I'm sorry, Iidren." She mumbled breathlessly.

_..... I'm sorry I can't give you what you wanted. I never could... And I'm sorry I strung you along, I never meant to..._

"... Hehe... Don't be sorry Dove." She stiffened slightly. He pulled back from her, smiling at her, if a little painfully. "I don't regret anything, I've loved sharing time with you much more than it hurts knowing you don't feel the same way. It was my choice to stay close, so please don't feel sorry. Alright?"

"... Alright."

"Do me a favor, though." Frea blinked in question, he smiled a little more, head tilting as he let go of her and took a small step back.

"Hmm?"

"Don't ever forget all the fun we had, alright?" Frea blinked in surprise at the words, he flashed her a grin that she was sure was meant to lighten the mood some. But she could still feel the hurt coming from him in slow, incessant waves, and she swallowed at the feeling.

She nodded, smiling just little. "I'll never forget, don't worry." He smiled back.

"And be careful too, ok?" He added in a little softly. "You've lost your optimism Dove, but I haven't. You gotta do everything you can to keep going, ok? Don't just give up, it's not like you."

Frea paused, blinking a few times as she simply looked at him.

How can he... Seem to cheer up like that so quickly? She could feel he was still hurting... But it was fading, and that smile- it wasn't forced, it was real...

_.... It's not like you._

She supposed..... Maybe it wasn't.....

She smiled after a moment or two, nodding once as her eyes glinted.

"I'll try." She promised easily. "Really."

Iidren smirked, "That's the Frea I know and love."

"MISS FREA!!!???"

Frea and Iidren jumped in sudden surprise, eyes wide and sweatdropping at the chorus of loud voices ringing on the air so suddenly.

Frea's popsicle, which had been forgotten, was suddenly knocked from her hand as two people slammed into her suddenly, their arms wrapping around her body as she was knocked from her feet, feeling herself lifted from the ground by two pairs of arms. She went rigid, her jaw clenching at the sting of pain running across her back and through her shoulder, but more so in surprise and shock as she sweatdropped heavily.

"Wh-what the hell?!?" She snapped,

Iidren jumped back, sweatdropping heavily and eyes whited out as he stared in complete shock, not recognizing the sudden arrival of the two strange men, who were now holding to Frea tightly, making it so she couldn't move. He stood off the side, holding his own popsicle and Frea's own that he had caught before it hit the ground.

"Miss Frea!!"

"We just heard about what happened, we were on a Job up in the mountains for weeks!!"

"Are you ok?!"

"What happened?!"

Frea stared, feeling her feet hit the ground again as they separated and let her go, but they remained hovering closely, eyes wide and sweatdropping as she felt the panic, concern and shock spark off them repeatedly.

The last time they had looked this genuinely concerned about her had been in Hilshine.... But even then this was a whole new level of panic, and for a moment all she could do was stare.

She hadn't been aware they had grown to care about her this much, especially not in the short time they had known one another and been in good graces...

"Sting... Rogue...?" She mumbled, sweatdropping as she quirked an eyebrow, her mind working to catch up.

First, what the hell are they doing here?!

"People all over Fiore have been talking about what happened between Death Bolt and Fairy Tail!" Sting said quickly,

"And what happened to you!? All the stories say you were hurt badly!" Rogue asked quickly,

"We know it has to be something big to do a lot of damage to you, so we when we heard what happened we could hardly believe it!" Sting went on,

They both leaned in, both of them looking concerned and even a little panicked, Frea stared, blinking a few times in sheer surprise.

"Miss Frea are you alright?!" They asked in unison.

_Don't tell me...._

".... Did you two run all the way here when you heard what happened...?" She mumbled, blinking several times. They frowned a little in agitation,

"Never mind that we did, Miss Frea!" Rogue snapped back,

"Are you ok?! How badly were you hurt?! What happened to you?!" Sting asked, both of them growing impatient as Frea failed to answer their questions.

".... I thought I told you to quit calling me 'Miss'." Frea grumbled. Both Sting and Rogue blinked, before their expressions became more agitated.

"Quit dodging the damn questions!!! Are yo- _MPH?!"_

Frea blinked as Sting and Rogue stopped dead, eyes whiting out as Iidren stepped up behind Frea, and suddenly shoved both popsicles he had inside both Sting and Rogue's mouths, cutting their words off and sending them recoiling in shock.

"Well yelling at her isn't going to get her to answer any faster." Iidren mumbled with a deadpan look. "Chill out a little, would ya?" He stepped up beside Frea, arms crossed over his chest and sweatdropping slightly as Rogue and Sting spluttered and coughed, quickly trying and pulling the popsicles from their mouths.

Frea smiled, her fangs flashing as she chuckled suddenly, her eyes glinting as Rogue as Sting looked up at her in surprise. Iidren glanced her way and smiled, just faintly.

"I'm fine, you two. Really." She smiled brightly, "I'm sorry, you just caught me off guard is all. I honestly wasn't expecting to see you here." She grinned, her fangs flashing as her hands rest on her hips. "I'm still sore though, so crashing into me wasn't the best idea- but that's alright. I didn't realize you guys were so worried about me," she smirked, her eyes glinting. "It's actually really sweet of you two, I'm glad you guys feel the same way I do about you, as friends." She chuckled, her tone lined with slight teasing as both Sting and Rogue stared, eyes wide and sweatdropping slightly, before they blushed a little.

"... Friends...?" They breathed, finally able to pull the popsicles from their mouths as they simply stared at her in shocked silence. They hadn't thought of it that way before.. And for whatever reason, they hadn't considered Frea thought of them as friends either, but hearing her say that now.... They felt a little pleased at it.

"Hehe... I really am alright though, so quit feeling all worried about me, ok?" She smiled, "Everybody forgets I can literally feel emotion, and you two really shouldn't be so worried. I am really ok, I'm tougher than you think, even if Death Bolt did a number on me." They sweatdropped slightly, "The Guild got back at them tenfold, and everyone's alright now."

Rogue and Sting seemed to pause for a small moment, looking a little uncertain as to whether or not they should trust Frea's assertion of everything being alright. They had doubts about things working out so well... If half the things they heard from the stories floating around were true.

For a moment or two they simply looked at her, as if they were trying to decide if what she said was really true, if she really was alright.... She looked ok, they supposed, though maybe a little tired. But she was cheerful, and much like her usual self.... But still they felt small inklings of doubt.

"You're still worrying." Frea smirked, leaning forward with her hands on her hips and silver eyes glinting in amusement. They blinked,

 _Right...._ She can feel emotions.

"Cheer up you two, this is a festival you know." She smiled, "Even if you didn't run all the way here for that. Might as well enjoy it while it lasts."

"There's still plenty of time to look over the stalls before the bloom, and then of course there's the bonfire to join in if you so wish it." Iidren smiled brightly, his usually cheerful peppy attitude returning as he smirked at the two SaberTooth Wizards.

Rogue and Sting blinked, their eyes turning toward Iidren as they stared.

"... Who the hell are you?"

"Name's Iidren, I work with the lovely Caravan and performers you see here tonight!" Iidren replied easily, "Dove and I were just having a lovely stroll before the fire dance tonight, but I am happy to see more faces for the festivities. Any friend of my love is a friend of mine, I am sure we will get along splendidly."

Rogue and Sting's jaws dropped slightly, eyes growing wide, blushing furiously and sweatdropping at how the man referred to Frea as 'love' and 'Dove' entirely blatantly. Frea sighed slightly, shaking her head a little but not at all surprised- this is how Iidren was after all.

"Oi...." She mumbled under her breath, she couldn't help but smile slightly though.

_He's perked back up, hasn't he..?_

"W-what...?!" The SaberTooth men stammered, glancing quickly between Frea and the unfamiliar man.

"F-Frea.... Y-you and this... This guy....." Sting stammered,

"... You're together..?!" Rogue stammered out. Frea let out a sigh and shook her head slightly, before tilting her head a little.

"... No, but why does everyone seemed so shocked that could be a possibility anyway?" She replied, blinking in question as it suddenly dawned on her the utter shock and surprise everyone seemed to have when they saw Iidren and herself together. She placed her hands on her hips, eyebrow quirked and sweatdropping slightly as both SaberTooth men blinked at her, a sudden flicker of nervousness coming from them both.

".... Well.... It's just..." Rogue mumbled lowly, not looking her way.

".... You don't really seem like the sort of person to spend time.... Having a relationship." Sting mumbled, looking all the more flustered.

"And what does that mean?"

"..... You're... Uh.... Well.." Sting paused, "..... A little brash, and hard to approach at first, you're a little violent- and kind of a hot-head, and you can be seriously scary sometimes." Frea blinked, looking a little unamused that the answer.

"P-plus you're always so busy fighting and doing other things, it doesn't seem like you'd have the time." Rogue added in quickly, bumping his elbow into Sting's ribs a little forcefully. "N-not to say that no one would be interested...!"

"... You just kind seem like the sort of person that would chase off anyone who tried to ask you out." Sting said bluntly, Rogue grimaced at his Partner's forwardness.

"Well I'd say they pretty much have you pegged, don't they Dove?" Iidren smiled, lightly bumping his fist against her arm in an affectionate, gentle manner. Frea sweatdropped slightly, her arms crossing over her chest and eyes closing- Rogue and Sting blinked at Iidren, eyes narrowing slightly.

".... I'm not violent, nor am I hard to approach. And I certainly don't chase people off." She grumbled a little sourly, though maybe in the corner of her mind she didn't fully believe her own words.... But hell if she would admit that. And she certainly wasn't all that pleased it had been brought up either- is that really how she came off to other people?

Rogue and Sting sweatdropped while Iidren smirked, shrugging slightly.

"You are stubborn, hot-headed, brash and unapproachable, they aren't wrong."

Frea's eyes snapped open in slight surprise, her head turning in the direction of the sudden voice as the other three boys jumped slightly. Rogue and Sting sweatdropped heavily, completely caught off guard by the sudden voice- Iidren blinked, a little surprised as he glanced toward the new arrival.

"Hey!" Frea shot back quickly, though she didn't seem entirely angry at the words, her eyes shone as she faced Laxus, who had drawn up behind Rogue and Sting without anyone noticing till he said something. Frea hadn't really seen nor talked with Laxus since that night he had brought her back to Fairy Hills, so seeing him now was a bit of a surprise.

Iidren blinked at the blonde man, head tilted slightly.

"It's only the truth," Laxus grumbled back, not at all perturbed at her annoyed glare, his arms crossed over his chest and quite calm. "I do remember you chasing off Max and Warren when they were all lovey-dovey over you."

"They were kids with foolish crushes! Of course I wasn't going to say yes to them!" Frea shot back easily, though she blushed slightly out of embarrassment at the mention of the memory.

"You did shatter their dreams though." He replied flatly.

Frea frowned a little, before she smirked slightly, eyes glinting as she let out a small chuckle under her breath. Rogue and Sting scooted to the right, stopping beside Iidren as the three of them watched the small exchange in silence, glancing between Frea and Laxus, blinking.

"You have no room to talk, Lightning-for-brains. I seem to recall you leaving a trail of broken dreams behind you whenever a woman from outside the Guild showed up." Frea replied, cocking a hip. Needless to mention that she knew Laxus never let any woman down easily either, he'd even gone so far as to electrocute the pushy ones- as mentioned by Freed and Bixlow.

"Tch, like they matter, they were all just nosy, clingy, boring women." Laxus grumbled, he frowned slightly. "None of them were worth the time."

"Well, I do suppose _you_ wouldn't be worth _their_ time anyway, so maybe it's not a huge loss for them. I mean you were quite the git back then, I don't see why any woman would even be interested in you." Frea smirked, shrugging and acting as if she hadn't heard Laxus say anything. Laxus narrowed his eyes at her, a vein ticking on his forehead as he growled under his breath.

"Watch it woman." He grumbled,

"Geez, relax a little won't you?" Frea smirked, chuckling as her silver eyes glinted in mirth at him. "You don't have to take everything so serious all the time you know? Besides, I did say you _were_ a git. You're not so much of one now." She chuckled.

Laxus blinked, looking slightly taken aback by the sudden change in mood, before he smirked.

"Hmm, can't say the same about you and you're stubborn, or hot-headedness." He replied, Frea shrugged slightly, still smiling slightly.

"I could say the same about _you."_ She quipped,

"Tch.. Shut it woman."

Rogue, Sting and Iidren remained in silence as they watched the exchange between the two in silence, looking shocked and surprised at how light and relaxed the mood seemed to be- especially to Sting and Rogue, considering how powerful and serious both Frea and Laxus usually were. I mean, Laxus did defeat a Wizard Saint at the GMG, and they both knew firsthand how serious and powerful Frea could be... So to see the both of them acting so relaxed with one another and even a little friendly was a shock- especially considering things had seemed a little tense between Frea and Laxus at the after party in Crocus.

It wouldn't surprise them that Frea and Laxus could work themselves up into a brawl, and that would be quite the scene... They sweatdropped at the thought.

Iidren blinked, his gaze casting between both Frea and Laxus slowly as he watched them talk, and how Frea smirked in amusement toward the man, of how easily he had set her off- but how she seemed little angry with him for the comments, and how light and relaxed their behavior with one another was. They weren't overly friendly toward one another, in fact they were a little harsh and jesting even, but still with an undertone of seriousness that barely let slip the.... The enjoyment they both seemed to shield in each other's company. Maybe even a sense of enjoyment they hid on purpose, or maybe weren't aware of at all...

This wasn't Frea who was kind to other people and gentle with her words of what she said- as Iidren had seen her be. This wasn't even her light teasing or slightly off put reaction she had shown with the two SaberTooth boys.... This was something new in Frea, something he hadn't ever seen.

She wasn't simply teasing, she was _trying_ to set the man off- and she wasn't being subtle about trying to annoy him. Most of the time when Frea teased she was careful not to offend, and if she did she always apologized for it- but she wasn't being gentle or kind here, she was trying to set him off- and she wasn't afraid to. But it wasn't that she was trying to set him off to make him really angry, or insult him either...

... And that man knew she was trying to rile him up slightly, and didn't seem all the surprised either. And it seemed like he knew she didn't do it to start an all-out fight either, or even to really piss him off- this way of talking to one another, it was familiar, it was normal... And for them it was comfortable.

.... Immediately Iidren knew what it was. He saw the way she smiled, smiled brightly and in pure amusement, but not masking a more sly undertone. He saw of her eyes shown when she was talking... They had never done _that._

At first glance these two simply be teasing each other, but it wasn't that. Not simply just that.

Iidren let out a small breath, smiling just faintly as he looked to Frea.

_Well, well Dove...._

"What the hell are you two doing here anyway?" Laxus said suddenly, looking toward Rogue and Sting who jumped now that the blonde's attention was on them.

"We came when we heard what happened.." Sting replied, sweatdropping slightly.

"We wanted to make sure everyone was alright." Rogue put in.

"Where are your cats?" Laxus murmured, eyebrow quirked. Rogue and Sting stiffened, sweatdropping as a sudden flash of shock and panic jumped from the two of them.

"Shit!"

"We lost them?!"

Laxus blinked, staring with a neutral expression as the two SaberTooth men started turning this way and that trying to spot their Exceed Partners, as if they were just around the corner.

"I suppose you two were probably in such a hurry you didn't even notice." Frea chuckled lightly, they didn't seem to hear her before they had run off to start looking for the two Exceeds, leaving Frea with Laxus who was watching them go with a slightly exasperated expression, and Iidren who thus far remained entirely silent.

 _They're hopeless...._ Frea smirked slightly at the thought.

"I would suppose it's probably time to take my leave then, Dove."

Frea glanced back around toward Iidren in slight surprise, he smiled at her from where he stood, looking slightly amused. Laxus glanced toward the man, eyes narrowing to slits and eyes flashing at his sudden comment.

_Dove?_

"Hmm?" Frea hummed, blinking slightly in surprise at the sudden mention.

"I do have the bonfire to finish preparing, besides- we spent plenty of time together anyway, and of course there is still the rest of the night to enjoy." Iidren replied, bowing slightly as she stepped back a little, still smiling all the while.

"Ah, alright then." Frea smiled, "I nearly forgot you were in charge of setting up the preparations...."

"Well, we were invested in all the fun, now weren't we?" Iidren smiled as Frea did the same.

"I suppose so." She admitted,

"I'll see you later at the fire dance then, Dove." Iidren told her, "I do look forward to seeing you there, I'm sure it'll be quite the night to remember." Frea nodded,

"For now I'll leave you in the company of this gentleman." Iidren smirked, gesturing toward Laxus who blinked, settling Iidren with a deadpan stare. "I don't doubt the man that can defeat a Wizard Saint will have any trouble keeping such a powerful woman like you out of trouble, hmm?" Iidren smirked, chuckling as Frea sighed slightly. Laxus simply settled Iidren with a neutral stare,

"Till then, Dove!" Iidren called as he headed away, waving over his shoulder and disappearing quickly.

"Who the hell is that?"

"Hmm?" Frea hummed, blinking in slight surprise at the small, faint flicker of.... Was that agitation she felt from Laxus just now?

She turned back his way, seeing him watching Iidren move away with narrowed eyes, arms over his chest and looking somewhat annoyed.... She supposed Iidren's demeanor probably wasn't something Laxus usually cared for.

"That's Iidren. He works with the Caravan." She replied easily.

"Why the hell is he calling you _Dove_?" Laxus grumbled, finally glancing back her way as she blinked at him. For the smallest moment it sounded as if a growl had worked its way into Laxus' voice.

 _.... That is agitation. I just felt it again_. _And it wasn't the sort of agitation Mira and Erza were feeling when they thought I had been keeping secrets from them... This is different._

For whatever reason it kinda felt like Laxus was annoyed about something, she wasn't sure what it was though, and it was only faint too.

Does something about the way Iidren acts annoy him, or is it something else? Maybe she had managed to piss him off a little with her teasing, but she hadn't picked up on any agitation like this when they had been talking.....

_... Damn it, why is this idiot such a freaking mystery to me all the time? It's like I really don't get him at all._

Laxus blinked, noticing the questioning look that had made its way into her expression suddenly as she looked to him.

"What?" He grumbled.

"... Did I do something to annoy you?" She asked.

Laxus blinked, stiffening slightly as he suddenly blushed, just faintly and closed his eyes, his jaw clenching a little as he sweatdropped. Frea blinked in shock at the sudden reaction to the question, eyes wide and glinting slightly.

"... Tch.... Nothing more than the usual." He answered kinda quickly, not looking her way as he sweatdropped. Frea's head tilted slightly, blinking once or twice. She could tell he was suddenly, if only faintly... A little flustered. But why?

... For some reason she had a feeling that answer wasn't the truth... And it wasn't.

Laxus wouldn't admit to it, no, but he did know what she was talking about when she asked if he was annoyed- and he knew why too, and silently hated himself for doing what everyone seemed to do all the time; forget that Frea could literally feel other people's emotions.

He knew what was suddenly pissing him off, but he wasn't sure why it pissed him off exactly.

"..... Tch, whatever. You still didn't answer my question, woman." He grumbled, changing the subject quickly. "Why the hell does he call you that?"

_.... There's an edge in his voice, when he asks that question.... Does he notice that?_

Frea paused, her eyes locking on to Laxus up still seemed bent on not actually looking her way. She simply gazed at him in silence a few long moments, her mind working around trying to figure out why he seemed agitated and even a little nervous suddenly. For whatever reason.... It kinda reminded her of how he reacted when he found out Ivan had managed to scratch her when she fought with him.

_..... Is he.... Agitated because Iidren.... Called me Dove...?_

But why would he be?

Shaking her head slightly, Frea smiled faintly and crossed her arms behind her back lightly.

"No reason, he and I are old friends, it's a nickname he's given me. That's all." Frea answered brightly, Laxus finally looked back to her, eyes narrowed and seemingly unconvinced by the answer.

"That's quite the nickname," Laxus replied lowly, she smiled, glancing a way for a moment. "It's more like a petname." Frea's eyes closed,

"... I guess it is." She replied softly, Laxus stiffened, if ever so slightly at the confirmation of it, jaw clenching a little though Frea saw none of it. "... He's called me that since I first met him, it's one of his ways of showing affection."

"... You've never mentioned him." Laxus grumbled, she felt the sudden flash of flustered emotions dance from him. She was surprised slightly, that he seemed as interested in it as everyone else had seemed to. Her first expectation from Laxus on the issue would have been that he would hardly care- but that wasn't the case.

"It's not like that." She replied,

_".... I know, Frea... I know, I know how I feel about you, I always have... And know very well how you feel too." His lips twitched upward in a small, half-smile for a brief moment. Frea frowned slightly, her eyes closing as she sweatdropped._

_"I've always loved you, and I know you care for me... But it isn't quite the same. I know that."_

Frea's arms crossed over her chest, eyes still closed as her memory suddenly wandered and she shook her head slightly.

"... He's an old friend, but it's not like what you or everyone else seems to be jumping to conclusions about." Frea murmured softly, Laxus blushed a little, somewhat caught off guard that she understood where his thoughts had wondered too, it was where everyone else's had... and she supposed she wasn't surprised they thought that, she knew better of course, and so did Iidren... but she understood it.

"I've known him a long time, we're close friends... We've just got a stronger bond than I do with most people, and only because he looks at life in a different way than anyone else I've met.... but we're nothing more than friends." She smiled, glancing up toward the night sky overhead, Laxus stood still, watching her silently as the light of the fireworks and magic overhead started dancing across her silver eyes.

"... he's the first friend I made, that I hadn't become close to because he was in the Guild, and because I considered him Family. He's close to me... because he's simply my friend, and because he helped me to enjoy things I never would have tried had I never met him. He got to know me faster than anyone ever has, and understands everything I'm feeling better than another Energy Mage probably could." She chuckled slightly at the thought, her eyes softening slightly as a gentle smile made its way onto her lips, her eyes dancing with memory suddenly- Laxus' eyes widened in slight shock,

... she looked... _happy._

"... and he's always been supportive of whatever I did, or thought. He's been fun, and he's been kind, and almost unbelievably loyal... and he's been such a close friend even though we were only ever able to spend a few days a time together over so many years. He's a special kind of person, and I enjoy having known him, I really do... but it isn't at all what everybody else thinks." She let her eyes fall closed again, "He's special to me... he's dear to me in his own way... but he's not the only person I feel that way for." Laxus blinked, head tilted slightly.

"Everyone I know is precious to me, and I care for them all for different reasons, and I would do everything and anything for the people I care about... Moon, Chase, Erza... the Guild, everyone is special to me, and all of them for different, unique reasons." Frea smirked, her silver gaze moving over toward him to settle him with a gleaming, warm stare he found he couldn't look away from.

"That means you too, Lightning-for-brains. I care about you too, so don't get all worked up, ok?" She smirked toothily, her mood lightening to cheery in all but a few moments time, Laxus stiffened, heart jumping as he felt his face heat up slightly, especially after noticing that Frea was blushing, just faintly.

"Look! The Sakura's are blooming!"

"Woah!"

A sudden gleam of rainbow lit up the night sky around them as the wind suddenly swept past, carrying up the trees leaves with them in an array of gleaming and glittering multicolor. The petals swirled on the air, twisting and turning in intricate patterns and ways as the flow of color suddenly wove its way around the two of them, and for a moment it seemed all other noise in the world suddenly died away, and it was just them- just Frea and Laxus, alone in their own small corner of the world for a few long moments.

Laxus felt his heart jump in his chest, eyes riveted as he stood in the utmost stillness that reflected the stillness that time seemed to have so suddenly,

This.... He honestly didn't think he'd really ever fully understand Frea. She was just such a damn mystery, and it seemed every which way he turned- she came up with some knew way to shock him, and keep him guessing.

How.... How could anyone do this?

Not a week ago, he had found her, alone, broken, falling apart from the murderous, utterly terrifying things she held in her past and in her mind. She had been beaten and bloody to no end, and she had been so shattered she had broken down to the point of sobbing... the same Frea he had never seen cry or even shed a single tear in all the years he had known her, had been reduced to crying so much she hadn't been able to stop for such a long time. He remembered with an ache in his chest how haunted and hurt she had looked, how terrified and pulled apart she was- he saw it all, in her body, in her eyes, in her expression.

How was it possible for anyone to cast off all the darkness? All that pain and suffering he had seen in her, all of it that had crashed over her head and managed to swallow her whole? How could anyone have pulled themselves from something like that... and look like the person he saw before him now?

How could anyone who had known such true and utter pain be so gentle? So kind and caring? How could anyone who endured the torment and the torture Frea must have possibly be so bright, look so truly happy and cheerful? How could she even find the strength to keep going, with all that, all that's she's been through pulling at her, dragging her down?

How.... How is it she was smiling at him with the most bright, gentle, and soft smile, her eyes gleaming in happiness and calm... She looked stronger than he had seen her before, and this wasn't Frea simply _acting_ like everything was alright.

Whatever worry she held on to deep down and buried, whatever it was that was swirling through her mind, giving her doubt and a reason to remain alert and never relax- she wasn't pretending. She simply stepped away from it all, and in this single moment- she was truly happy, and truly at ease.

_"... You know, Laxus." Frea murmured, "... you really do have a different side to you than the one everyone can see." He stiffened slightly, sweatdropping as he blinked in slight shock and question. She let out a small breath, "... I guess we both have sides of ourselves we don't usually let other people see, huh?" She added in softly,_

... It made him wonder just how much about Frea he didn't know, nor see.

Frea laughed lightly, her eyes gleaming as his thoughts suddenly snapped back to her.

"You don't seem entirely convinced, Laxus." Frea murmured lightly, "I told you already, didn't I? You are still a part of my Family, and I'd do anything to help and protect the people I care for, regardless if you do piss me off sometimes." She smirked, "How many times am I gonna have to get something through that thick head of yours, Lightning Idiot?"

Laxus stiffened, blinking as she suddenly reiterated nearly exactly what he had said to her before.

_'How many times am I gonna have to get something through that thick head of yours, woman?'_

Even though what she said made him blush, and set his heart pounding more than he was used to or even understood... and even though she just made him aware of how much a mystery she really was- because this was a side of Frea he was unfamiliar with, but even then it was a side he had seen more and more often now..... Even despite all of that, he couldn't help but smirk a little himself, as he let out a small, almost amused huff and shook his head slightly, and time around them suddenly sped up to its full again.

He felt that odd foreign tug in his chest that he had felt a few times before now suddenly flare up again, and this time just a little stronger.

"... hmmph.... You're such a freak." He replied, smirking just a little more when she suddenly blushed rather hard at the comment, looking quite taken aback. Frea blinked a few times, her heart leaping in sudden shock as she watched Laxus smirk a little more,

_"... You're such a freak..." Frea whispered, way too low for even Laxus' heightened hearing to catch on to the words._

_Wait.... he heard me... when I said that... that night...?!_

It was only a simple, nearly cheeky comment, but for whatever reason finding out he had heard her say it, and said nothing at the time suddenly had her feeling flustered. She took in a small breath and pushed the feelings aside, she was too proud to let him know he had caught her off guard with the comment, and she wouldn't let him win over her so easily either.

"Cheeky git." She shot back, smirking still as her blush faded,

"Idiotic woman." He replied without missing a beat,

"..Tch... dumbass," Frea huffed, suddenly taking a step toward him, he stiffened slightly- knowing Frea, too much name calling would result in her trying to land a hit on him, his eyes snapped forward, narrowed and watching closely in case she was looking to fight suddenly.

To his utter surprise she lightly tapped her fist on his shoulder and smiled over her shoulder at him, as she passed him by, pausing to glance his way.

"You've had us talking all the way through the bloom, you know." She told him, head tilted as she continued to smirk. He blinked in slight shock, realizing that they had been standing there for quite some time... forever how much time had seemed to slow in those few moments, it seemed instead that it had passed by in instants time. The trees were already past full bloom, all their luster and glow seemed to have been spent in that moment time slowed, and now the townspeople we're shifting and moving again.

"Me?" He deadpanned, eyebrow quirked. Frea shrugged slightly,

"Well, no matter who it was." She chuckled, "You're going to the bonfire, right?" He blinked,

"... I suppose so, Evergreen, Freed and Bixlow wanted to meet there when it starts." He replied, not sure what had caused the sudden change in subject.

"Good." She said simply, he blinked again. She started walking away from him, waving a hand over her shoulder with a toothy grin.

"I'll see you there then, Laxus." She smirked, "I'm gonna go and walk around a little more before heading there,"

"Frea." He called and she blinked, head tilting slightly as her walking slowed a little.

"Hmm?"

He smirked slightly, his tone slightly warning. "Don't go starting any fights, or the Old Man will have your head."

Frea blinked, before laughing lightly. "We wouldn't want that, would we?"

Laxus stood still, watching her move away, arms crossed over his chest and smirking slightly still. He let out a small sigh and shook his head, turning the opposite direction, he still felt that small tug in his chest.

_.... What a damn mystery that woman is..._

* * *

 

Frea moved slowly between the thinning crowds of people and stalls, watching as sparse few bits of rainbow colored petals fell among the streets, floating lazily upon the surface of the water flowing through the channel beside her.

She smiled slightly, listening to the small murmur of people around her, and the quite flow of the water to her right, her arms hooked behind her back and moving along leisurely as she stepped up onto the low bearing wall flanking the river channel, eyes halfway closed and silent.

_"You've lost your optimism Dove, but I haven't. You gotta do everything you can to keep going, ok? Don't just give up, its not like you."_

_... You always seem to know just what I'm thinking, Iidren._

Her eyes fell closed, letting out a small sigh as she sweatdropped.

She wasn't sure how he knew, but Iidren seemed aware that she had started believing into how things were going to end when all of this came to a head.. and he accepted what she believed, of course he did counteract it too.

.. That's just like him, of course.

Her feet suddenly hit the soft landing of grass underneath, and not the cobblestone of the wall she was walking on. The sound of the water disappeared altogether as the sound of the murmuring and alive Magnolia became a distant hum from far off, and for a split second, she felt some foreign, powerful flash of Magic envelope her being, and her stomach jumped slightly at the feeling.

Frea's eyes snapped open, senses on high alert now and eyes narrowed as her fists clenched beside her- seeing that trees surrounded her suddenly, and further down the hill was Magnolia, glowing with the light of the trees and the festival. Her head snapped around, blinking in surprise to see the solemn figure of the Building that the Guild had used as a base over the seven years the Tenrou Team was missing just ahead, dark and silent now that the Guild had moved back to the building in the center of the town.

She recognized the sudden flash of Magic as a sort of Teleportation Magic, having felt the similar like from DoranBolt in the Council, and the kind she had been in having been transported to the Magic Council several times in her youth for hearings. She would have guessed DoranBolt having been the one to suddenly teleport her, but she hadn't felt his Energy Signature anywhere near her- and she certainly didn't know it.

She stiffened, sweatdropping at the unfamiliar Energy Signature just beside her to the left, one she didn't recognize, nor the scent that came with it.

Frea turned toward it, her silver eyes narrowed in distrust and fangs bared slightly, not exactly liking that she had been picked up and dropped somewhere without any choice, and especially by some stranger.

How in the hell had they even managed to do that so quickly?! She hadn't noticed till she had already been moved!

Her silver gaze locked with the calm, firm one of an old man sitting on a barrel that stood in front of the old building not far from them. He sat crosslegged, hardly any bigger than Romeo, hunched slightly and thin arms crossed over his chest. His orange gaze locked with hers as he simply looked at her, his expression neutral but borderline searching as he looked her up and down. Over his shoulders was a light grey cloak that was bordered in white fur, his shoes curled at the toes and his head was covered in short, loose strands of white hair, with a small beard and mustache to go with it. Her eyes darted for a moment to the small silver pendent hanging from his ear, before she took a small step back and met his eyes again.

"So, you're the Energy Dragon Slayer I've heard so much about." The old man grumbled in a low, calm tone.

"Who the hell are you..?!" Frea hissed lowly, eyes flashing.

Frea cringed, hissing as her jaw clenched at the stab of pain that suddenly swept across her back and through her shoulder, those of which were still not entirely healed yet- and for whatever reason, seemed to have adopted the random bursts of pain that she had dealt with, with the wound in her side that had been given to her by that Thing in Hilshine. She wasn't sure why the random bursts of pain had moved to her other wounds when the original had healed by now (thankfully), but she silently cursed in her head, noticing that the strange old man had taken not of her sudden show of pain, and was simply gazing at her in silence.

_Damn it..!_

The old man let out a small sigh and waved his hand at her, looking rather uninterested in what he had seemed so intent on suddenly, his cheek resting in his other hand as he propped his elbow on his knee.

"Sit down, Energess. I'm not here to battle with you, though I am curious to see you power first hand, I will admit..." He said flatly, Frea blinked, sweatdropping at the sudden unfamiliar name, "... But I think we'll have to save that experiment for another time, as I said, that isn't why I'm here."

"... Energess...?!" She stammered, blinking, her eyes flashing in question as the old man sighed again. He snapped his fingers and Frea stiffened as she felt Magic wrap about her person, forcing her to sit down against her will and stay sitting, sitting on her heels with her hands pressed against the forest floor in front of her lightly. She growled, not at all a fan of being forced to do anything against her own accord. "What the hell you old Geezer?! Quit it!" She snapped, eyes burning in sudden irritation and oncoming rage.

"I simply want to talk, Energess. I'm not here to harm you in anyway." The old man went on, ignoring her angry words and looking rather relaxed, and maybe even a bit off-handed. The old man's eyes remained closed as he leaned his cheek in his hand, looking a little bored, and not at all concerned with her rising anger.

"Of course... I suppose you'd be able to tell if my intentions were insidious, would you not?" The old man said suddenly, his orange eyes resting to lock onto Frea, who stiffened slightly. "Dragon Slayers have always had a stronger 6th sense about them, and being an Energy Mage on top of that- I would suppose you know immediately if I meant you any true harm, hmm? I would suppose nothing about my Energy would persuade you of any negativity or harm, correct?"

Frea narrowed her eyes in suspicion, sweatdropping slightly and not at all comfortable with the air of knowing the old man seemed to hold- especially about Dragon Slayers, Magic... and Energy Mages.

Energy Mages were not an entirely known thing in the world- rightfully so, being a Lost Magic, and a Magic, as far as she was sure- that only she and Chase were able to use and utilize across the entire globe. Information about them was even more rare, all documents and books that may have once held any knowledge about the Magic or the Mages who used it were gone and lost, what little was known was known by herself, and probably Jynx. Anything else anyone knew was learned through herself, and she wasn't the sort of person to go around blabbing her mouth off about her own Magic.

This man, he was a complete stranger, his Energy seemed to buzz as if he had Magic, which he had some degree to be able to bring her here, but it seemed... hidden somehow.

But despite the unfamiliarity, and the small buzz at the base of her mind... nothing about his Energy Signature was negative, or dark. Nothing about him screamed malicious intent to her, instead something about his Energy Signature seemed... inherently calm.

".... No." She answered lowly, ".... Your Energy Signature isn't negative. I don't think you're gonna try anything.." Her eyes narrowed to slits, "... Who the hell are you?" She hissed lowly, the old man let out a breath.

"Saige Balthan." He replied simply, "But I'm not here to talk about me, I'm here to talk about you, Energess."

"What the hell are you calling me "Energess" for?!" She snapped curtly,

"That's who you are." Saige replied easily, waving off her anger. "You're an Energy Mage, one of the High Mages of the practice, though the traditions are long since gone." Frea blinked,

_... High... High Mage...?!_

"You are a Wizard of extraordinary power, one of the most powerful I have come to see, and if I am not mistaken... among all the Energy Mages who lived before you, in the time of the Dragons and before that even, I would not be surprised to find that you would rank among the best. Though without knowing precisely the power the ancient Energy Mages held- though it was no doubt grand- it would be hard to say exactly, but even then... an Energy Dragon Slayer is still rare and powerful indeed." The old man murmured, almost as if he was talking to himself, his folded hand resting against his chin as the other cradled that arm in front of him. "... It's quite the combination. Dragon Slayers are powerful beings beyond measure... and Energy Magic is such an Ancient Magic in its own right, one could scarcely believe two Lost Magics of such a caliber could exist in one person... You are a true wonder, and a true force to be reckoned with."

".....what the hell could you know about Energy Magic anyway..?!" Frea stammered, nearly reeling.

"... It begs the question, could an extraordinary Mage wielding two such ancient and powerful Magics at once be enough to contend with something nearly as ancient, and that is perhaps even more powerful than Energy Magic and Dragon Slaying Magic combined?" Frea went rigid, eyes wide and the breath taken from her throat as the old man continued talking, completely ignoring whatever she said- but now she fell entirely silent. "... Especially should that Mage already accept the outcome of the incoming battle? If one already knows they are going to lose, is it really at all possible that they'll put their full effort forward?"

Frea sweatdropped heavily, completely taken aback. _Saige_ wasn't even looking at her, his eyes remained closed as he shrugged slightly and shook his head, arms crossing over his chest and head cocking to the side a little.

"If you already know you're going to lose, are you going to be able to reach your full potential? Or will you simply resign?" He paused, Frea's eyes cast down suddenly as her jaw clenched.

_"Come on Dove, I know that look." Iidren murmured softly, she still didn't look up toward him. "You've always been modest, but you were always optimistic at the same time- and now all that optimism is gone.... Almost like you know..." His eyes glinted, a small worried frown pulling at his lips as he took a small, tiny step toward her. "... Like you know you're not going to win this time."_

_That... That was something she hadn't admitted to, not entirely anyway. She knew with this rising sense of foreboding and darkness, she knew things were getting worse, and she knew she wasn't likely to walk out of this rising danger in one piece, or even at all..... She had told Master as much, and had promised to do what she could... But she never admitted that._

_She never admitted that she knew, knew so deeply and truly, that she might lose- but that she would lose. Because she knew she wasn't powerful enough for this, not against this Thing... It was too big, even for her. And much too big alone and on her own... And that's where she stood._

_... How in the hell... does this complete stranger even know about anything that's been going on? About that Thing? About my Magic..?_

_... And how is it that he knows.... That I know I'm going to lose against that Thing..?_

"..... So you've given up then."

Frea's head snapped up suddenly, eyes glinting as her body remained rigid and she felt her heart flutter a little as her emotion began rising without provocation. Her eyes levelled with his clear, calm orange ones and her fangs ground down on one another.

"You've accepted you're fate, even though you continue to pretend to have hope for the sake of your Guild and your friends, but deep down you already know the danger you're facing, you know you won't be able to avoid it, and you know what the outcome will be for certain, is that it?" The old man murmured lowly, she let out a small 'tch'. "You said as much to that young man you were with, did you not?"

_".... I know what's coming, better than anyone else... And I know I won't win. I know this all ends badly." She sighed silently. "And I know better than anyone.... The true danger I'm going against. No one else really understands the severity... And a part of me doesn't want them too. I know I'm not strong enough to win against this Thing, I know there probably isn't anyone who is.... I know this is a battle that I will lose. I just haven't the wary to admit that to the Guild.... I'm still trying to be optimistic for them, but I don't feel optimistic at all."_

_I know what's coming... And I know I can't avoid it._

"..... How long have you been watching me, you old Geezer..?" Frea grumbled lowly, eyes flashing.

"Since the day you defeated the Demon of Zeref, and Makarov named you S-Class." He replied easily, Frea stiffened in shock.

_T-That long?!_

"That was the day you showed how truly powerful you are, though none in the world outside your Guild saw it." He went on, "That day you did what a hundred score of Wizards could not do, you defeated a monster that not even the might of Etherion could destroy- and you did it with very little problem at all." His eyes closed again, "... I don't think you are fully aware of how powerful you really are, you are modest of course, and like to downplay your own strength... but even those in your Guild, and those around you have hardly even touched the surface of what you could do, what you're capable of... and you certainly haven't had anyone tell you outright either."

Frea sweatdropped, feeling a cold pit fall into the bottom of her stomach suddenly.

"It isn't normal for any Mage, Dragon Slayer, or Energy Mage alike- to have progressed as quickly as you have been. It is entirely unnatural the way in which you're power has continued to increase since coming back from Tenrou Island, and it is no natural thing the amount of Magic Energy you seem to possess, or how much that supply has been increasing in such a short amount of time. It is also nearly unnatural for any Wizard, especially one so young and with so little extended training to be able to contend with the things you have faced as of late.... From creating a Magical Anomaly the entire continent was able to see, bypassing the laws of the Spirit World and converting a human into a Spirit, or defeating a Demon of Zeref so easily when the Council and all its power could not, or even manage to control and seal away a Magic older than you, and nearly as old as the world- and manage to walk away from it. You, Energess, by all accounts and all things that are known of Magic and Wizards... you are an oddity, and you are unnatural in the ways we know the laws of Magic to work. And I know very well, no one has told us such- but it is true."

His eyes landed on her again, calm and unwavering.

"I think you know it as well, somewhere deep inside you- though you've done your best to ignore it, out of fear... fear of yourself."

Her eyes grew wide, an icy sheet falling over her suddenly at hearing the words she had buried inside herself suddenly said out loud.

"You know you're power is deep, and runs more strongly than anyone else knows about... and you fear you will someday use your power to harm the people you care for, correct? You fear you will turn on the people you love... and you know that if you do, there may be no on in this world who could stop you."

".... Did you bring me here... for that then..?" She hissed, eyes shut and head hanging as her fists clenched in the grass underneath her. ".. to tell me everything that I've not been able to say to anyone...? To prove to me just how easily you seem to be able to see right through me...?" Her jaw clenched, ".. or are you just here to gloat over the fact that you've managed to learn so much about me, without my ever knowing you were watching..?"

"Hmm?" He hummed,

"... How in the hell do you know so much about me anyway, old Geezer..?! And why the hell are you even here?! What the hell do you want from me, huh?!" Frea snapped, her anger rising now more, especially at having her deepest most hidden thoughts suddenly thrown back in her face by someone who had apparently been watching her, stalking her. And for what?! And how in the hell did he even know any of this? How could he know of things she had never said out loud, never admitted to anyone?!

".... You have extraordinary power, Energess, much more than anyone could possibly imagine I would wager to guess." He murmured, seeming content to ignore her questions and her clearly rising anger. Frea's jaw clenched in agitation, she hated that he was ignoring her, silver started rising up around her in small waves as her Magic pressure increased. "... more power than any normal Wizard... you simply don't have any idea how to access it, or even find it within yourself... but I think some day, and perhaps someday soon... you will find that power hidden inside you, and it won't be what anyone was expecting."

"Quit ignore me damn it!"

"Have you given up?" He asked bluntly, Frea recoiled slightly. "You know better than anyone the sheer power that this ancient entity possesses, and you seem convinced of how this will all end for you- you have accepted that you will lose to this Power, so I ask you, Energess, have you given up?" His voice remained firm and unwavering as he matched her furious silver gaze unflinchingly. "Will you walk into this incoming battle and give in so easily?"

"Tch.... If you've been spying on me this entire time, and seem to think you know so damn much about me, you should know the answer already!" Frea snapped coldly,

_"... And still you're going on ahead to face it, huh?" Iidren murmured softly, she could feel the worry sparking from him incessantly. "Even knowing?"_

_Frea looked up toward him again, she could see the concern etched into his face, see the worry and the fear in his eyes as he looked to her. Its was the same look she saw so often from the Guild these days.... She gave him a small, gentle smile, and he sweatdropped at it._

_"You know I have to."_

_... But against this, against something so big, and so dangerous- she was alone in it, she knew it, and she was going to keep it that way._

_Even with everyone in the Guild... There is no way to beat this Thing..._

_... So why let everyone get hurt?_

"I know how this is going to end, and I know what I'm in for. I'm not avoiding what I know will happen- _yes!_ I have accepted what will happen to me, you're right!" She snapped, silver sparked off her person as she suddenly got to her feet, the old man's magical hold making her sit down was no longer working. "Even if I can't avoid this, even if I'm being forced to face this Thing head on, and regardless of what you, or Iidren, or Jynx, or anyone in the Guild damn thinks!!"

_Its so dangerous... The Guild can't do it, I can't do it... And not even Jynx could help with this... It's so dark and powerful we're nearly helpless against whatever is coming..._

_This was the largest cloud of swirling evil, shadow, ice, pain, destruction, death, danger and foreboding hanging over the Fairy Tail Guild, that had ever come to block the skies of the Guild before now._

_She's here to help... But what if we can't be helped?_

_What if I can't be helped...?_

"I'm _not_ gonna walk into this fight or any fight and simply roll over! This damned Thing is threatening the lives of innocent people, all the lives of every person I care for, and it doesn't matter I'll lose, or I'll die- I'm _not_ backing down! I'll fight like hell and give it every single thing I have, cause there ain't no way in hell that I'm going to let that Thing kill anyone!"

Her voice rose to an angry yell as she stomped hard enough to make the ground cave in under her weight, the grass blowing back by the sudden wave of presser she was giving off in her anger. Her silver gaze latched with the orange one of the strange old man, who looked entirely unperturbed by her anger, or even concerned with how fast her Magic was rising.

_I'm not letting anyone die._

She had promised that, it was that promise she held above anything. She didn't care if she would die in this venture, she didn't give a damn that she would assuredly lose- but to have anyone think that she would simply give in?!

"It can kill me, I don't care!" She snapped, silver eyes flashing furiously. "I'm not giving in over anything, I'll lose- but I'll not lose and let that Thing have at the world to kill and maim wherever it likes! I'm more than willing to die, but I'm sure as hell planning to take that damn Thing with me when I do! I will not let it destroy any lives, not while I have something to say about it!" She jabbed her thumb to her chest, fangs bared and Magic rising all the more.

"I'm gonna give it everything I have, and then some! I'm not going down without one hell of fight, so you can quit patronizing me about how I'm looking at what's coming! Nothing means more to me than making sure nobody else dies, I'll do anything to keep it so everyone's alive and can keep living!" She took a step toward him, her Magic simmering down as she took a hold of it again and stopped right in front of him, fangs bared and still seething in anger as she faced him squarely.

"Now, quit ignoring me! Just who in the hell are you old Geezer?! And why in the _hell_ have you been stalking me?!"

".."

Silence fell between them suddenly, as he simply gazed at her and she met his eyes without flinching, breathing in agitated breaths as she resisted the urge to yell some more, it was uncanny how quickly he had set her off- and for good reason too.

Nothing pissed her off more than someone assuming that she of all people would just surrender, especially when the lives of the people she cared for were on the line! She would never, ever do something like that, and having someone assume she would pissed her off to no end. It of course didn't help that there was some crazy, strange old guy running around spying on her for so long, she didn't like having been watched, and she especially hated that he seemed to know so much more about her than he should.

And it pissed her off the most he had thrown all the things he had learned in her face like that.

"..... hmmm... you may stand a chance yet, Energess." He hummed lightly, his hand lifted as he snapped his fingers, and Frea took a small step backward, an icy chill running through her core as suddenly an immense, choking wave of Magic Energy suddenly rammed into her, and the Magical buzz she had noticed earlier suddenly turned into waves of unbelievable power, and shook her to the core.

_"Release."_

She sweatdropped, taking a step or two back some more and eyes wide as she stared- how... how in the hell had all this Magic have been hidden this entire time? The Magic power of this man was unbelievable... it easily passed over Master Makarov's own Magical Energy, and then some, and she hadn't felt even a small, slight fraction of any of this Energy until just that second.... Hidden, just like that... Thing....!

"What in the hell...?!" She stammered, jaw dropped suddenly.

"You certainly are quite the oddity, Energess." He murmured, his lips twitching upward in a small, sly smirk a moment. "For someone to accept their fate... but still be so utterly willing to give it their all, it's a rare talent... and with your power and your dedication, I do think whatever will come to pass in the incoming battle will truly be something to remember." He blinked at her, head tilting slightly as he drew a sudden strange rune in the air before him with Light Magic. Frea blinked, sweatdropping heavily as his insane amount of Magic Energy continued to pound against her in waves, her eyes narrowed at the rune in the air before him, sweatdropping more at the sudden small air of familiarity that seemed to light up in her mind... but why...?

" _Vellus_. It is a rune in Old Telips, you are familiar are you not?" He said suddenly, Frea stiffened. "Yes, I know of the Ancient Language, though very few do- and as I am sure you've noticed, I've managed to hide the full extent of my Magical Presence up until this very moment, similar to how that Ancient Entity you have faced before now has."

".... You know about that too, huh..?" She grumbled, he nodded.

"It's something similar to what you've called 'Hidden Energy'. The rune is used in continuum with a Spell that allows the user to place a barrier around their Magic Energy, and keep it concealed from detection of the outside world. It is this very same technique that keeps you, an Energy Mage- who would usually sense my Magic from a mile away- from sensing my Magic at all, until either I release the Spell, or you step into the confines of the barrier itself." Frea blinked in shock,

".... Like how I wasn't able to sense the Magic in Nvindorr or in Hilshine's Cemetery until I had set foot on the Land there.." She mumbled,

"Precisely." He answered. "It is an advanced and very ancient technique, and few can use it- and it is not what this Ancient Entity uses, but something similar I would assume. Vellus isn't able to completely hide an Energy Signature from an Energy Mage, but this Entity is able to hide its presence entirely, as if it doesn't exist until it wants you to know it is there. This means it is probably more ancient, and more powerful than Old Telips itself- so much so the nature of its power is still impossible to determine, even for you, Energess. I would assume that when the time comes for your battle to begin, you will find yourself surprised at what the full extent of its Magic is." The rune disappeared as Frea stood completely still, eyes narrowed and riveted to him.

"So, I will place my hope in your skills, and your power, and hope you will find a way past this challenge... but I will also provide you with this." He snapped his fingers and Frea jumped, hands moving up to catch the old, heavy leather bound book that dropped from the air in front of her. She blinked, "Perhaps you will find something useful in these books that I was not able to find myself. Apart from this, I have nothing other to offer you in the hope of a way to succeed, unfortunately." She old man sighed and shrugged slightly, though he didn't seem inherently concerned with what was in all reality, quite the foreboding and serious situation they were discussing.

"I'll send the others to your room at Fairy Hills, you may look them over after the festival at your own leisure." He murmured, snapping his fingers again as the book in Frea's hand disappeared in a flash of gold and she stared, her mind having a hard time coming to terms with what was going on.

_Is this guy.... Trying to.. to help me...? And.... How in the hell does he know so much...?_

"Pending what happens in the events that are to come when you face this danger, I'll be sure to send my recommendation to the Magic Council.... and I invite you to seek me out if ever you'd like to learn to control the continuing growth of your Magic Power. It may in the future become much more than you can handle, or safely possess.... Of course, you'll need to survive first." Frea blinked, looking uncertain and a little lost for words.

_Who in the hell... am I even talking to...? The feeling and the power of this geezer's Magic is insane... and he acts like he knows more than most people do.... And did he just offer to... to train me..?!_

And what's this about a Recommendation to the Magic Council..?!

"Of course I had thought of suggesting it to them after seeing you handle the Demon of Zeref, but decided it best to wait seeing as how the distrust you rather fervently. Following the quake of the events coming with this Entity however, I think they may just start changing their perspective." The old man said in a matter of fact, nearly offhand tone and he got to his feet, standing atop the barrel and placing his hands on his hips.

".... Just who the hell are you, old Geezer..?" Frea mumbled, blinking once or twice as he suddenly smirked at her.

"I thought you would have been more observant, Energess." He chuckled, lightly tapping a finger to the pendent she had noticed in his ear earlier, the one she had thought faintly familiar somehow.

"My name is Saige Balthan, of the Ten Wizard Saints." He said easily, Frea's jaw dropped, eyes widening and sweatdropping as it suddenly dawned on her what the pendant in his ear was- it _was_ the crest... the crest of the Wizard Saints...!!

_Hold on, this guy's a Wizard Saint?!?!_

"What..?!" She breathed, stunned.

"I'm not entirely surprised Makarov's never mentioned me of course, he rather dislikes how easygoing I am about being a Wizard Saint. I'm actually meant to hold the 5th seat ranking that Jura has, but I can't find myself to be bothered with challenging the ranking." He shrugged, oblivious to the look of shock Frea was wearing.

_... A Wizard Saint... has been spying... on me....? And he's offering... to train me... and help me with this Thing.....?_

It shocked her to realize a Wizard Saint (of whom she had never heard of before) was even remotely interested in anything she did, let alone went so far as to assist her, in his own way... and then offer to train her..?!

Her eyes widened, stiffening in shock as the thought suddenly clicked in her head and she stepped forward again, sweatdropping and looking taken back.

"Wait a minute, if you're a Wizard Saint, and you're planning to send a recommendation to the Council... you're not talking about suggesting I become...?! Right?!"

"You got it." He chuckled, Frea went rigid. "It really shouldn't be any surprise I would consider it Energess, I already said you are one of the more powerful beings I've met." Frea felt like she was wilting on the inside, she simply couldn't wrap her head around any of this.

"Of course, as I said- you have to live through the events rising up to meet you." He murmured, "If you survive, and I have hope you do somehow.... I do think if that happens you may find yourself in more trouble than you are now, and if that happens, I would sincerely suggest seeking me out." His tone dropped suddenly, his smile fading as seriousness suddenly sparked off him, catching Frea's attention and snapping her from her reeling shock. For a moment she wondered why it seemed like there was more he meant to say, but he didn't elaborate.

"First thing's first, you ought to prepare yourself as well as you can. You've shown you're willing to give it your all, so I do expect something grand." He changed the subject and Frea blinked, "Find a way to win if you can Energess, and perhaps if you're lucky... you'll find a way to survive as well." Frea sweatdropped, her eyes falling slightly.

This... this was all so much to take in at once, and it certainly changed a few things too... especially on how she looked at what was coming, and how she'd handle it too.

In her own mind she always knew she would do everything she could. In her own mind she knew she wasn't likely to survive this... but she'd never considered someone else, someone who seemed to know how serious things were as she did- that someone like that would have... have hope she might, if just slightly.. win. Survive, somehow.

_... A Wizard Saint... no less..._

".... Why are you trying to help me?" Frea murmured, he blinked at the sudden question. Her eyes had closed, and she wasn't looking his way- to him it seemed as if she was piecing trough things in her own head, but none the less her sudden question was unexpected.

"Hmm?"

"You're giving me books, thinking I'll find something useful. You've offered to help me, on the slight chance I somehow make it out of this.... Even though it seems to me you understand as well as I do just what danger I am going to be facing. Knowing what you know... It doesn't make a lot of sense to me that a Wizard Saint would try and help me right now, so why are you?" Frea glanced up toward him, eyes calm and her earlier anger and shock suddenly died away, and she was simply... calm.

For a moment he simply looked back at her, his expression neutral, and impossible to read- she couldn't even feel his emotions dancing from him, it was just silence suddenly.

He let out a small breath, smiling just slightly as he suddenly turned away from her.

"Call it what you like, Energess." He replied lightly, Frea blinked. "I simply think that there may be a chance, even if it's slight, and I am the sort of person that'll hold on to whatever slim chance there is- even if it seems hopeless. And because I hold on to it, I figure I ought to do what I can to help- even if that in itself is slight."

Frea stared, her eyes fixed to his back and suddenly lost for words as she stood there, not knowing what to do, or even how to process his words.

"Well, enough of that!" He chirped, turning back her way, his hands on his hips and smirking. "You have a festival to get back to, don't you? You wouldn't want to keep everyone waiting, besides- you ought to enjoy tonight, I'm sure you'll be hard at work after this, hmm?" His eyes gleamed and Frea blinked, before smiling just faintly a moment.

"... I suppose so." She sighed, ".... Thanks, old Geezer... for trying to help me out.... Even though you're kinda a creep for spying on me, I'll let it slide... for now."

The old man sighed internally, quite aware that the entire time they had been talking, she had never called him by his name, but instead as 'geezer'. He supposed it was fitting in a way.. He hadn't called her by her own name either.

"Thank me after you win!" He shot back easily, Frea let out a breath. She tilted her head as he suddenly smirked at her slyly, and she saw the small glint of mischief make its way into his orange eyes. She tilted her head at it, suddenly a little wary.

"Enjoy the bonfire, Energess. In it's own way, I think it'll be a night to remember as well. Perhaps it'll even help you settle and sift through the things swirling about in your head, hmm?" He smirked, snapping his fingers as Frea felt his Magic wrap around her suddenly. She blinked in question at the comment, not sure what he meant by it...?

_Hmm... this old geezer..... he seems to know me better than even Iidren does...._

She smirked slightly.

He had caught her off guard at first, and he had pissed her off yes, she usually didn't take kindly to being spied on for any reason.... But for whatever reason, despite all of that.... She liked the old man, just instinctively. She hadn't been expecting any of this, and I was all a little disconcerting to be sure, and it all happened rather fast. She had more questions now than that old Geezer had managed to answer, and it seemed he wouldn't be answering any more.

_... well that was quite the surprise, but I think... he did help me to set my thoughts straight... especially my intentions._

* * *

 

"Welcome one and all! We are very happy to see you here tonight to join in the dancing, and the drinking about the fire this beautiful night! We hope you enjoyed the Bloom, and hope we continue to make your night one to remember!" Iidren called out from where he stood upon the caravan parked near the large array of wood stacked up, his blue eyes cast about toward the gathered Members of Fairy Tail as he smirked.

"Would our resident Fire Dragon Slayer like to do the honors of lighting the fire for us tonight?" Iidren called, his eyes locking to Natsu who smirked, looking thrilled.

"Hell yeah!" Natsu beamed, cheeks puffing up as he let out a breath and a storm of flames engulfed the wood pyre instantly, sending light dazzling up to battle the shadow of the surrounding night sky. The crowd around them cheered and lifted their mugs in pleasure, people settling down and others joining in in dancing about the fire, lead by the woman who worked with the caravan, all of them dressed in traditional festive wear, Iidren nodded his head toward the band not far from him- and music took to the air.

"Well done!" Iidren smirked, his fingers snapping as food appeared on the tables set up around them, and mugs began floating through the air toward those who called for them, laughter and conversations mixing with the beat and rhythm of the music as people moved about with happy faces and light hearts. He stood atop the cart a moment, hands on his hips and smiling as he glanced about the area, his keen blue gaze searching for one person in particular, his eyes lingering a moment on the form of the SaberTooth Wizards talking with some of Fairy Tail's members to the side, including Salamander and another fellow with wild black hair he wasn't familiar with- but knew his name as Gajeel, from what he had seen of the GMG.

His gaze swept passed them toward the form of eight cats smiling and talking away to the side, looking to be having fun and enjoying one another's company as hey conversed between themselves. Iidren smirked slightly and kept looking, before his gaze landed on a head of blonde hair and he blinked, head tilting slightly to notice the man he had left Frea with was curiously lacking the Energy Dragon Slayer from where he stood, drinking with two other men, and a woman with glasses.

_.. Where are you Dove...?_

He sighed slightly and took a seat, his legs dangling over the edge as he snapped his fingers again and more mugs of ale streamed about the crowd, and the food- that was now being devoured most notably by Natsu, Gajeel and Sting now- the food was replaced where it had been all eaten, all the while a small smile gracing his lips at the happiness and enjoyment that was going around.

His eyes moved toward the fire a moment to see Titania moving about in an outfit that resembled that one would see of ancient villages and festivals, smiling as she wove about with Mirajane and a blonde and a bluenette, all of them dressed for the occasion and smiling as the wove about, laughing and talking with another and they stayed close.

The Fairy Tail Guild Master was seated at the bar, drinking with a few of the older men of his Guild, as well as a brunette holding an entire barrel of ale in her lap. To him it seemed all of Fairy Tail was here, as was the usual- with some of the other townspeople mixed in.

Iidren blinked, suddenly feeling someone's eyes on him as his attention shifted left slightly, his blue eyes meeting someone else's, as he blinked.

There was a man standing near the bar with blue eyes and black hair, his arms over his chest and attention locked to Iidren from where he stood shoulder to shoulder with a girl of silver hair and deep purple eyes, who was listening quietly with a neutral expression to a red-head with green eyes. Iidren blinked, not sure why he had caught the other's interest, or even why the other man seemed so searching- before their gazes were broken and the other looked over toward the two woman talking beside him.

_... All of Fairy Tail seems to be here, so where are you Dove..?_

_"And what about you Dove? Will you be joining in on the fire dance tonight?" He crossed his arms over his chest, giving her a pointed look. "You've never joined, don't you think it about time, Dove?"_

Frea smiled, looking away from him and tilting her head. "Hmm, who knows, maybe I will." She looked back toward him, her eyes glinting. "That'll depend on the rest of the night before then, I think."

While he couldn't attest to how the rest of her night had gone, seeing as how he had cut their time short for preparing the bonfire, he couldn't think of why, or how it could have gone awry in anyway, enough so that she wouldn't show up.

Of course, Frea had always come to the Bonfire's, but she never did much when she did come... and it was rather unlike her to not show up at all.

He let out another sigh, chin resting in his hand as he continued to snap his fingers and move drinks and food about the crowd, his eyes fell closed and he let out another sigh, simply listening to the fire crackling and the sound of the music playing in the base of his mind.

_So where are you, Frea..?_

"Where's Frea?" Moon asked suddenly, her blue gaze sweeping over the crowd as their came in a pause between the conversation being held between herself, Lily, and Iki- Uno was chatting away with Frosch, Happy, Carla and Lector- who was all too happy to meet the cream colored she-cat.

"I haven't seen her since the beginning of the festival." Lily murmured, his own eyes trying to catch sight of the Energy Dragon Slayer as Iki did the same.

"I don't see her now either." Iki put in, ears twitching slightly. "Perhaps she's still looking around the stalls in town?"

"... hmm... Maybe." Moon mumbled, blinking as she sweatdropped slightly.

"... Maybe she's simply taking her time to get here." Lily murmured, "I wouldn't expect Frea to join in the dancing, and she's not one for drinking either." Lily said, shrugging slightly with a small smile.

"It's a good thing she doesn't like drinking, she's an awful drunk." Moon chuckled slightly, Iki tilted his head.

"Is she scary when she's drunk or something?" He hummed and both Moon and Lily smiled,

"You have no idea." They said in unison, still laughing among themselves at the thought.

"Well... whatever she's doing, I hopes she's been having as much fun as we have been." Moon murmured, taking a bite of the cookie her paws, smiling still. "It's been great spending time with you three," She murmured, gesturing with her ears toward Lily, Iki and Uno behind them.

"It's been a pleasure spending time with you as well." Iki purred, eyes glinting in happiness at the comment. "It's a shame we'll be leaving soon to go back to our Guild, we'll miss having you around."

"We'll be sure to come by Twin Cougars and visit." Moon promised, earning a small blink of surprise from Iki, before he smiled and nodded.

"We'd like that." He replied, "We'd love to have all of you over anytime," He said, nodding toward Lily as well.

"I'm interested to see an all Exceed Guild for myself, so I may take you up on that offer." Lily smirked, his paws crossing over his chest.

Moon took another bite of her cookie, smiling softly as she let out a small sigh. The night had been very, very enjoyable- and she found herself happier than she had been in a long time, it was a welcome relief to all the bad and the tense that had been going around lately. She enjoyed spending time with Iki and Uno more than she thought she could, and loved how well she, Lily, and the both of them seemed to get along and interact with one another. They had been milling about the festival, playing games and grabbing treats and talking as they enjoyed each others company, and looked at the Bloom and the Magic, and the shows all around. She would be sad to see them go, especially with how close a bond they seemed to have formed being with one another even for such a short time, and she would be sure to visit them again soon.

_And perhaps next time we'll meet under better circumstances than there were this time around.._

Laxus took another drink from his mug, listening contently to Freed, Evergreen and Bixlow laugh and talk away beside him as he leaned up against the bar with his back, eyes closed and silent. He had long since noticed that Frea had yet to show up, and while he wondered where she had run off to, he was fairly sure she wasn't in any danger... Frea could take care of herself, and he didn't feel as if anything was off, but he did wonder.

_She said she was going for a walk..._

"I wonder where Frea is?"

Laxus' eyes snapped open, glancing sideways toward Freed who asked the question suddenly, taking a seat next to the Lightning Dragon Slayer and taking a small sip of his own drink. "Everyone from the Guild seems to be here, yet she isn't." The man murmured off-handedly, Laxus quirked an eyebrow.

"Yeah, and it's a little weird she's not around when everyone else is." Bixlow smirked, his tongue hanging from his mouth, his Tiki Dolls floating about his head.

"Weird! Weird!" They chanted, Laxus' eyes narrowed slightly, staying silent.

"Very true, she's not one to skip out on a festivity the rest of the Guild participating for, especially one she convinced Master to go through with." Freed murmured, his gaze meeting Bixlow's a moment, before he glanced sideways toward Laxus, who had by now looked away.

"What of it?" Laxus grumbled lowly, taking another drink.

"You surely must be a little interested in her absence, Laxus." Freed murmured,

"Yeah boss, you were the one who's been hanging around her more and more lately. We thought you had started to care about what she's doin', huh?" Bixlow smirked, seemingly amused. Laxus' jaw clenched slightly, a small vein ticking on his forehead as he let his eyes close.

"She can take care of herself." Laxus replied shortly,

Freed and Bixlow exchanged small amused smiles, eyes glinting as they chuckled lowly.

"Whatever you say boss." They murmured,

Laxus' fangs ground down on one another, shooting them a narrowed glare when he saw them suddenly smile in amusement, a small flash of annoyance flickering across his expression.

_What the hell are they acting so off for all the sudden?_

He looked away with an annoyed huff, he didn't like those smiles they were wearing, not one bit.

Chase's eyes moved away from the small trio of Laxus, Freed and Bixlow a moment, letting out a sigh of his own as he smiled slightly. It would seem Freed and Bixlow had no qualms with teasing the Lightning-head about his feelings, and they didn't seem at all concerned with whatever annoyance they earned from Laxus for their meddling either.

Even from his distance, Chase could feel the irritation flicker from Laxus like electricity- but Freed and Bixlow asked a fair question, and one he had wondered about too. Just where was Frea anyway? Last he had seen her, she had been in the company of Iidren- who Chase had immediately caught sight of sitting atop the caravan at the other end of clearing, very much alone.

He let out another sigh, sweatdropping slightly. He settled back to listening to everyone talk around him, rather than keep wondering.

After awhile the band finished their song and moved to another, the drummers pulling up and a few flute players standing as they began with a song that was fast paced, and yet calm, the dancers about the fire slowed in their movements and began circling the flames in small steps, their arms held out and moving delicately.

The crowd continued to laugh and talk away with another as slowly more people joined in on the dancing as the song suddenly started to change. Bits of Magic swept over the area slowly, showering the people with bits of dazzling light that reflected the bright orange of the fire,

"Oh wow..."

"Woah..."

"Hey, isn't that..?!"

Laxus blinked, his eyes casting sideways as he suddenly heard the murmuring sweep out over the crowds, followed by small gasps of surprise and a sense of sudden awe. He quirked an eyebrow, seeing heads starting to turn and a look of shock and awe make it's way on to the faces of the crowd, eyes glinting and small, pleasantly surprised smiles going around as eyes became riveted, especially those of the Guild... toward the fire.

He blinked, sweatdropping slightly at the sudden change in mood, and quite confused as to what everyone seemed to be so fixated on so suddenly. His head turned, slowly following the collective gaze back toward the flames, noticing from the corner of his eye that Bixlow and Freed had frozen, looking slightly astounded, and Evergreen had gone rigid, eyes wide.

"She looks so pretty!"

"When did she get here?"

"Is that seriously...?"

"Who the hell knew she could dance...?!"

"I've never seen her like that before!"

Laxus stiffened, eyes growing and sweatdropping slightly as he caught sight of what everyone else had suddenly taken note of the moment that the rhythm of the music changed, his gaze suddenly found itself fixed to the very person who had been nowhere in sight just moments before.

Frea was weaving and moving about the fire, her movements slight, controlled, and graceful- seeming completely free of the soreness or the pain from the wounds she still had. She seemed to be flowing as easily as water did over rocks about the fire, her steps balanced and moving in intricate designs and spins, her expression gentle and eyes closed as she moved in steps, spinning in purpose and arms moving about her person purposefully. The light off the fire glinted from the golden bands on her wrists, her pale orange skirt flowing out about her hips in her twisting and turning, wisps of light fabric draped over the sides of her torso from where they attached to her top, that left her stomach exposed and tied about her neck. Her hair was braided into a bun that fell away into wavy strands of hair at the back of her head, tied up by a ribbon that was hatched across by zigzag designs.

The crowd around them stared in shock and wonder, eyes wide and hardly believing their eyes as she stepped lightly between the other dancers in fluid, rhythmic movement, hardly seeming to be paying any attention to the world around her, and all focus on the music and her own movement.

No one in the Guild had ever seen Frea like this before, they had never once seen her join in on the dancing, and never expected to see her do such a thing.. and seeing her now, moving with such grace and such purpose, as if she had done it hundreds of times before, they were astounded, and found they couldn't look away. It wasn't like Frea to do something like this, especially in front of a lot of other people- and certainly not wearing something so... well, feminine.

"Is that... seriously Frea...?" Gray mumbled, sweatdropping.

"... This is crazy..." Natsu mumbled, looking astounded, but smiling slightly.

"... hmph... who the hell knew Silver had that in her..?" Gajeel grumbled lowly,

"Frea...?" Sting and Rogue breathed, eyes wide and gazes locked to her.

"She looks beautiful.." Lucy murmured, eyes shining.

"And the way she's moving, it's almost unreal." Levy piped in,

"Ah, Frea's so pretty like that..!" Wendy smiled, eyes shining.

"... Teach.." Chase breathed, taken aback by the sudden show, as everyone else seemed to be. He could feel the shock sparking from the lot of them, and see it clearly on all their faces.

Mirajane and Erza smiled to one another as they carried on dancing about the fire, smiling in delight at seeing Frea moving along with them, stepping between them, moving in fluid motion, and completely in sync with the music itself, that continued on at its pace before the drums suddenly dropped and the flute took over, slow and graceful.

Frea couldn't hear anything the Guild was saying around her, her focus was entirely poured into the song, almost instinctively. She hardly felt the buzz of shock on the air, all her attention focused to the rhythm and the flow of the music on the air, her body moving in rhythm with it as she moved and danced along with it, her movement feeling foreign to her, almost uncontrolled... and yet familiar in a way.

She hardly thought about it before she had started moving about the fire, it was if her actions were hardly her own, but she didn't fight against it- something about this felt calm in a way, and it struck that odd chord of familiarity in her, and a small sense... of something that seemed like nostalgia. She wasn't thinking hardly as she moved, she just did- and her body seemed to know what it was doing, and soon she was lost in the rhythm and the sound of the music all around her, eyes closing and completely at peace with her action.

That old Geezer, he had transported her to the edge of the clearing- and taken the liberty to replace the clothes she had been wearing with the ones she had on now, which were nothing like what she would usually tolerate, but for now, she simply went with it. A part of her knew he had done this on purpose, the Geezer.... A sort of way of pushing her into something he clearly well knew she would never consider doing on her own. She would have usually gone against it, but there had been a sort of tug when she saw the fire, and before she knew what she was doing, she was suddenly moving around the flames, and all everything else in the world outside herself, the fire and the sound of the music seemed to fade to nothing in the back of her mind. All her worries, all her incessant questions, every single thought that had clouded and tugged at her mind for days suddenly fell away entirely. And for now, suddenly- she just gave in.

This felt familiar, deep inside of her... the feeling of the music, of her own body moving in harmony with it, the smell and sound of the fire, the warmth of it against her skin as she twisted and turned, as her eyes closed it suddenly felt as if.... Her mind suddenly just fell away toward some place in the deepest corner of her mind, a place she never looked, and some place.... Some place she knew, but she wasn't sure why.

Her nose twitched suddenly, catching wisps of scents so faint and so far away she couldn't place them, but scents that made her body ache. She suddenly had the feeling of eyes fixed to her, but they didn't feel like the eyes of the Guild, these gazes felt closer, more familiar than even the Guild did, and it seemed suddenly the music changed it's tune, just slightly- as if it wasn't the same at all, but similar still, and the instruments and those playing them were much, much closer.

The music suddenly seemed.... Somber.

Frea's eyes opened halfway, not pausing a moment in her dance as she saw the familiar faces of the Guild flash past her, see them looking at her across the dancing flames of the fire, and time itself seemed to slow down. She turned in her dance, still searching the crowd as the fire separated herself and them, and then those faces she knew so well were suddenly replaced, and she saw that the Magnolia forest gave way to trees much taller, much more ancient. The air became colder, more musty, and the scents that hit her nose were faint, familiar, and impossible to place. The sky overhead was no longer dotted by the Magic that had been flitting about, but the stars shown more brightly and in more numbers than they ever did in Magnolia.

Around her she saw blurred and indistinguishable bodies dancing as she did, their movements matching hers as they circled the stone pedestal in the center, the light of the flames bathing across a smooth stone face by which runes glowing a mix of black, red and purple across the face. The area around them was blurred and hard to make out, though it seemed it was bordered by large stone pillars and gates, the tinkle of bells hanging from them mixed with the sound of the music.

She stepped sideways, her foot dragging across the grass lightly and arms flowing down to her sides as she looked away from the wall, and her eyes locked with the faces of two young men sitting at the edge of the clearing, surrounded closely by shadowy figures lost of all unique features. But those two... those two...

She felt a small rush of emotion run through her core, a mix of too many things to pull them apart, but she felt her heart skip a beat suddenly, and felt as if she... she knew them.

Her silver gaze latched with the mismatched silver and green of a boy with strawberry blonde hair, and the other green gaze of an older boy, with dark blue hair, both of their eyes fixed to her as she remained fixed on them.

She felt a flash of pain strike her in the core, and took in a sharp breath, their line of sight broken as she continued to twirl and dance,

_Wait..._

She turned again, finding them again in the slowness that suddenly rained over her head, lost in something.. like a vision...

The expression of the young man with the mismatched eyes was soft and gentle, while the blue haired was blank, and his eyes piercing.

_I... I know those.... Those eyes...._

She turned again, seeking them out again once more, the slowness dragging more across the... _this is a...._

_.... I had... forgotten... all of this...._

She was suddenly entrapped in some long lost, or perhaps buried... memory. Flashes of it moved across her sight and her mind as Magnolia suddenly moved back into sight, yet those eyes still remained imprinted on her mind, and she felt a wash of pain well up inside her, and deep sadness.

This was something... something long before Chaitanya, something she had forgotten, until that very moment, and it suddenly hurt, deep in her core. And it seemed all of it, all the scents, the sights, the sounds of that memory long since forgotten, all of it was brought back, and lasted only a few small moments, but it eft her feeling as if there was suddenly a hole in her being she hadn't been aware of before now.

_... I know those boys.... I... didn't remember...._

Her eyes shut closed, feeling a cold weight fall on her heart as her dancing slowed slightly, and a sudden deep sense of guilt fell over her head.

_.... I remembered only one of you...._

Why... why was she remembering this all now? When she hadn't thought on it for years, and years....? Why.... Now....?

The music slowed to a halt as she slowed to, her eyes casting across the crowd as she was lost in her thoughts,

_.... I... forgot.... One of my...._

_... my brothers.._

She stopped, the music halting entirely as the song ended and so suddenly did her movement and her dance. She cringed a little at the sense of regret and guilt that fell over her suddenly, and the ache that came with it in her heart. She hadn't meant to forget.. but she had never thought about it very much either. It was so very long ago, and it seemed most of that time had been blocked from her mind.... Clearly.

_I didn't... I didn't mean..._

She stiffened, realizing her eyes locked with someone else's while she had been locked up in her own thoughts, as her silver gaze met a familiar aqua colored one, and in his eyes she saw confusion and questioning, as if he had seen the sudden pain and sadness in her own eyes without her noticing.

She took in a small breath, their eyes not breaking apart for a few moments as Laxus simply looked back at her. He had been watching her in near awe, but he suddenly stiffened in shock and surprise when he saw a distant look come into her expression, it was a somber look, something faraway, and something he had seen in her before- when she was thinking on memories and things from a long, long time ago.

His eyes widened as their eyes met, and he saw that she suddenly looked like she was hurting, and he could see a deeper sadness than he had ever seen swimming in her eyes, something long since buried, and something that seemed to hit her in the core... but what the hell...?

What in the hell could she have possibly been thinking about just then? It has seemed to him almost like she had drifted away into some memory he hadn't been expecting to, and when she finally snapped out of it- something about it hit her hard.

Frea frowned slightly, sweatdropping when he shot her a questioning look. She let out a breath and looked away, shaking her head and composing herself and her sudden emotion as quickly as she could.

"Wonderful show Dove! Wonderful indeed!"

Frea's eyes snapped over toward Iidren's voice, he smiled as he appeared beside her, hands on his hips and eyes glinting.

"You looked splendid out there!" He smiled, drawing up beside her as his voice lowered. "... you alright Dove?" He asked, head tilted. Frea nodded, smiling to him in assurance.

"Yes, I'm fine. Don't worry about it." She replied easily, he nodded slightly.

"Frea!"

"That was fantastic!" Lucy said brightly,

"Where did you learn to dance like that?!" Levy asked,

Frea jumped slightly, seeing the Guild starting to crowd around her with smiling faces and surprised looks, she fidgeted slightly at the close confines. Iidren smiled and backed away, leaving Frea to be surrounded by the girl's in the Guild as moved in closer. Frea sweatdropped, a little less than thrilled with being mobbed as her modesty kicked in again.

"Had I known you were capable of such a show I would have pulled you into the fun years ago!" Erza smirked, stopping beside Frea who sweatdropped.

"It was quite pleasant to watch Frea, you were nearly dazzling." Mira smiled, blue eyes glinting in mirth.

"... S-Shut up..." Frea stammered lowly,

"You don't have to be embarrassed! You were great!" Lucy smiled,

"Yeah Frea, that was splendid to watch!" Wendy agreed,

"It was certainly something," Moon chuckled, eyebrow quirked. "But where did you get that outfit? I've never seen it before." Frea stiffened a little and looked away,

"Yeah! Good question Moon," Natsu butted in, grinning. "You don't usually wear stuff like that, Frea."

"Yeah, you don't look like a girl." Gray commented,

"She is girl," Juvia commented.

"That's not what I meant..." Gray mumbled, sweatdropping slightly.

"So where did you get it?" Moon asked again,

"Yeah, where?" Natsu leaned in, his question murmured by several of the others.

".... Somebody gave it to me." Frea replied slowly,

"Who?"

"No one you know! So drop it, it's not important!" Frea snapped, her temper running suddenly short.

"But Frea!"

"Enough already! And why are all of you crowding around me anyway?!"

"What? Are we making you all embarrassed? Huh Frea?"

"I think we are, she looks like she's blushing!"

"Say that to my face Popsicle! And you better back of Flame-Brain, before I throw you into next week!"

"Careful now Dove, you shouldn't go picking fights. You're supposed to be taking it easy, aren't you?"

"What did he just call her?!"

"Who the hell are you?!"

"Oi!"

The SaberTooth Wizards, and Iki and Uno sweatdropped slightly, smiling nervously as they watched the argument suddenly break out.

"This is Fairy Tail as it usually is, huh..?" Sting chuckled, Rogue sweatdropped and nodded slightly.

"Fro thinks so too!" Frosch lifted a paw, smiling.

"What an odd bunch." Iki and Uno said in unison as they smiled, shrugging their shoulders slightly.

"That was quite the surprise, hmm?" Master hummed, smiling faintly from where he sat atop the bar, a mug in his lap. He earned nods of agreement from those around him,

"She seems to have cheered up quite a bit." Gildarts smirked, Master chuckled slightly.

"It does seem things have gone back to normal." He murmured, listening to the sound of arguing was familiar. Perhaps Frea had been right about needing to do this Sakura Festival... it seemed to have eased moods significantly. It was a welcome change, and one Master Makarov felt wouldn't last very long.

"... but that was a little out of the ordinary for Teach." Chase mumbled, eyes closed and smiling slightly. Aisha and Solana beside him nodded slightly, followed by murmurs of agreement from Freed and Bixlow.

Laxus's eyes narrowed, his gaze fixed to Frea as she looked ready to start a brawl with Gray and Natsu alike. He crossed his arms over his chest, eyes narrowing to slits and silent.

She seemed to bounce back from whatever it was that had suddenly seemed to hit her so hard, whatever he assumed she had thought back to... but what in the hell could she have been thinking about, to suddenly have her look so sad and....

_.... guilty?_

* * *

 

"I see you're not out enjoying the Festival, Jynx."

Mavis paused, her bare feet sinking into the grass underneath as her green gaze locked to the black-haired ghost's back, from where she was standing in silence on a small cliff overlooking Magnolia below them. For a moment Mavis' eyes locked on to the black Fairy Tail Guild Mark on Jynx's shoulder blade.

Mavis moved forward quietly, her arms hooked behind her back and eyes closing.

"... you feel it coming, don't you?" Mavis asked quietly,

"For a long time now, yes." Jynx replied lowly, her crimson gaze locked to the town below them. "The sense of great evil has been growing stronger, and more quickly ever since Energy Dragon faced Salengoreath in Nvindorr." Jynx's eyes narrowed, "Energy Dragon has felt it as well.... We both know that whatever danger is coming, it will be upon us soon, very soon." Mavis nodded slightly,

"It does feel as though it is the calm before the storm." The blonde agreed quietly. "... you seem as though you're thinking deeply, Jynx. More deeply than I've seen you, even in all the years since you joined the Guild."

"..... it's just a thought, something that's struck me." Jynx replied softly, Mavis blinked. "Something... odd."

"Hmm?" Mavis hummed. "Is it anything to do with what you said while the Guild was inside Death Bolt? About it being an event that we couldn't avoid?"

"... yes, and no." Jynx replied, her eyes closing. "... there was something odd about what happened inside of Death Bolt, something that left me with the feeling it had been.... Somehow tailored, set to happen no matter what we did. Something like a... stepping stone to the larger disaster if you will. Some events do happen at a certain time, and a certain way regardless of what we do- and we can't avoid them. And some events are... triggers, to larger things. It felt to me as if the events of Death Bolt were set in stone.... And I have an odd feeling, that somehow what happened in Hilshine, and in Nvindorr were the same sort of events."

"... the question is, if those events were stepping stones... what are they leading to? And why must those events have come to pass before that time? As if in some sort of... order." Jynx let out a low growl, ".... It would be helpful to be able to understand how chains of events are chosen, and why.... But unfortunately, that is not for me to know." Her eyes cast up toward the sky a moment,

_... that knowledge lies with you... and you've already made it clear you will not be sharing._

"Order?" Mavis murmured, blinking once. "... Are you suggesting that everything that is happening with Frea... all of the things she's involved with have panned out because they are events structured in some order, or preset timeline..?"

"... It's a thought." Jynx replied.

"... That would mean something planned all of this to happen, in a specific way." Mavis mumbled, ".... What planned it...?"

".... There are several answers to that...and one in particular that does not bode well for Energy Dragon." Jynx murmured lowly, Mavis sweatdropped.

"... this evil is coming fast, and everything leading up to it seems to be following a preordained path.... The question is, who or what set that path... and what did they plan to happen at the end of it..?"


	54. Storm

**Chapter 54**

**Storm**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

"Come on boys, don't tell me that's all you've got?!"

Frea shouted the words across the field, fists clenched at her sides and body tense as her silver gaze locked on to the figures of Gray, Gajeel, Natsu, and Elfman, all of whom stood across from her, panting and looking worse for wear.

The clearing around them was destroyed, slabs of earth uprooted and surrounding trees knocked down, others sliced straight through, and some of them smoldering or frozen. The sound of the ocean not far to their left could be heard, where the cliffside on the backside of the Guild Hall stood. They stood among what was a grassy clearing in the trees near to the Guild and the ocean side, but now it was just a large covering of destruction done onto the land by the days constant fighting.

The boys eyes flashed as she called out to them, seemingly still full of energy and vigor despite the fact they had been going head to head with her since early that morning, and now the sun had slid behind the horizon and twilight was settling in. They were all beaten and bruised, and they hadn't hardly any Magic left to spare, though Frea seemed bursting with Magic still.

What made it worse was the fact she hadn't hardly even been touched by any of the four of them, she was going all out- and for it, they realized how out of their league they were against Frea, though they'd never admit to it.

Moon sighed slightly, watching from a safe distance with narrowed, glinting eyes as she crossed her paws over her chest, Lily beside her with Carla, Wendy, Juvia, Levy, Lisanna, Mira, Lucy and Erza.

Frea seemed to have jumped into full gear, and it had all happened so fast too. It seemed immediately after the Rainbow Sakura Festival that the Energy Dragon Slayer had delved into preparing herself for whatever it was that was surely coming. For the week and a half that followed after the festival, Frea buried herself deep in dozens of old tomes and books (of which, there seemed to be at least two dozen that just showed up out of nowhere in their room at Fairy Hills, books as such- Moon was fairly certain hadn't been a part of the Guild's library at all). Frea spent hours upon hours looking into the old records, reading and taking notes down on all manner of things, trying to piece together anything and everything that may even have a shred of a chance of being helpful to her- though Moon wasn't sure what she was looking for exactly.

A part of her had a feeling Frea didn't know what she was looking for either.

Frea moved back and forth between Fairy Hills and the Guild's Library, completely immersed in what she was researching. Their room looked a mess, with the hundreds of notes and papers that were strewn about, and the books. When the week and a half had passed, and Porlyusica (grudgingly) cleared Frea for work again, this had started up.

The area in the trees beside the Guild and the ocean had been cleared away some to allow Frea room to brawl and train with the other members of the Guild, or just work on Spells on her own when she saw it fit. It had only taken one day of the brawling to make the area look like a war zone, and after awhile of the out of hand destruction and the wanton Magic being thrown about, Moon wondered if they had moved it far enough away from the Guild Hall itself.

Frea hissed under her breath, feeling the adrenaline and the heat of the battle rushing through her body without end. It wasn't often she got really pumped during training or brawling, but her body had jumped into overdrive, and she wasn't likely to slow down anytime soon. Though in the back of her mind she was faintly aware that the more she pushed herself, and the harder, the more likely she was to wear herself out. And if she found herself exhausted when the impending danger came to a close, she'd be screwed.

_I'm already screwed... but hell if I'm going under easy._

Her eyes flashed as she looked over the four boys standing ahead of her, even across the field she could hear them breathing heavily, and she knew very well there Magic Energy supplies were very near depleted, though they seemed about ready to jump in again. She could also feel their agitation sparking, and pain too. She may have been hitting them harder than she usually would, but she couldn't help herself from pushing harder than she usually would against them. They weren't holding back, and hardly was she herself.

_But they're tired, I can tell from here._

She took in a small breath, for a minute her gaze swept up toward the painted indigo and blue sky overhead, for a moment she was surprised, she hadn't been aware the day had come to a close so quickly.

She let out a small sigh and let her eyes close, settling her energy as best she could and moving out of an aggressive stance.

Perhaps tomorrow she'll have Mira or Erza brawl with her, they would be more of a challenge against her, and she wouldn't need to hold back with them.

She sweatdropped slightly, if she were to battle with either of those two, this clearing may not be enough of a battleground. They may have to move outside of Magnolia to avoid damaging the town or the Guild Hall.

For a small moment she wondered if she ought to ask Laxus for a brawl, perhaps as a chance for that rematch they had never gotten around to. A small ghost of a smirk appeared on her lips for a split second before it was gone.

"... That's it for today boys." She called, earning surprised and narrowed eyes from the four of them collectively. "I think we've had enough, I suppose you're all tired, and hungry. So let's go inside and settle down, we'll pick back up later."

"We ain't that tired." Natsu shot back,

"We can keep goin', Silver." Gajeel grumbled, she sighed silently.

"Fine then, _I'm_ tired. And I'm hungry, so we're done." She replied easily, they stiffened a little, but otherwise didn't argue again and relented.

"Alright.." Frea nodded and turned toward the watching group, eyes falling as she approached them with the four boys in tow behind her.

"Wow, you guys were really going at it." Lucy smiled a little nervously,

"You've certainly been at it for hours on end, I'm impressed you kept going so long." Moon murmured,

"Especially at the rate you were expending your energy and Magic." Lily agreed lowly,

"You're all really, really strong." Wendy mumbled, looking a little downcast, but smiling none-the-less.

"Mmm." Some of the boys grumbled upon hearing Wendy's small comment, their eyes flicked toward Frea as they sweatdropped.

"Will you be heading back to your studying then?" Erza asked, her eyes on Frea who nodded slightly.

"I still have a lot of work to do in translating as much as I can, so after I get some food I'll get back to it." Frea murmured, looking less than thrilled at the idea, but she'd do it, regardless of how frustrating and tedious it was. She much preferred the training and the brawling, but looking through those books that old Geezer of a Wizard Saint had given her was probably worth the time, especially if she wanted any chance of understanding, maybe, what she was up against.

A part of her was consciously searching for anything having to do with ancient sites of Magic such as Hilshine and Nvindorr, or any mention of what Magic they held, or how many more there were. She was also trying to find anything that could help her figure out what it was that Thing is anyway. But these answers were far from being discovered, there seemed to be nothing.

Her eyes narrowed slightly, falling to the ground a split moment as one word flashed in her head. It was the same word that had been bothering her for awhile now, and one she was looking for in the pages of those aged books and tomes. The same one scrawled upon a blood stained page inside the Enogora Magrea book.

' _Mordrenetheto'_

That infernal book had gone and locked itself, and settled on top of the pile of books she had already gone through. It wouldn't let her open it, though she had tried to several times now. It annoyed her, but it also made her slightly tense. This was the first time it had completely sealed itself off, usually she was able to flip through the pages with ease, but now she was cut off.

And of course, it was probably the one book that had any answers (not that she could read the Dragon Language all that well mind you), and without it, she had only one other source she knew for sure that may be of help. But it was a source she wasn't at this moment all that willing to confront, and she assumed the feeling was mutual.

Jynx, who had not been seen, nor heard of, nor had her Energy Signature been felt anywhere near since the last time she had disappeared. Like the Energy Magic book, the ghost girl had fallen silent, and Frea was left alone in the dark, again.

She shook her head slightly, following the group of people inside the Guild Hall in silence as they started up conversation in between themselves.

_"You're an Energy Mage, one of the High Mages of the practice, though the traditions are long since gone. You are a Wizard of extraordinary power, one of the most powerful I have come to see, and if I am not mistaken... among all the Energy Mages who lived before you, in the time of the Dragons and before that even, I would not be surprised to find that you would rank among the best. Though without knowing precisely the power the ancient Energy Mages held- though it was no doubt grand- it would be hard to say exactly, but even then... an Energy Dragon Slayer is still rare and powerful indeed." The old man murmured, almost as if he was talking to himself, his folded hand resting against his chin as the other cradled that arm in front of him. "... It's quite the combination. Dragon Slayers are powerful beings beyond measure... and Energy Magic is such an Ancient Magic in its own right, one could scarcely believe two Lost Magics of such a caliber could exist in one person... You are a true wonder, and a true force to be reckoned with."_

_"... It begs the question, could an extraordinary Mage wielding two such ancient and powerful Magics at once be enough to contend with something nearly as ancient, and that is perhaps even more powerful than Energy Magic and Dragon Slaying Magic combined?" Frea went rigid, eyes wide and the breath taken from her throat as the old man continued talking, completely ignoring whatever she said- but now she fell entirely silent. "... Especially should that Mage already accept the outcome of the incoming battle? If one already knows they are going to lose, is it really at all possible that they'll put their full effort forward?"_

The old Geezer had a point, and she hated it. But she wasn't giving up, it wasn't in her to give up- that's why she was throwing herself into research and training, why she was going to such lengths and learning as much as she could, improving as much as she possibly could. Especially now, because the heaviness on the air was thicker than it had ever been before, and that dark storm was just on the horizon, just waiting to break.

But she had to give it her all, she had to try, try with everything she had. She was willing to do whatever it took, training late into the night, delving into books and straining to read, but she kept forward, she had to.

_I just hope... it's enough._

* * *

Frea ran her hands through her hair, eyes closed and growling under her breath as she hunched over the desktop, her elbows on the surface and hands moving to hold her head. The room was dark around her, save the silvery light filtering through the window, the light that was enough for her to continue flipping through the latest book into that late hour of the morning, but now her eyes were tired and her mind so far stretched she couldn't possibly continue forward.

She heard Moon snoring softly, the grey Exceed curled up on the bed across from her, having been sound asleep for hours now and hardly stirring as Frea worked away. Fairy Hills was utterly silent, apart from the small, faint, nearly imperceptible sound of Erza sleeping across the hall, and the familiar feel of the other girl's Energy Signatures strewn about the building, all of them calm, all of them dreaming.

Frea cursed herself quietly, getting to her feet and shaking her head as she picked up the book, eyes glinting as her gaze passed over the black, monstrous, and looming figure upon the front. A book that had nothing to do with Salengoreath, or Nvindorr, Hilshine... nothing to do with that Thing, or anything that would help in the incoming danger.

_I didn't mean to get sidetracked... but I couldn't help it._

She stuffed the book into the center of the pile beside her desk, before lightly picking a small folded note from the top of her desk, having just set the pen down and folded it herself. She lightly moved across the room to her closet, opening the door and reaching up toward the charred chest set atop the top shelf. The chest of the things she kept, the things she never wanted to lose.

Her eyes flashed in the dim, glittering slightly as she swallowed a little and bent down, setting the chest on the floor and settling on her heels. Her hands rest atop the lid lightly, one still holding to the note as she slowly opened the chest, lightly setting the note inside and closing it again.

Her eyes glinted, as she leaned over and set her forehead against the lid lightly, her shoulders hunching and eyes closing. She gripped the edge of the chest tightly with her fingers, biting her lip.

A chest full of the things she promised never to forget, she never wanted to forget anything... nothing important, nothing dear to her. She worked so hard to keep that from happening, what Kasumi did to her memory was a cruel play, and she hated that more than anything... but Kasumi had nothing to play in this. This she forgot on her own, and she hated herself for it. And what she managed to recall, something she should never have let slip from her mind ever... remembering now was cruel, and she felt guilt and regret hit her full force.

_Brothers.... I am so sorry. I'll never forget... not again._

She sat up, shaking her head and trying to ward off the sudden flurry of guilt and regret rushing to meet her, she stood back up and replaced the chest on the shelf and turned away.

She moved toward the door that lead to the hallway, her hand resting on the handle lightly as she looked back for a small moment to see Moon still asleep. She smiled slightly, the ghost of it resting on her lips for a small half second, before she looked away again and left the room without a word.

Frea moved down the stairs quietly, eyes falling halfway and letting out a low breath, her hand gliding along the railing only lightly.

... _I need to talk to her. But I don't necessarily want to_.

Her eyes trailed sideways, narrowed and sweatdropping slightly as she continued down the stairs. She knew well that she was always watching her, from wherever it was she disappeared off to. She was always there, always watching... but she never felt her until she was right beside her. Somehow she always knew what was going on, always heard when Frea called her, and she hadn't called in a long time.

With things so restless and tense between the two of them, would she even show up?

She knew the answer, but she still doubted.

_Will she even tell me anything useful? Or is she gonna spout that 'only things you truly need to know bullshit'?_

She sighed deeply, sweatdropping as she walked along the silent and dim ground floor toward Fairy Hill's bath area. She was met by pleasantly warm air as she stepped inside the bath room, the large bath in the center was always kept hot and full, steam flowed from the doorway as she stepped inside and closed it behind her.

_Damn it... I'm gonna wear myself out with all these damned questions._

She undressed and stepped into the bath, settling down until the water was just under her nose her eyes closed and the room filling with more steam as she turned the heat up even higher. A thick cloud of the hazy grey settled over everything, making it hard to see more than a few feet in front of oneself, but Frea hardly cared. She was simply content to sit in the water in silence, she only hoped her mind would go quiet too.

_I feel... like I should go there._

She hadn't been able to find anymore information on sites that housed ancient Magics like Nvindorr and Hilshine. She had no idea how many there were, and Jynx's riddle did nothing to help. But she had a feeling, a nagging sensation almost- to go back to Nvindorr, though the thought itself made her shudder.

Going back wasn't appealing, considering what had happened the last time. Not to mention the pure darkness and Negative Energy that hung on the air there, and the stench of sickness and death. She never liked it there, even before being controlled and forced to go there, forced to unleash Salengoreath.

But she had no reason to go back to Hilshine. It was too far, and it didn't seem like the place to go. Besides... there was another reason she felt she needed to go to Nvindorr, and she sweatdropped at the thought.

_There's something else there, just at the edge of my mind... but I can't seem to reach it._

She wondered briefly if this was part of that Thing's plan, to drive her insane as she struggled to prepare for it's next move. To leave her floating in a sea of questions, doubt and wondering until her mind was so stretched apart she'd be unable to take what it threw at her next. Maybe it was trying to wear her down... she wouldn't doubt it.

It started invading her dreams again, though she never told Moon or anyone else. How it got in her head, she had no clue, but it did it easily, and nearly every night it was there, calling to her amongst a sea of black. It was playing with her, teasing, it just repeated what it had said before now, over and over.

' _You know you won't win, Malunafrey.'_

Frea huffed moodily, a vein ticking on her forehead.

_Screw you, you damned bastard._

Frea let herself sink under the water completely for a moment,

_I'll try and get some sleep after this.... But I'll go there. Soon._

A wood of dead and gnarled trees invaded her mind, the sky overhead dark and covered in a sickly black mist that was entirely unnatural. A field of crosses cropped out in front of her, the ruins of what was once buildings and homes, a place where once children ran about and played, where adults laughed and ate, and worked together.

A clearing with a smooth cliff-face and surrounded by stone figures, fire blazed in the center as people danced about the flames, music danced on the air. It was solemn, it wasn't happy, nor joyful... it wasn't a dance of joy, it was something else, something... something deeper.

_.. It's nothing, like it once was._

Frea's head broke the surface of the water as she took in a breath, her eyes still closed as a familiar Energy Signature appeared in the room with her. Dark, cold, it set her on edge, and maybe it should- but so eerily familiar as well, like it was natural compared with her own.

"Jynx." Frea murmured, her silver eyes opening to rest on the ghost girl who sat cross legged at the edge of the bath, her hands in her lap and eyes closed. Frea blinked slightly, noticing faintly that Jynx looked ragged compared to how she usually seemed, exhausted almost, her shoulders and body taught in tenseness. The ghost's tenseness bounced on the air toward Frea in steady waves, it was the same in the Guild too.

"... you look like crap." Frea mumbled lowly,

"Hmph... I could say the same for you, Energy Dragon." Jynx replied lowly, Frea frowned slightly. "You've been running yourself without pause, you'll eventually break down at the rate you're going."

"I know my limits better than anyone, Jynx. I'm not going to exhaust myself, I'm not that stupid. I wouldn't do something so foolish, not now." Frea replied lowly, Jynx's eyes narrowed at her,

"This is it, then?" Jynx murmured, though it sounded very little like a question, and much more a statement. Frea blinked, her own eyes narrowing slightly. "... the last stretch, the calm before the storm."

".... Yeah. It's close, and I have very little time left...." Frea murmured lowly, her eyes glinting. "... for anything." Jynx blinked once, her red eyes flashing slightly.

_Certainty...? Is that was I see in her expression just now..? Energy Dragon.... You look so calm._

Jynx sweatdropped slightly, even despite the impending danger, even despite how much trouble she was in, Frea was still so unbearably calm.

_Even despite... that corruption, on your being. You don't know what it could do to you... how are you so calm..?_

".... I still don't know what I'm going to do, but I figured I might as well ask if you had any sort of input on what's going on." Frea murmured, Jynx blinked in slight surprise. "Training does me no good if I don't have any clue on how to actually win, and it would certainly help if I knew what I was actually going up against. You said you'd only share things I absolutely needed to know, if I ever needed to know anything, it's now. So if you have anything that'll help, tell me, Jynx."

Jynx stared for a few long moments, slightly taken aback. Not only was Frea being considerably calm about the danger fast approaching, but it seemed all her anger toward the ghost was lessened, or she was hiding it rather well. Where had all that rage and anger toward Jynx gone? She had been ready to throw punches, snapping her head off and practically disowning Jynx as an ally altogether last time they spoke more than a few words to one another, and she had to assume Frea was not happy with her for placing her Limiter Seal on her during the Death Bolt fiasco.

So why is she being so calm now? Where did her anger and distrust go? Jynx couldn't see a single shred of any of that in Frea's expression, not even the slightest smidgen.

".... Have you pieced it together?' Jynx said at length, causing Frea to blink.

"Hmm?"

"You asked me in Hilshine, how many sites existed that housed ancient Magics." Jynx elaborated, her expression unbelievably neutral so suddenly, Frea couldn't feel any emotion flickering from the ghost now, she was a blank slate, unreadable. Frea blinked, her eyes narrowing slightly as she sweatdropped,

_"Four Pillars meant to hold the base, a Fifth that threatens to break the Form. Balance of Four, the Creation of One. Force of Destruction, the Product of Four."_

".... No, not really." Frea grumbled slightly, "I've been thinking about it, but all I've managed is something along the lines... that it could be either four, or five. It depends, but on what I'm not really sure."

"You're close, those words, riddle as you may call them- even I don't know their true meaning, nor do I know the answer." Jynx murmured softly, "I was told those words, by somethi..... someone else." Jynx took in a small breath, Frea perked slightly when Jynx seemed to correct herself mid-sentence. "I wasn't told the answer, because there isn't a definite answer. It does 'depend'... one would call it a matter of perspective I suppose."

"Perspective...?" Frea mumbled, sweatdropping a little more, Jynx simply nodded once.

"And before you ask, no- I do not know where any other sites are, Energy Dragon." Jynx murmured, "They don't stay in one place, they aren't easily pinned down... I doubt anyone of this age knows. You stumbled on two, but of any more, they are lost, hidden."

Frea bit the inside of her lip a little. Perhaps no one of 'this age' knew where they were, however many there are. But what about something ancient, something as deep and as powerful as that Thing?

".... The book." She said suddenly, she hadn't even meant to, but it suddenly popped into her head. Jynx blinked in slight surprise, head tilted. "The one you gave me, it has your Mark in it. _Ramke en Wendete._ It has Chaitanya's Mark in it to."

"I'm aware." Jynx murmured, "You're Dragon, Chaitanya, I suspect she is the one responsible for sending the Book spinning in and out between the White Plane, and this reality. Until I was able to find it, keep it safe, and mark it as my own for a while. I also suspect it was Chaitanya who held on to the book since the time of Dragons, and Energy Mages, oh so many centuries ago- the hands and the likes of which you see on the pages that are faded and smudged to things indiscernible."

Frea nodded slightly, she knew those pages, the first pages, the ones that were so old and so badly faded she couldn't make them out, and the pages were so old and worn they were slowly falling apart. It took little to guess they were the oldest, the younger writings coming later in the Book, until the writing got frantic, scared, and then the pages were gone altogether.

"Those who've Marked and Owned the Book, you, and Chaitanya. But who's the third person? Where all the pages are gone, and the others are littered in blood?" Frea asked, this was the other question that kept bothering her, and she had no idea why. But it did.

Frea stiffened slightly, her heart jumping a little when Jynx's expressionless face suddenly changed to one of clear, honest and utter confusion- confusion so deep it sparked across the water toward her.

"What?" Jynx stammered slightly, sweatdropping. "Another owner? Pages torn out?"

"You didn't see it..?" Frea breathed, what? The Book had allowed Jynx to place her Mark inside it and label it in her possession, but it hadn't showed her its full entirety? What was it playing at?!

"... In the middle of the book, the writing is jagged, frantic. Scared even." Frea murmured slowly, "There's at least two dozen pages ripped out of it, if not more, and there's blood spattered across the pages around it. With one page left, Marked and Owned; Mordrenotheto."

Frea stiffened, sweatdropping heavily as she watched Jynx suddenly go rigid, turning paler than she already was and a sudden wash of fear rushing from her in an instant. The Ghost Girl's eyes cast down to the water, her fingers gripping her knees tightly as her shoulders hunched.

This was true fear, deep innate fear. She'd never seen nor felt it in Jynx before, and it set her in edge more than anything.

"Woah, hey, do you know what that is? Or who it is?" Frea asked quickly, moving forward in the water slightly. Jynx's hand moved up to clutch her dress about her chest tightly, her hand shaking slightly as she quickly took in a few deep breaths as if to calm herself down. "Jynx! What the hell is it?" Frea growled,

"... I... I do not know..." She stammered lowly, Frea growled.

"Don't even try that on me! I can feel your fear!" Frea snapped back,

"I do not know!" Jynx snapped, her voice easily louder than Frea's own, and much more forceful, Frea blinked, taken aback slightly. "That is the truth, I do not know. Have you never heard something, and in your core you felt shaken, so deeply you felt you should know something, that it was familiar, and yet you did not know why?" Jynx glanced up to her, her red eyes dancing with hundreds of different emotions as Frea stiffened, sweatdropping.

_Something familiar... And yet not so._

_That's what it felt like when her Magic mixed with Jynx's own. That is the very feeling she felt when that Thing called her Malunafrey, when the Old Geezer called her 'High Mage'._

_"In you lives a Magic as old as the World itself! One of which played a part in the Making of much greater forces than anyone can ever know!"_

_Frea staggered slightly, something about those words struck some odd, unforgettable yet so foreign chord deep inside her very being- something inside her she had never known, and something she could not begin to understand._

_... Is that what's happening with Jynx? Is that... That why that word keeps popping into my head at all hours? Like I should know it, yet I don't?_

"... You have." Jynx murmured, "It's because of who you are, who I am... I am here for a reason, as are you. We are all connected to this incoming danger, we feel things we should not, because they are interwoven in our very beings. Yet we won't understand them..." Jynx looked away, "... I did not see this page you're speaking of, the Book didn't share it with me. Its important... Somehow."

But how..?

Frea stared down at the water, her mind reeling suddenly as all her attention suddenly flashed about that one word. What it was, what it meant, why it meant anything... Why should I know this?! Why can't I figure it out?!

She was more so in the dark than even she wanted to admit. She hoped for a Spell, a name, a clue to help her win... And yet she was still in the dark. She had nothing to go on, all she could do was train, try and be ready... And yet she never would.

"... I have nothing to offer you, Frea."

Frea's head snapped up, her jaw dropping slightly as her eyes fixed to Jynx, who was staring at her hands, now clenched in her lap and head bowed, her shoulders hunched.

She... That was the first time she had ever heard Jynx say her name, _ever._

"... The things I know... They're abstract, they're useless, they can't help you... I wish they could." Jynx murmured lowly, her voice slightly taught. "... I have no name to give you, no guess at a next step, no way to help you, no Spell that will save you. I'm here, and yet I am useless." Frea blinked, "... There's no way to stop this, its all tailored, its all leading to one place... And that is a place I do not wish you or anyone to go."

Frea sweatdropped, suddenly hearing Jynx's voice hitch. Her eyes glittered, seeing small glittering droplets fall into Jynx's lap.

"... I wish... I had more to give..." Jynx hissed, her head bowing more. "... All I've been doing... Is playing... Guessing games... And now I have nothing left... To guess about..."

Frea's eyes softened a little, her eyes fixed to Jynx who's shoulders were shaking slightly. She wanted to be miffed at Jynx, and a part of her was, but her anger seemed to have settled- that had been clear at the beginning of this conversation. Frea hated it when people kept secrets, she hated being lied to and kept in the dark- but she also knew well when the truth was told, and she felt more strongly than anything, Jynx's fear, and her regret.

Jynx was a mystery, a puzzle wrapped in an enigma and she was distant. No one knew Jynx, she was wiser than she should be, intelligent, and she knew things she shouldn't, or couldn't for how young she was. She was dead, and yet her Magic let her live on- and her Magic. It was nothing like Frea had ever seen, it was old, it was rare... It was foreign and familiar all at once.

With all Jynx's knowledge, and the way she presented herself, it was hard to remember, and realize... She was human, at least once, and she was a young, little girl.

She's scared, and she feels awful, because she doesn't know how to help. All her insane knowledge, and all her mystery, she was at a loss on how to help- and deep down. Jynx was kind. She was loyal, and she cared. It was tearing her apart to know she couldn't help, and she oh so wanted to.

Frea let out a small sigh, her eyes closing slightly.

_... Damn it... I wanted to stay mad._

"... Its fine, Jynx." She murmured softly, "... Really. I realize you want to help, and I know you can't... So it's alright. Remember... I don't need a plan, I work better on the fly anyway."

That was a half-assed attempt at bringing more light into the conversation, and it wasn't a lie.. She just doubted working on the fly was going to be of much use in this endeavor.

"... Quit it." Frea murmured, hearing Jynx sniffle slightly. "If I have to keep trying to stay positive about all this, you have to too, alright?"

"... How in the hell... Can you be so calm...?" Jynx stammered, her head still lowered.

"... Some old Geezer managed to talk some sense into me not that long ago. He helped me figure out what I wanted to do when this all goes down, and set my own motivations and thoughts straight." Frea murmured, the edge of her lips twitching a moment, as her eyes closed and she sank into the water just under her chin. "He had some fancy notion that since I already knew what was going to happen in this fight, that I'd already given up before it had even started."

Jynx glanced up slowly, her red eyes glittering and still shining with tears, though they had ceased. She simply gazed at Frea, who was smiling calmly, her eyes closed and stationary in the water, so much so it didn't even ripple, like she wasn't there.

 _Given up?_ Jynx blinked, never in a million years did she ever believe Frea would give up, on anything. It wasn't like her... and yet maybe she had been a little afraid the Energy Dragon Slayer would.

"He pissed me off, but that was probably the point. When he mentioned I had given up, it made me realize that I really hadn't, since I was so angry with him for even suggesting it I almost snapped his head off. But getting angry helped put my thoughts together on what I intend to do, and I realized I don't intend to slack off because I already know what's going to happen, I know I'm going to probably die, but I'm not intending to lose. I'm gonna win, and if I die after, that's fine. I can't under any circumstance lose, not when people I care for are going to be killed for it. I'm going to win, I want to win, and I'll do everything and everything to make sure I do... I just hadn't realized how much I meant that until he talked to me." Frea murmured, her head tilting slightly as she sighed silently.

"I'm gonna try, really try... I have to."

_If I die.... Master promised, he'd move on from it. They'll all have to..._

".... I'm going to win." She finished lowly.

_Even if it kills me._

".... Such confidence and tranquility, against such adversity...."

Frea blinked her eyes open, glancing over toward Jynx who met her gaze without hesitation.

"It's odd.... You're wise. Beyond your age... I would have no trouble believing you to be... one of those High Energy Mages of the time of the Dragons. Mages wise, and powerful, legends." Jynx murmured softly, looking a little lost in thought. Frea blinked, High Energy Mage..? The old Geezer mentioned that.

Jynx kept her gaze level on Frea, a long silence passing between them as suddenly Fairy Hills faded in the ghost girl's mind, and dim encircled them. Frea shone amongst the sudden shadow, a bright silver light beginning to illuminate from her chest, from her very being.

_Your soul, Energy Dragon.... It's of the purest I've seen, resilient, powerful... it shines so bright, like a silver fire, even despite that black blight upon it... despite that the corruption is growing in you... you still stay so honest, and pure._

"Energess..." Frea murmured wispily, Jynx was snapped from her thoughts and her concentration as the world around them came back into focus in her mind. Frea smiled faintly, tapping a finger to her chin as her head tilted slightly. "That's what he called it, being a High Energy Mage."

"... You are the highest of them all, Energy Dragon." Jynx murmured, nodding slightly. "High Energy, and High Dragon."

Frea blinked, before nodding slightly with a faint smile. "I suppose so..."

... _.. Please... don't let that bright soul be extinguished. Don't let it be twisted, and maimed... let it stay._

"Jynx." Jynx blinked in question, Frea glanced away for a moment.

"... There's a lot of things I've been called back to recently... Things I guess I buried away, and I need to fix what I can before I can't." Frea started slowly, sweatdropping a little. ".... You mentioned, the spirits trapped away in Nvindorr, you tried to remove them, but you failed."

"Yes..." Jynx murmured, unsure where the sudden change in subject was going.

".... I think I know why you couldn't move them out." Frea murmured, Jynx blinked in shock. ".... They're tied to that place, they guarded Salengoreath with their lives, and now with their deaths. They won't leave, ever... because they would never let go. They know what they're guarding, they sacrificed themselves for it, and in the end cursed themselves to stay even when they were gone... Maybe hoping, one day... what happened to them will be remembered. That their work is remembered again, and what they sacrificed respected... honored."

Jynx tilted her head, Frea's voice was low and wispy, her silver gaze fixed to the water and glinting.

"... I think they're waiting... for someone who remembers what was lost there. What was sacrificed, and they won't settle until that person does, and atones for the murder brought upon them." Frea shook her head slightly, taking in a small breath as she looked up toward Jynx, who was absolutely still.

"I'm going to go back to Nvindorr." Frea murmured firmly, Jynx sweatdropped. "It's just a hunch... I'm not entirely sure what I hope to do, or find.... But I have to. I've forgotten things I never should have... I have to apologize, in any way I can. Afterwards..... maybe they'll rest. And maybe... I'll find something, something that's been at the edge of my mind... something I can't seem to reach."

* * *

"I'll be skipping the training for today, I've been at it for nearly a month. If there's anything more I can improve on, I have no clue what it is... besides, I don't think anybody else has the energy to keep going anyway." Frea murmured toward Master, who was sitting atop the bar in the Guild Hall, a mug in his lap. He quirked an eyebrow at the comment, having watched Frea head over from having been in the Guild's library for a few hours, pouring through anything and everything.

Frea had been keeping Master Makarov up to date on everything she was doing to prepare, as well as asking for advice when she needed it- whether it was for fighting, or something she scrounged up from a book. The Old Man could tell how hard at work she was trying to get ready, it just went to show how urgent and dire all this was. She'd hardly stopped for breath for the last near month now, she hopped from research to brawling with everyone in the Guild, including Natsu, Gajeel, Chase, Gray, Solana, Aisha, Erza, Mira, Elfman, Bixlow, Freed and even Gildarts a few times. This including brawling with Laxus of course, though they hadn't been going all out- Frea mostly asked him to shoot attacks her way so she could practice maneuvering and work on her shield strength and speed. (It was nothing like the Rematch they were both interested in, that would have to come later he supposed..) She was improving, Frea always seemed to, but Master had a feeling Frea didn't think it was nearly enough, and though he had never been around to feel the power of this Thing, he supposed he would have to agree with the Energy Dragon Slayer.

Master blinked, his head tilting slightly, before he nodded a little. She had a point of course, everyone was exhausted, none of the rest of the Guild seemed to have the endurance Frea did, and after pushing so hard for so long, they were wearing thin. More and more Frea had lessened the brawling and simply resigned to practicing on her own or research, she knew well the Guild was worn, and she knew better than to keep pushing them. The whole Guild was in full gear, tense and on edge, just waiting for the final fight to break out- it was mind numbing almost, and still Frea as ever, seemed so calm about it all.

Master was always impressed with how level headed Frea could prove to be at times. But he worried more than anyone else, because unlike the others in the Guild, he and Frea had been honest about what was coming, and what was likely to happen. His heart ached terribly when he thought about it.

"That may be best, to give everyone a little to rest and catch up." Master murmured, "You ought to do the same thing, Frea." He gave her a pointed look, she nodded slightly.

"You're probably right." She murmured, rubbing the back of her neck a little. She paused a moment, her eyes flicking sideways toward the rest of the Guild seeing Natsu chatting away with Lucy and Happy. Erza, Wendy, Carla, and Juvia were seated together, some of them smiling, others talking as Gray sat nearby, content with simply listening. Levy joined Gajeel, Lily and Moon over toward the stage, smiling brightly as she chatted up to the two Exceeds. The Thunder God Tribe were settled at the edge of the hall, talking amongst themselves.

Her eyes moved over toward another table, where Chase, Aisha, Solana and Loke were enjoying one anothers company. The hall was filled with the sound of conversation, everyone's moods were cheerful despite everything... it was nice, she loved this, this atmosphere.

Only... the air was thicker than I had ever been. Chills ran up and down her spine on end, it felt hard to breath, like some huge weight was slowly crushing her, and even the happiness seemed to fade to a dim. This was the anticipation she had felt, the dread of the incoming danger suddenly hitting its peak, it would crash down soon, sooner than ever. She was on edge, she was tense, and a small catch of the eye from Chase across the hall told her she wasn't the only one feeling it.

She and Chase had talked about it the day before, they knew whatever was coming was just around the corner, and more so than ever, she was out of time.

_I have to do this, now, before I can't._

She wouldn't be surprised if that Thing reared its head in the next few hours, she could feel a tingling on the air, it was close... close enough she could feel it breathing down her neck. Before long this Guild wouldn't be like this, there would be no laughing, no conversation. Soon enough, all of this would be gone, and maybe this was the last time she would see it.

She didn't want to leave this, she'd love to sit at her bench and just listen. Let the sound of the Guild around her lull her into bliss... but she couldn't. She loved this Guild, it's people, it's smell, its feel, her Family more than words could ever express... and yet she had to go.

Master blinked, sweatdropping slightly when he noticed the sudden flash of sadness appear on Frea's face for but a split second, before her tenseness shown through and she faced him, her silver gaze steady and calm.

"Master, there's some place I need to go. And I don't have time to explain, it won't be dangerous. But I have to go now.... We don't have much time. Whatever this Thing's planning, it's coming, in maybe a few hours." He stiffened, a sudden flash of urgency sparking from him, and small inklings of fear. She offered him a small smile, it was meant to be reassuring, but he could see sadness in it too. "Listen, there's a lot of things I'd like to do before this happens, and a lot of things I haven't finished, but this is important." She smiled a little more, her head tilting as she crossed her arms behind her back.

Master Makarov simply gazed at her, his mind racing now that she affirmed the danger was mere hours away- and what she said. She had some place to be? For what? He would have begun to ask, but she cut him off easily.

"I promise, Master, I'll be back before you know it." Frea murmured lightly, nodding to him a little, her voice filled with the utmost calm and surety, her tone somber almost. "And when I'm back, I'll win. Don't doubt it, alright?"

His face fell slightly, staring as his eyes glinted in worry, surprise, and sadness almost. He blinked, his eyes searching for a moment.

He didn't want to doubt, but he did. He worried, he was afraid, afraid he was about to lose her again... this is what it felt like to him. Frea telling him now she was leaving somewhere, it sounded more like a goodbye than he liked. Her promise... it didn't sound true, like he was used to from her.

"You've always trusted me to come back Master, even when you had every right not to." Frea murmured softly, catching him off guard. "I'll come back, trust me, please."

He didn't reply, not for a long while. Frea could see he was struggling with doing so, she figured he wanted to tell her to stay, or force her to- but another part of him wanted to trust her, she hoped he would.

Slowly, reluctantly, he nodded, his head bowed and his eyes away from her. She nodded back,

"Thank you." She murmured softly,

"You had better come back... brat..." He hissed, his words sounding pained, Frea frowned a little, feeling her heart clench.

_I'll try... But my promise won't be a real promise._

She nodded again, before turning away and moving toward the front door. She cast one last glance inside the hall, her eyes flicking over each and every one, pausing on Moon, she smiled sadly, and left without another word.

She didn't like leaving Moon behind, but Moon asked too many questions, and she didn't have time to explain it... besides, Moon would probably try to keep her at the Guild, that's just how she was.

_I'm sorry._

* * *

Frea glanced upward, the sun was fading over the land as a mass of dark clouds stretched over the sky, the wind chill and bringing with it a sense of deep dread she had seldom felt before. Ahead she felt something deeper though, something darker... a sickness, a heavy blanket that fell over everything, negativity, and an ancient sense of pain, suffering, rage.

What lay ahead was a mass of tangled limbs and branches, trunks gnarled and hunched as all light seemed to be wiped out barely inches into its cover, the looming figure of silent, dark mountain overlooked the expanse of trees. It smelled sick, rank, and she stiffened slightly at the pure negative emotion and energy moving up toward her in waves as she drew to the edge- the likes of which she should have felt long before, but it was confined to this place, trapped.

Frea reached behind her back, pulling the straps of her bag a little tighter, feeling the weight of the Energy Magic book pressing up against her lower back. She tugged down at the edge of her dark blue long sleeve, wearing with it slim black pants, her combat boots, and a necklace to which a small silver ring was hanging. She tugged at the ribbon holding her hair up, tightening her ponytail and taking a small breath.

Her head tilted slightly, suddenly feeling a small buzz of electricity on the air, and hearing a faint sound of crackling as someone stopped behind her, silent and unmoving. The scent was prickly, but it was also sweet, and familiar too- not to say she wouldn't recognize that Energy Signature on the spot though. She'd been aware of it since she left Magnolia, though she hadn't questioned it.

"Do you really insist on coming with me?" Frea murmured softly, her eyes glinting and hardly all that angry, she just seemed tired, somber even. She glanced backward, her silver gaze meeting an aqua blue one as he simply stared at her, hands in his pockets and the sound of his music playing through his headphones a low rumble on the edge of her senses. "Or is stalking me a new hobby?" She murmured, this time she smirked, though only faintly.

Why he had been following her was a bit of mystery, maybe he thought she was about to go get herself in trouble, or maybe he was simply curious. Both ideas seemed out of character, then again- he hadn't really been like she had grown to know him. Neither he, nor she herself had been the people they once were as of late.

Not that that was a bad thing mind you.

Laxus simply huffed a little, clearing the small distance between them until he was standing just in front of her, "I'm not stalking you, but the fact that you ran off on your own is a bit suspicious, woman." His eyes flashed as she blinked at him, "Especially when you run off on your own and come _here._ " He gestured to the dark and mangled trees in front of them.

"It's just an old forest." Frea murmured, he gave her a flat stare.

"Where you were controlled to come to and unleash a magical force said to be able to destroy the world." He grumbled flatly, "Where you barely managed to seal it up again and nearly died in the process. Yes, I suppose it is simply an 'old forest'."

"Look at you being all sarcastic today." Frea sighed, she chuckled a little though, Laxus didn't seem entirely amused.

"Idiotic woman." He grumbled, Frea simply let it pass.

".... You can come if you want, I don't really care. Though I'm not sure what you thought I was going to be doing; you think I came here to let Salengoreath out again?" Frea murmured, "Or that I was being controlled?"

"It's not impossible." He replied lowly, she shrugged.

"I suppose not, but that's not why I came." Frea murmured softly, turning away from him and looking forward toward the trees. Laxus blinked, head tilting in question just slightly.

"Then what in the hell are you doing here?" He grumbled,

"Trying to find something, and trying... to maybe fix something too." Was the short reply, she didn't give him any time to ask, before she started forward and he sighed, following after her. It was probably best not to question her motivations, it usually didn't get him anywhere when he did, as secretive as she was, so he just decided it best to stay silent and follow.

His reasoning for coming was curiosity, and of course the thought she was being controlled had crossed his mind, she seemed much less energized and lively than usual, but he realized now it was exhaustion, and something else too- maybe sadness.

Laxus sweatdropped slightly, his thoughts suddenly flashing to the night of the Bonfire, when he saw such pain and regret in her eyes for absolutely no reason at all.

_He had been watching her in near awe, but he suddenly stiffened in shock and surprise when he saw a distant look come into her expression, it was a somber look, something faraway, and something he had seen in her before- when she was thinking on memories and things from a long, long time ago._

_His eyes widened as their eyes met, and he saw that she suddenly looked like she was hurting, and he could see a deeper sadness than he had ever seen swimming in her eyes, something long since buried, and something that seemed to hit her in the core... but what the hell...?_

_What in the hell could she have possibly been thinking about just then? It has seemed to him almost like she had drifted away into some memory he hadn't been expecting to, and when she finally snapped out of it- something about it hit her hard._

He glanced around at the dark trees surrounding them on all sides, the silence growing deeper as his nose wrinkled slightly at the scent of sickness, and rancid, long ago spilled blood, almost as if it had all soaked into the very earth. The trees blocked out whatever sun was left, and the wind grew colder, he felt a shiver run down his spine suddenly. This place, it felt dark, and it set him on edge a little.

If it was setting _him_ on edge, he had to wonder how in the hell Frea seemed so undisturbed by it. By the account recalled when Frea had been forced to come here the first time, he remembered that Frea and her brat of an old student mentioning the Energy floating about this place was rank, extremely negative, and powerful. In reality it was dark, and heavy, it pounded away at her senses relentlessly, but Frea ignored it. How she managed to, Laxus had no idea.

Her hand brushed against the gnarled trunks of the trees as they continued further inside in absolute silence, her eyes falling along the path and occasionally trailing sideways into the trees, narrowed and searching, but she never looked back at Laxus. He just kept following her, sweatdropping slightly as he glanced about warily, his ears straining to the sound of the breeze.... It sounded more like whispering somewhere far off than it did wind.

Laxus had never been here, he had never had any reason to, and especially not after what had happened with Frea and the 'Tomb' she had opened and shut here. What little he knew of it had been passed on between Frea and his Grandfather, and even they knew very little, and he had never pried. But suddenly he realized this was probably no place anyone would go lightly, and he stared at Frea's back, eyes narrowed and sweatdropping a little.

Why is she here then?

Frea came to a slow halt, the trees thinning ahead of them until they came upon a large barren clearing, the trees stretching up high above their heads and completely blocking out the sky over the clearing with their dark leaves. The skeletal remains of burned and destroyed buildings crumbling to the ground could be seen on the other side of the clearing. Before them in a field of dirt, were hundreds of spindly, rotted headstones made of simple wooden planks.

Laxus stiffened slightly, his lips curling as the stench of acrid blood and death hit his nose tenfold suddenly, and the dark feeling on the air weighed heavier. He stopped not a few paces behind Frea, eyes narrowed and sweeping over the clearing quickly, all the death and the stench of it, of rot and blood and sickness.... All these graves, it looked like a battlefield, as if someone had come in and butchered an entire city.

He stiffened, frowning a little as his eyes flicked sideways toward Frea, who's face he could now see as she looked straight ahead, nothing about her body nor her face gave away what she was feeling, or how awful the Energy in this one space was.

It was this area that the Negative Energy surrounding Nvindorr sat more deeply than ever, it was confined here and festered, throbbing and pooling so much that Frea had to try hard not to react to it, though now her vision was swimming slightly as her head started to pound. It was disorienting, all this powerful Dark Energy in one place, but this was it... this was where she had to be, so she'd push passed her sudden light-headedness, and wade through the ocean of death and despair, rage, pain, anger and suffering that lingered over this place. It was worse than Jogenen, worse than the Dragon Graveyard... what happened here had been a massacre, and the emotion of all these people who were butchered still remained strong, still remained, as Jynx told her their spirits did.

Frea could tell that too, she heard the whispering, though it wasn't able to be made out. And she could feel something else too, like things moving passed her on all sides, just little wisps of cold air, nothing really, but she felt it.

... _slaughter._

Laxus grit his teeth slightly, his eyes flicking toward Frea as she continued to look out over the Graveyard for a little while longer, his mind starting to race with incessant questions. Why are we here? What the hell is she trying to find? What the hell is going on?

Frea moved forward again without a word, her footsteps light as she wove between the markers, faint coverings of ash rising about her feet as she stepped, Laxus hissed under his breath but he followed still. She moved through in utter silence, even her footsteps seemed to have no sound, and he barely heard the sound of her breathing ahead of him, her eyes moving slowly over the wooden planks sprouting from the ash ridden and dead earth underfoot, glinting and expression a little pained.

_All of these people...._

They moved from the graveyard into the crumbled ruins of what had once been a village, though what remained of their homes and their livelihood was little more than clumps of stone and rotted wood. Frea glanced sideways as she moved up a small path leading through the skeletons of the town, she could feel the ground become hard underfoot, buried cobblestone of a street... that had once been a market.

She slowed slightly, the world slowly as those buildings began to rise up in her mind's eye, the stone stacking and the wooden beams straightening, windows gleaming in sunlight as the shadows of people roamed about the street, stalls filled with goods and people haggling. Children ran through the crowds, chasing one another as the elders looked on from the shade to the side with small smiles on their faces.

Frea glanced forward, the village rebuilding itself in ghostly remnants before her eyes, as she waded and walked through the swirling colors and figures, her attention locking ahead as the buildings widened and a square faced her, a fountain spewing water glittered in the afternoon light as she drew to a halt in front of it. Everything was quiet, everything was moving slowly, figures blurred as they moved, their forms trailing behind them in a mist as she watched in transfixion, as suddenly the Energy of the world around her seemed to fade entirely to nothing, she didn't feel the world as she knew it any longer, she was swallowed up in a sense of sluggish movement, and the faint sense of something else.... Something like the rush of air, something like euphoria.

This felt like that split second moment of Magic she had felt in Hilshine, when she and the others had been moved to safety. Only this time, that split second moment stretched into utter slowness, and she simply watched, calm. Her mind suddenly just fell away toward some place in the deepest corner of her mind, a place she never looked, and some place.... Some place she knew, but she wasn't sure why she did, nor why all of this seemed.... Familiar almost. Her nose twitched suddenly, catching wisps of scents so faint and so far away she couldn't place them, but scents that made her body ache.

Her eyes widened slightly, her heart clenching in her chest as she lay eyes on a figure standing near the fountain, his green gaze passing over her, his dark blue hair glinting in the sun as another joined him, a slightly younger boy with strawberry blonde hair, and a mismatched silver and green gaze.

Her eyes locked with theirs, completely frozen as pain flashed through her core, and a sudden wall of unbearable emotion rammed into her all at once. That hole in her heart suddenly ached stronger, and she hissed slightly, her eyes shutting as she tried her best to banish the sight from her mind, the vision... things were trickling back into place, and yet they were still so far away.

Frea dropped to sit on her heels, her eyes closed as her hand moved up to clasp about the ring she wore on her neck, sweatdropping as her head spun all the more.

Farther ahead, she knew what lay there, flashes of things were cropping back up. Ahead lay the mountain, the cliffface, and the wall that sealed Salengoreath away. A clearing encircled by stone pillars and gates, where once a great stone basin filled with fire would have rest in the center of the clearing.

She never told anyone, and she hardly thought on it, or admitted it to herself... in reality she hadn't really any clue until recently. She remembered clearly her time sent with Chaitanya, she remembered everything that followed her time with her Dragon Foster Mother... but it was a rare thing to recall anything before that time of suddenly being in Chaitanya's care. Everything before that, for the most part.... It was a huge blur. Nothing came to mind, it was all back, it was all... blocked out, lost even.

But now suddenly... things were dripping into focus, slowly, agonizingly... things were coming back, and they came back in fractured fragments, unclear, blurred, and cryptic. But her emotions... those were clearer than anything, and she suddenly realized that maybe there was a lot she didn't understand, not just about herself... but about everything.

... _all of this... it makes no sense, it's impossible... and yet..._

Frea blinked, her eyes opening as they rest on the crumbled and large heap of shattered stone where that fountain had been but moments before, and the ruins of the village remained around her, the vision gone entirely.

... _I can't remember it all... and I don't understand it..._

Her hand gripped the ring tighter as she sweatdropped.

... _. I'm not who I thought I was... huh...?_

She took in a deep breath, her head lifting slightly as she unstrapped her bag from her back, and pulled a small rolled up piece of paper from it. She unrolled it lightly and set it down on the ground in front of her, the scratches of ink upon the paper depicted what looked to be a Magic Circle of intricate, and maybe even ancient design. It was nothing like Laxus had ever seen, from what little he glanced of it, as he stood still farther behind Frea, arms crossed over his chest and eyes narrowed. He just watched intently, stiffening slightly when she suddenly sat down, and eyes fixed to her movements.

He noticed how she seemed to suddenly be lost in deep thought, like she had been that night, when it seemed reality fell away from her and she saw something he couldn't. He didn't understand why she suddenly seemed so somber and sad, and he certainly had no idea what was going on with her either, this was odd, even for Frea. For a moment he wondered if she even remembered he was here anymore. It wouldn't surprise him if she didn't.

Frea took in another small breath, pulling the ring from the chain around her neck she lightly set it in the middle of the Magic Circle drawn upon the paper. Her eyes flashed as she looked back up and let them fall closed, her hands clapping lightly together in front of her as she pressed the edge of her fingers to her chin, silver wisps of Magic circling around her form as silver light began to illuminate the lines of the Magic Circle upon the paper. Laxus' attention perked slightly,

"... _. In place where lives were lost, and family destroyed,_

_Where history was erased, and time taken away all that was served,_

_Recall now, the price that was paid,_

_The sacrifice made on hallowed ground, and bloodstained land._

_Call toward the wandering, and let history be recanted, no longer lost."_

Frea's voice was soft, wispy almost as she said the words slowly, her voice level and her Magic floating about her person in soft, gentle waves. Laxus blinked, his ears straining to hear the words she said them so low, and eyes narrowing in slight confusion. Her Magic wasn't growing stronger or more potent like it usually would when she was casting a Spell, it remained steady and so calm, it wasn't right.... It didn't really sound all that much like a Spell at all, actually.

" _What events here have been forgotten, and the lives paid in service have drifted away,_

_Where remains only hollow empty remnants of a deed so awful, death itself will not destroy the flame._

_Here were such a crime was committed, where innocent lives were brought to slaughter,_

_Where ghosts of the condemned still rage, where fragments of the wronged move still,_

_History that was once lost, has been revived,_

_Hope please, that those specters will accept,_

_Hope, that the crime be forgiven, so peace may reign._

_Not the act that stole away the life,_

_But the crime.... Of things that should never have been forgotten."_

Frea's voice dropped, the ring set upon the paper suddenly spinning in the air as it glinted with the silver light of her Magic. Laxus stiffened, his attention snapping upward as the wind suddenly picked up over their heads, and what he thought was the sound of far off whispering suddenly grew louder, and he knew for sure was the faint sound of voices, hundreds, and yet still so faint they could not be made out. The whole of the forest suddenly felt... alive.

The leaves rustled, those things that had been silent and dormant suddenly stirred with life that hadn't been seen in this place for an age. It was as if the air came to life, the entirety of the atmosphere around them shifted, and a sudden faint, yet vivid sort of energy moved through him all at once. His eyes snapped back to Frea, rigid as he stared at her back. What on earth was she doing? What sort of Magic was this...

No, that wasn't right. This wasn't Frea's Magic, he knew that, he felt her Magic hadn't changed the whole time, this was something else. And the words she spoke, they weren't a Spell, they were something else.

Frea's eyes opened as she felt the wind pick up, the voices rose higher and she felt the Energy shift around her. The darkness was throbbing, moving, festering, _reacting._ Her eyes fixed to the steady spinning of the ring in the air before her, the light of her Magic flashing off the swirling designs carved into the metal.

" _Deneos ze."_

The wind picked up in a great burst of warm air, the trees seemed to sigh around them, and the voices faded away, the shadows around them seemed to recede, and the air grew lighter. It was as if the energy that had been suffocating this place suddenly disappeared altogether, and they could breathe easily again. The Dark Energy surrounding this place suddenly shifted, and grew lighter, more calm. Like some evil poison had been drawn from the wounds of the Land, and cast away. Everything relaxed, everything felt... peaceful.

Things went silent, and the ring fell lightly into the center of the paper again.

Laxus' attention perked as Frea said the last few words, his eyes moving to her from having been looking around, quite taken aback by how different the forest seemed to be around them. In a place that had felt so heavy and closed in, it felt like it had opened up, and even the scent of death and blood seemed to start to fade, and it was no longer icy cold anymore. It was like an entirely new place, and he looked back as he heard her voice change to that of the Dragon Language.

He stared in near awe, eyes wide slightly and completely still.

If that wasn't a Spell she had been casting, as he was fairly sure it hand been... what just happened? What was that just now? It was like... the forest settled, all on it's own.

Frea picked the ring back up, threading it through the chain around her neck again and placing the paper back in her bag, before strapping it to her back again. Laxus blinked, as she turned toward him, a small smile gracing her lips and all sadness and somberness he had seen in her suddenly vanished, and she just seemed... relieved.

He stared slightly, a bead of sweat dripping down his face as she smiled at him, her head tilting a little. Nothing about her gave any indication of what she had been doing, or even what she had been feeling before coming. She had been exhausted, somber, and he had seen sadness in her too, and now she just seemed... happy.

_What in the....?_

"We can go home now."

* * *

"You haven't asked about all of that back in Nvindorr."

Laxus glanced forward as Frea suddenly said something, after having been an hour or two of nothing but silence between them on the way back to Magnolia. She walked ahead of him, balancing on the wall that moved alongside one of the channels that carved through the town, her arms hooked behind her back, everything dark and grey around them as the sky remained covered in deep clouds, though it must have been sundown by now.

They had left Nvindorr behind, and Laxus had said nothing to her since. He hadn't asked about what she was doing, he hadn't said a damn thing, though she knew he had questions, she could feel his confusion. It surprised her slightly he had said nothing however, anyone would be confused and curious, and anyone would want to question her actions, and yet it was odd he hadn't at all.

Laxus sweatdropped slightly, his eyes narrowing on her back as he let out a small, nearly silent huff.

"Why do I need to know?" He replied lowly, causing Frea to come to a slow halt, her eyes widening as she blinked at the answer, her back still turned to him. He grumbled under his breath a little, eyes closing. "You do a lot of weird and insane things woman, it's tiring to keep guessing and questioning your every move. So why bother? You do things for a reason, it's not really my business why."

Frea turned toward him, blinking once or twice as she simply settled her gaze on him, his eyes still closed and not looking at her.

" _..it's not really my business why."_

... _. Laxus...._ She smiled slightly, her eyes softening.

So he does have a sense of when not to pry into things. He can tell when it's not a subject to go messing with... I never knew he was so observant, or cared that much really... he was more considerate than Frea even really realized, or noticed. Of course... he had had this sort of reaction earlier, when they met one another that night, and he carried her back to Fairy Hills, though it didn't cease to surprise her even now, nor did she appreciate it any less.

She wouldn't say she was all that interested in explaining everything about what she had been doing there in Nvindorr, it was in all reality more personal than maybe even Laxus realized, and she wasn't entirely comfortable with explaining it.... But maybe someday, later, she'd talk about it. For whatever reason the idea of telling him didn't seem all that bad, though she wasn't sure why. But she appreciated it more than he'd ever know, the fact that he wasn't going to press her for answers, and she appreciated it as well, how he had simply listened and said nothing to her while they were actually in Nvindorr. In a way it was slightly comforting to feel his Energy Signature there near to her at the time, and even now- especially as the feeling of dread grew so potent she felt her head beginning to spin.

_Laxus, you're a goddamn mystery, you're always doing something new that catches me off guard. And more and more often, I'm seeing more of that side of you that you've hardly ever let the rest of the world see._

She laughed lightly, causing him to look up her way in slight question at her sudden amusement.

"What's so funny?" He grumbled,

"You." She replied lightly, earning a small frown from him. Her eyes flashed in amusement that was entirely uncalled for in the situation really. "It's amazing how much you manage to surprise me, and how different you are from how you let everyone see you all the time." He let out a small 'tch', a small blush suddenly dusting his cheeks as he shot her a small glare and looked away. "You're making it really hard to get annoyed with you, you know?"

"Well the feeling isn't mutual." He snapped lowly, though he didn't sound all that angry. Frea chuckled under her breath, looking away as she glanced upward toward the dark mass of clouds overhead, her smile fading as she frowned a little, looking wary and sweatdropping.

"...Laxus." Frea murmured softly, her voice dropping and all her amusement suddenly gone. Laxus blinked, seeing her expression suddenly changed as she glanced up at the sky overhead.

"... Hmm?" He mumbled,

".... I'm sorry, for dragging you into things, it wasn't really my intention. And I'm sorry for being such a pain in the ass, I didn't plan to be." She murmured softly, her eyes narrowing as she sweatdropped some more, her body stiffening as he blinked in shock. What the hell was she apologizing now for?

"... I don't think there's any time left anymore."

Laxus stiffened, sweatdropping heavily as she suddenly said the words, her eyes still fixed overhead and not looking toward him at all. His jaw clenched slightly, feeling a rising sense of uneasiness rise all the higher suddenly,

He knew that look on Frea's face just now, he recognized what the tenseness in her body was, and the way her tone dropped to something low and steady. It was a defensive stance, she looked prepared, like she was expecting an attack at any moment, and he felt himself grow rigid in sudden mimicked tenseness.

She didn't mean that she expected something to happen _now_ did she? That that Thing was gonna try something now? Out of the blue?

Maybe not out of the blue, he had been tense all day without really knowing why, and the sky overhead was dark, and foreboding in it's own way. He hissed slightly, taking a small step her direction, eyes narrowed and gaze firm. Thunder rumbled from the sky overhead, Frea bit the inside of her cheek, feeling the air starting to spark slightly with unfamiliar, prickling Energy.

"What the hell are you-?" he growled,

" _Right you are, Malunafrey."_

Frea went rigid, her silver eyes narrowing to slits as suddenly she heard the low voice hissing in her ears, sending shivers down her spine as her heart suddenly sped up.

"You..." Frea growled lowly,

" _The time has finally come, this is the day, the day the champions will fight, and the fate of Magic will be decided."_ The voice went on, Frea blinked in confusion, glancing around quickly as she made sure it hadn't popped up somewhere near to her, but the voice was in her head. It laughed, it's voice ringing closely in her ears, hissing and nearly high-pitched to the point her ears hurt to hear it, and she winced.

"What in the hell is that..?" Laxus hissed lowly, Frea's attention snapped toward him in utter shock as he said the words. Their eyes met, as he winced slightly as the voice's laughter grew louder,

_Laxus can hear it too?!_

" _Today is the day all Wizards will witness and remember this as the day that Dark won over the light, and the day that the Energy Dragon will fall."_

Frea felt an icy cold pang of fear suddenly race through her heart, and she saw a sudden flash of worry in Laxus' eyes at the words.

Their eyes locked as she was suddenly bombarded with the feeling of a Magic so deep, so dark and so powerful she felt she could hardly breath under the weight of it's pressure, and she felt it wrapping around her person tightly, the world becoming engulfed in darkness as nothing but cold surrounded her very being, and she felt herself being dragged under immense, choking black waves.

"Frea!"

This was it.

It was happening, that Thing finally made it's move, and now it was dragging her away, she couldn't see, all her senses were suddenly overwhelmed by the sheer immensity of that Thing's Energy Signature. She was immobile, helpless, she couldn't struggle, she couldn't move.

" _The world will witness this, Malunafrey. Face me,"_ The voice hissed amongst the black, it's voice ringing through straight to her core.

" _I have been waiting so very long for this day to come."_


	55. This Day

**Chapter 55**

**This Day**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

_"Welcome, Malunafrey. This will be the day, the day our ritual begins, and one that we partake in together."_

Frea whipped about, her body rigid and senses on high alert as the waves of black spun around her being, pushing and pulling relentlessly, the Thing's voice hissing more loudly than ever. The ground was moving rapidly under her feet, making her stumble all the more with the relentless pushing and pulling.

This Magic was overwhelming, she couldn't make out anything around her, no scents, no Energy, she was drowning in a world composed entirely of stifling, incredible power. All her senses were cut off because of it, but she struggled against the waves of black as best she could.

 _"Are you prepared? You've been doing your best to make sure of it this last month, have you not?"_ The voice went on, Frea hissed as a wave crashed into her hard enough to send her sprawling, her body aching at the impact.

_"Fitting I think... That this is the day our Rite shall begin."_

Frea's body bounced against a floor, her bones aching at the sheer force that rammed into her, she couldn't manage to stand back up she was being pummeled so hard.

_"Have you made peace with your crime, Malunafrey?"_

She coughed, the breath driven from her as she was smashed into the floor hard enough she felt it gave in around her.

_"Are you ready to be responsible for another?"_

Frea yelled out in pain, bouncing backward as she was thrown. The black around her suddenly flowed away as if it had been grabbed and ripped from the air itself, she found herself hitting hard, cool stone as the scent of mountain air and water hit her nose.

She flipped, landing in a crouch on her feet as she skid backward a little, wincing at the aching pain all over her body from the pummeling.

Her head snapped upward, eyes going wide as her body went rigid, sweatdropping heavily and mind racing.

_This... This place...?!_

She stood on a small, shallow uprising of stone that was surrounded by the cool and churning waters of a lake. Great ripples flowed outward toward her from the waterfall spilling from a clifface into the lake on the far wide ahead of her, the edge of the cliff face lined with line trees and mist dancing on the air. On the opposite end of the water she could see a grassy shoreline bordering the waves, and the standing figure of slabs of stone stacked atop one another.

Her head snapped sideways, hearing someone suddenly let out a small yelp of pain as they were thrown to collide with the stone underfoot. She blinked in shock, seeing a mess of dark hair and blue eyes moving to meet her own as Chase appeared not far from her, looking just as shocked as she did upon seeing her, and where it was they were. They both knew it so well,

_"Welcome home, Malunafrey. Or at least, welcome back to your second home is more correct."_

Frea's and Chase's eyes separated as the voice suddenly rung out around them, they glanced around for the source but couldn't see anything.

Frea stood up, as Chase did the same, both of them alert and tense.

"This is the Sacred Ground for Energy, a Magic as old as this world, and perhaps older. On this sacred day, where the balance of Light and Dark is to be decided among our Champions of the Element, we will partake in a Ritual so sacred and wound so tightly in the inner workings of the world and Magic itself." The voice announced, seeming to flow all around them as both Frea and Chase stiffened, suddenly feeling the stony island under their feet beginning to tremble as some deep, unfamiliar Magic began to flare up around them.

They sky overhead grew darker as a swirling mass of pure black swirled over their heads and around the both of them in all sides, they steadied themselves as the stone under their feet shifted, the water at the edges sloshing.

"What in the hell...?!" Chase hissed, Frea sweatdropped.

_This place... Sacred Ground for... Energy...?!_

Frea stiffened, the island under them suddenly rising up from the depths of the lake itself as a large circular slab of stone rose from the water. She steadied herself against the movement, watching with narrowed eyes as the island grew in size around them until it was nearly as large as the colosseum of the Grand Magic Games. Sharp, jagged stones erected around the edges of the island, encircling them as the waves in the lake crashed against the new land, spraying water everywhere as the island slowly came to a halt again.

 _"It isn't a wonder your Dragon chose this place to train you, Malunafrey. She was protecting it. And now this Sacred Ground will serve as the platform for our Rite."_ The voice echoed, chuckling lowly.

"Wait... It means this Mountain... It's one of those places like Hilshine and Nvindorr..?!" Chase hissed, suddenly jumping to be close to Frea, who's eyes hit the ground.

This sudden island in the center of the lake... What that Thing was talking about... This wasn't familiar, not in a place that was very much embedded in her heart.

_How could... I lived here with Chaitanya for years! How could I have never known?!_

Chase's eyes widened slightly, seeing the shock and utter confusion appear on Frea's face. He sweatdropped,

_Teach... She had no idea..._

"Of course, every Rite and Ritual must have witnesses."

  
Frea and Chase's eyes went wide, their heads snapped upward and sweatdropping heavily as they both went rigid. Frea felt her heart drop to her stomach as a cold sweat fell down her back, her blood running cold and heart pounding.

_N-no...!_

Around the island on all sides, hovering over the water were large domes made of pale black Magic, the surface swimming slightly as the domes remained immobilized, powered by some unknown force.

"Oi! What's goin' on?!"

"Where are we?!"

"Who the hell is that talking?!"

"Hey, what the hell are we seeing?!"

"Frea? Chase?"

Around them trapped inside the floating domes were the familiar and confused faces of the rest of Fairy Tail, their hands and fists pressed against the surface of the Magic, all of them with waves of confusion, fear, panic, and rising agitation sparking from them to barrel into her.

Frea's eyes swept around her, seeing every member of the Guild trapped around them, and screens of Magic floating above them, showing even more faces, many of them familiar as well. On the face of the screen was a familiar sight of people trapped in domes in some other location, and those faces looked back at her in the utmost confusion.

Her eyes locked with Master Makarov's, seeing his shock and worry in his gaze as he pressed his hands against the wall of Magic separating them.

"... The whole Guild..." Chase stammered slightly, his own eyes locking with Aisha's. Beside her stood Solana, and Loke beside Lucy, both Spirits having passed through their Gates on their own when they sensed something was wrong.

"Hey, ain't that SaberTooth up there?" Gajeel grumbled, his attention turning to the screens overhead as his attention caught sight of Sting and Rogue on one of the many shown.

"Gajeel," Rogue mumbled,

"Mermaid Heel too..." Erza mumbled, her eyes locking with that of Kagura.

"It looks like all the Guilds from the GMG are trapped like us." Lucy murmured, counting Quatro Cerberus, Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale, SaberTooth, and Mermaid Heel on the screens overhead.

"Oi! Frea!"

Frea's attention snapped toward the voice, her eyes locking with Natsu as he looked down at her.

"What the hell is going on?! Where are we?!" The pinkette demanded, Frea sweatdropped.

"And what the hell is all of this? Who is that talking?" Gray growled, his fists slamming against the Magic dome encircling them, frosted over but the Magic didn't flinch.

"Frea..." Moon mumbled, her eyes locking with her Partners for a few long moments, glinting in worry and fear. Frea bit the inside of her lips slightly, she hated that look...

"Frea! What's going on? We can't move we're trapped in this Dome, we threw everything we had at it but it won't budge!" Sting called, Frea hissed slightly, her eyes breaking from Moon toward his face on one of the screens overhead.

"We can't get out either." Jura informed from the screen he was on.

"Oh dear, this is looking bad. We can't seem to get through either." Master Bob murmured, his eyes moving to Master Makarov. "What's going on Makie?"

"We're not entirely sure." Master replied lowly,

"This is it..." Frea's eyes moved to the voice, seeing Jynx trapped among the domes with Fairy Tail, she sweatdropped.

_How was Jynx brought here? She's not even human!_

Her eyes met the girls red ones, she saw fear in them, deep and true terror.

"... This is the day..."

"Fire Dragon Wing Slash!"

Frea and Chase sweatdropped, blinking slightly at the sudden glow of orange that represented Natsu. His attack bounced against the screen of Magic in front of him, but simply ricocheted backward, causing the people trapped in the dome with him to scramble to dodge the out of control flames. There wasn't even a mark on the dome, it didn't do a damn thing.

Frea's eyes narrowed, for a faint moment her eyes locking with Laxus,

_... All these people, all of them hundreds of miles away, all of them in different locations, and all of them with immense power between the lot of them, and all of them subdued. The whole Guild... All of us transported here instantly... How much Power is needed for all of that...?_

She sweatdropped, her fists clenching at her sides as Laxus frowned slightly, she looked away, her eyes hitting the ground as voices and questions were thrown all at once, coupled by the sound of Magic being thrown against the cages that trapped them in place, all their attentions forced to one place, unable to do a damn thing.

_... Too much power. It's stifling._

... This is it...

Her fists clenched harder, her head tilting as a shadow passed over her face, her jaw clenching.

_... Bastard... You're forcing them to see this?!_

"Enough! Shut up, all of you!" Frea snapped, her head snapping upward as she yelled the words. A sudden stillness and silence fell on the air as everyone seemed to cease in movement altogether, all eyes turned to her as Chase sweatdropped beside her, looking wary.

"... Teach." He mumbled, earning her attention. "If everyone else is trapped, why the hell aren't we?"

"... Good question." She growled, her eyes flicking away from him, her eyes narrowed to slits and frowning deeply.

 _"Oh, have I hit a sore spot, Malunafrey_?" Frea's eyes snapped upward at the voice, fangs bared. _"Was it that our Rite shall take place in the very place your Magic was honed and learned with your Dragon? Or was it because of my choice of witnesses?"_ Frea's growled lowly, her fists clenching harder and fangs grinding down on eachother.

"Wait... This is where Frea learned her Magic...?" Solana mumbled,

"... With her Dragon...?" Wendy whispered, eyes wide.

"Who in the hell are you?!" Natsu snapped.

"Ah, forgive me. I suppose introductions are necessary now, especially since this will be our last night on earth together."

Frea and Chase turned, stiffening as a sudden wash of deep black Magic suddenly swirled around the island, before coalescing ahead of them in a mass of jet black.

"Fair perhaps, since I already knew all about you, Malunafrey. Maybe more than you even do... Or care to admit."

Frea's eyes narrowed to slits, the Magic swirling away as a figure appeared among the sea of black, her gaze met dark, emotionless eyes of a sickly grey color.

He was tall and leanly built, wearing dark pants and long boots, with a tight fit dark grey shirt and a dark blue long coat with a tail and a grey sash tied around his waist, with a belt as well. His hands rest in his coat pockets, smirking slightly, his hair a dark ash brown color and pulled into a long thin braid that reached his lower back. A long deep scar reached across the bridge of his nose and under his left eye, his grey eyes locked to Frea's as she glared, sweatdropping at the waves of sheer power flowing from him incessantly.

_... Finally, a face to the Power..._

"Hello Malunafrey, it is a pleasure to see you again." The man smiled, his voice so hollow and yet dripping with so much malicious intent Frea felt shivers run down her spine a moment. This voice was familiar, the same one that had haunted her dreams and her every step for months on end now.

"... You..." She hissed, eyes glistening in barely muffled anger. Chase glanced her way momentarily, sweatdropping, how she managed to look so angry and composed when such power was ramming into them was a mystery, it was all so choking.

"Such fury in your eyes Malunafrey." The man smirked, Frea growled, taking a step forward as Chase's hand moved up to grab to her arm, stopping her before she could move any father, Chase's eyes locked to the man and frowning.

"Don't be stupid Teach." He muttered lowly, his tone warning.

"Who in the hell are you?" Frea growled, her tone steely. The man smiled, his eyes leaving her as he looked around the gazes of the rest of Fairy Tail looking down at them, seemingly undisturbed by the anger he received by either Frea or the looks of everyone else around them.

"That's disappointing Malunafrey, that you know so very little of such an Ancient and Central Power to which you belong." He murmured, his eyes locking with Makarov's for a small moment, receiving a small glare in return. "... Especially so, given your own history."

Frea went rigid, her fangs grinding down on eachother as her eyes glinted in uneasiness and anger at the words. The man's eyes moved toward her, smiling slyly at the reaction he received, he and Frea all too very aware of the looks of confusion that were passing among the faces of everyone else watching from over their heads.

"... History...?" Chase mumbled, his eyes glancing toward his old Mentor quickly.

"... Allow me to explain." The man grinned, his arms held out to his sides as he took in a deep breath, turning slightly as his eyes fell closed. "That storm brewing overhead, its not so ordinary. Though perhaps you've figured that out already..." His grey eyes flicked downward.

"The world is run on a balance between the Dark and the Light. Where one outweighs the other, the inclinations of the world's living beings and the events that take place are dependent on which side holds over the other. If the balance shall tip in the favor of the Light, the events of the world shall revolve in tranquility and calm. Should the balance tip in favor of the Dark, the world will fall into the pits of chaos and strife unlike any other." The man murmured, his voice hollow and running in the air as it grew drier and colder around them. "The world is ancient beyond measure, and the driving force behind all being, all Magic and all life, is nothing less than three Forces. Three Forces as ancient and old as the world itself, and three Forces that make up all living action, event, everything... And ultimately decide whether the world shall follow the path of Light, or that of Dark."

Frea's eyes narrowed, her head tilting slightly as Chase let go of her arm.

_... Three...?_

"That is what leads us here, it was decided at the dawn of our world that these Three Forces will decide the tip of the scale on the balance of the world. A sacred Rite held between the champions of a Force of Creation, a test that would decide whether the Light or the Dark will reign. A sacred Rite that must be witnessed by members of the tipped section of the current tip of the scale." The man murmured,

"... What in the hell...?" Chase breathed, mind racing as Frea's was as she stood rigid, her eyes fixed to the man and sweatdropping.

_... This... This feeling again..._

Her eyes flicked away from him for a split second, landing on the figure of Jynx who was watching with narrowed eyes, looking slightly stricken and frozen in her place.

_... So foreign... And yet..._

_... Familiar..._

  
The man turned back toward Chase and Frea, his arms seeping forward as he gestured toward them.

"And here we are, the champions of a Force of Creation, standing upon the hallowed ground of Energy itself. Here is where our Rite shall take place, as we face one another to decide the balance of Light over Dark." He smiled, his grin twisted and dark,

All of it was too much at once, all of it cryptic, all of it sounding like something out of psychotic delusion. Forces of Creation that created everything known on this world? A scale between Dark and Light that is decided by these forces?

It was clear now that her mountain was a place like Hilshine and Nvindorr, where ancient Magic was housed... And the ancient Magic held here was Energy. She had never noticed before, because this place was so familiar to her... but maybe deep down she had known. The Land of this mountain had always hummed with life, more potent and more powerful than it usually did, but she'd never realized it was because there was some ancient pull of Pure Energy resting here. Always, just under her nose.... Even now it was hard to believe, but she did. She didn't hear a lie in that man's voice,

It was clear from the confusion on Chase's face that he hadn't been aware of it either, neither of them had pieced it together even after they came into contact with Hilshine and Nvindorr, this place was just so familiar in their hearts nothing had ever felt off about it, it was always natural...

Frea felt her heart drop, her eyes wide as both she and Chase went absolutely rigid, the area around them engulfed in the utmost, deathly silence. Everyone listened intently, eyes glinting and bodies tense, they all felt dread in their hearts and their hearts were pounding more than they'd like, even those watching from a screen and unable to feel the power of the man in front of them. It was such a heavy weighing of evil and dread on the air that was just as dense as the cloud cover overhead, as the black storm whirled unnaturally over everything.

"This will be the arena for our Rite, I have transported your Guild here, and made sure to allow all the other Light Wizards in your country to be privy to what happens here today. Those outside the world of Light and Magic, and every member of every country outside of this will know of what happens here today when it is over, for now, they will sleep." Frea's jaw dropped slightly, a similar reaction by several of the others listening in.

_Is he saying he put every other person in Fiore to sleep all at once!? Everyone except the people he's broadcasting to?!_

How much insane power does that even take?!

"Hey, the townspeople..." Hiniki mumbled, his attention divereted from the screen where he moved to look outside his own window in his Guild Hall.

"They're all passed out..."

"Same in Margret Town.." Lyon grumbled, having moved to look outside his own Hall as well.

"Every non-Wizard... they're all asleep!"

"No way, that's insane!"

"How can he even be doing that?!"

This is insane..... this bastard can control me, and hundreds of Wizards at once, like he did in Hilshine.... So maybe it isn't so much a stretch to think he can put millions to sleep all at once... it's not like he doesn't have the sheer power, my head's already spinning.

Frea's fists clenched, stepping sideways slightly as her eyes narrowed, a bead of sweat falling down her face as her silver eyes locked with the dull grey of the man.

... _This isn't good.... Shit...!_

"Four Champions, Three Forces of Creation, Two Sides of Light and Dark," he smiled wickedly, pitch black Magic working about his form as his eyes glinted in a malicious light.

"One Victor of them all."

Frea and Chase felt a wave of incredible Power ram into them, making them step back as their blood turned to ice and their eyes went wide, frozen in place as their thoughts raced wildly and they struggled to think clearly with the chocking feeling of his Magic ramming into them, it was heavy, suffocating, they couldn't breathe, it was immeasurable. Much more power in one person than they had ever felt, ever. It was impossible, it couldn't... And yet they found themselves unable to move, they couldn't even think, it clouded their thoughts and their senses to the point it was making their heads swim, and they felt numbingly cold.

All of this didn't make any sense, and yet... Frea hissed, her breath shaky as she felt a pang of icy dread strike her heart.

_What he's saying... It's familiar. But why...?! And I can tell he isn't lying..._

They were frozen, everyone around them the same as they struggled to come to grips with what they were hearing, Fairy Tail itself growing rigid as the man's sheer power rammed into them so hard it was nearly as potent as what Frea and Chase were feeling now.

_This... This is what they had to face...?_

The man smiled, his grin twisted and looking delighted with the reaction, the black Magic swirling all around him the tighter as his Magical Pressure continued to rise ten, and then twenty fold, and kept going.

"Come now, champions of Energy, the most powerful Force of Creation that resides in the core of life itself!" The man called, "All living and existent users of this Magic are present, it is time for the Rite to begin. We have gathered together the forces of the Dragon Killer, the fallen Angel Slayer, and the God- those three that shall battle even in the absence of the Devil." His eyes flicked from Frea to Chase consequently, earning looks of shock from them both.

"I am Mordren, Great God of Dark Energy." He grinned, Frea felt her heart stop altogether, her thoughts freezing as mention of gods, angels and demons meant nothing to her in the course of a single second, only one thing stood out just then.

 _M-Mordren... No that can't... He's..._  
  
A sudden wash of the torn and bloodied pages in the Enogora Magrea book washed into her mind, the frantic scribbles littering the page, the sections that had been destroyed with only the lasting mark of one word written in the book itself-

No, not a word, a _name._

_Mordrenotheto..._ _**Mordren, he of death.** _

Why had it never occurred to her it was a name?!

She stopped, her breath catching in her throat as the rest of what he said rammed into her full force, even in the chaotic swimming of her thoughts.

_W-Wait,_ _**we** _ _are the champions..?_

"You don't mean..." Chase breathed, his thoughts clicking together as quickly as Frea's did, and nearly in the same instant as his Magic seemed to race through to their cores.

"His Magic..." Frea breathed, eyes wide as a bead of sweat dripped down her face, jaw slightly agape.

It had never been clear before, it was too overpowering, so dark and malicious... But this Magic... They knew this Magic, they had felt it's kind before on Tenrou and at the GMG, and even more than that they knew it instinctively, but how could it...?!

_We were the only ones, weren't we?!_

Mordren smiled sickly sweet, seeing the realization dawn on their faces, and feeling instantly the sudden panic and even fear sparking from them in that instant.

"... He's an... An Energy _God_ Slayer...?!" Frea stammered under her breath,

_His sheer Magical Pressure is choking, he's put the entire country to sleep and broadcasting and trapping countless other people... This is insane... Impossible... What the hell am I supposed to do against... Against that...?!_

Chase hissed, his body rigid and heart pounding as he did his best to block out as much of Mordren's power so it wouldn't overwhelm him, but it was too much to even attempt to block out completely, and he found it hard to breathe, almost as if there was a huge weight on top of him, he could hardly move damn it, but his mind was spinning rapidly, especially at such an insane realization.

_This isn't possible.. It's been centuries, millennia even, since the time of the Dragons! Energy Mages were extinct, they were supposed to be... Teach and I were supposed to be the only ones left, but there's another? And a damned God Slayer with this insane amount of Magic?!_

Frea flinched slightly, her core feeling icy cold as her breathing stopped altogether, transfixed and vision swimming from the sheer bombardment of Magical Pressure ramming into her. There was a sudden chilly feeling deep in core, something icy and so rare, yet it had become so frequent slightly it was unnerving, the feeling she hated more than anything, and yet she couldn't help herself.

_... Fear... This is fear... Shit..._

* * *

__

_"Kill you it may."_

_Frea's head snapped around at the voice, her eyes trying to train the dark and make anything out. She couldn't see anything- hell she couldn't sense or scent anything either. She didn't recognize the voice either..._

_"Who the hell are you?" She asked of the black, voice low and eyes narrowed._

_"No one you know." Was the simple reply, "... And not even something inherently a 'who'. More a force... A fleeting power." Her heart skipped a moment when a flash of Energy suddenly enveloped her, something faint, something old... Something nagging at the back of her mind, something oddly familiar.. Like Jynx's Magic mixed with her own..._

_Her eyes widened slightly, just as the Energy faded from all feeling to her, it was too faint and too quick to really pick up on it- just like before._

_"You moved us out of the way..." She breathed, the realization clicking in her mind, the quick feeling of the world around her flying past suddenly crowding her memory._

_"You woke me up." She blinked. Woke you up? What? When she activated the barrier? She hadn't felt anything other than the Protection Magic flare up around them..._

_Her mind couldn't work past how she could be speaking with this thing... This person, or whatever sort of power it was.. Without being able to feel the Energy Signature attached to it, like it was there, and yet it wasn't... Like edge thing was moving too fast to even feel it._

_"... But why, why save us?" She asked lowly, eyes narrowed._

_"I was asked to."_

_"Asked?" She mumbled, "By who?"_

_"By someone who truly loves you." She blinked in shock, but didn't get time to ask more. ".. Things are fluid, always in motion... You stopped the current, pulled me from the depths, and threw a stone into the river, you created a ripple- and a large one at that. Whoever you are, and whatever that Ancient Power was that attacked you, and this Land... There is a large rift now, something massive- with you in the center. Surrounded by darkness." She took a small step to the side, eyes narrowing as she listened._

_"What is that supposed to mean?" She muttered, eyes closing._

_"Everything you've already begun to guess, as I'm sure." She stiffened a little. Everything she'd begun to guess?_

_Frea stood in stillness, her eyes falling closed as her firsts clenched at her sides._

_"You will find yourself faced by an Ancient Darkness... And it is unlikely you shall walk away from it. Whatever this force is, it will claim your life." The voice went on, calmly, quietly, almost somberly in a way._

_"You will die, and you cannot avoid it." It murmured, Frea sweatdropped, her eyes moving upward to look out into the darkness._

_"I know."_

_Her voice was calm and unwavering, her gaze serene and body relaxed. Her voice was sure, and it was... Acceptant._

_"I know I'm going to die... But I also have to win." She murmured,_

_"... Perhaps you can."_

_"Frea!"_

* * *

Frea's thoughts snapped back to the present, her eyes leaving from being fixed on Mordren to the sound of the voice, her silver eyes meeting onyx ones as she blinked.

Natsu gave her a hard stare, his expression resolute despite the uneasiness and the rising panic sparking from the lot of those who were tapped and forced to watch from a distance. She blinked at him, lost for words or response at such a steely expression, and such unwavering resolve... His hand swept out as he pointed a finger right at her, eyes glinting expression never wavering. Chase blinked as she did, both their attention turning toward the pinkette and snapping away from the enemy they were transfixed to in stillness.

"Beat this guy's ass!"

Frea blinked, sweatdropping slightly as he snapped the words in her direction, beside him Gray's expression turned firm, slowly the trend followed among the faces of the rest of the Guild, and suddenly the panic started to quiet on the air a little.

"Yeah, don't you two even dare think of losing, got it?!" Gray told them sternly,

"You've got this Frea!" Solana smirked slightly, slamming a fist into her palm and emerald gaze glittering.

"You don't get to die." Aisha grumbled, her purple gaze locking with Chase's as his expression softened slightly, his attention fixed to her as suddenly Mordren's power faded from his mind slightly, as impossible as it seemed... it was like the air lightened a little.

"Time to put those S-Class skills to the test, Frea." Loke called,

"You two are the best two for fighting together! You've got this!" Lucy called,

"This ain't no time for slacking, Silver." Gajeel grumbled,

"No time for that pacifist side now Chase, it's time to really go at it!" Laki and Cana called,

"You have to give it your all!" Freed, Evergreen and Bixlow shouted.

"Man up! You've got this!" Elfman yelled,

"I know you can do this, Frea! Chase!" Moon called, her voice rising as high and unwavering as she could manage, her cool blue gaze meeting Frea's own. Frea swallowed slightly, seeing how hard Moon was trying to look hopeful, but the fear was still there. It was everywhere, in everyone's hearts, lying heavy in the air despite the chorus of encouragement that rose up among Fairy Tail,

"You've got our faith and emotions at your backs." Erza called,

"We have faith in both of you." Mira murmured, earning nods from the rest of the Guild around them.

"You can do it!" Wendy called, her fists clenched in front of her.

"Now beat that bastard to a pulp with everything you got!"

"You're the two most powerful Energy Mages in the world, show this guy who he's messing with!"

Chase and Frea stood in shock as noise erupted around them from the Guild, quite taken aback by the sudden flux of encouragement and vigor from them all. They stared, feeling determination spark on the air as strongly as nervousness and fear did, and even something like hope, and faith.

"You Brats aren't allowed to lose." Frea and Chase's eye snapped toward Master Makarov, who looked back at them both with the utmost seriousness, his gaze unwavering. His swept his hand out toward them, fire brining in his eyes as his voice rose above the rest of his Guild.

"Show him the power of those bonds you've forged through your Family!"

 _ **"Yeah!"**_ The Guild rose up in a chorus of shouting, unaware of the amused smile Mordren wore as he watched the scene, his dark eyes flicking toward the nearly transfixed Energy Mages across from him, both Frea and Chase seemingly unable to come up with a way to react to the sudden vote of confidence in such a situation. The sensation of hundreds of emotions all at once coupled by the pressure of Mordren's own insane Magic was surely bombarding them to the point of it being staggering.

It was too much at once, everything, how insane the situation was, how dire and dangerous... And how the Guild seemed to snap back to reality and put forth their best faces like that, even at the worst of times.

"Fairy Tail! You've got this!"

"You have all of us at your back!"

"We believe in your power!"

Chase and Frea's eyes snapped upward away from their Guild in shock and surprise, looking toward the sudden calls of encouragement from the screens of the other Guilds, seeing the determination in the faces of the other Wizards, and the burning fire of hope too.

"You two will win! We know you will!" Sting and Rogue yelled fervently, their voices rising with those of Lector and Frosch above the huge clamor of encouraging shouts and words all around, everyone watching suddenly pouring forth faith and belief.

_So much faith... Even with that great, powerful... impossible evil we're staring down._

Frea's eyes fell down and away from everyone, moving to the stone underfoot as she bit the inside of her cheek,

... _.. it's ridiculous... how optimistic and hopeful they all are.... I can feel their panic and fear, and they're trying so hard..._  
  
"This is my business now woman, don't you dare go dying, got it? You've still got a score to settle with me, you're not gonna get out of it so easily."

Frea's thoughts stopped, slowly, shesmiled slightly, her ears easily catching to the familiar voice yell out at her among the sudden shouting, though she didn't bother to turn toward it. It was so calm and firm, it almost sounded like an order... Of course that was the point.

 _Hmph... He thinks he's allowed to boss me around now..?_  
  
Frea shook her head slightly, taking in a breath as she glanced upward, stepping forward as she came shoulder to shoulder with Chase, bumping her shoulder against his lightly and casting him a small smirk, her eyes glinting as he blinked at her, expression neutral a moment.

Chase stared, his eyes searching a moment as he looked at her and how utterly calm and determined she looked now. Especially after how uncertain and even afraid she had been but moments before, but now... He saw fire beginning to rise higher in her, coupled by anger and tenseness, but overall she just looked... Determined, unlike anything he had ever seen in her before. Even with all that fear and panic in the air... Even with all the nonesense they had just heard, all the insanity and feeling the sheer Power they were facing, she looked ready, and firm. She looked so calm.

_How calm you can be at the best of times Teach... I'll never get it._

"Well, looks like it's just you and me, Kid." She murmured, "Seems we have a bunch of people looking up at us, huh? Better do our best." She smirked a little more, "We haven't worked together in a long time, think you can keep up?"

He blinked, sweatdropping before he let out a small sigh, smiling slightly himself as he nodded at her.

... _but that calm, and that determination.. it's always been one of the best things about you. It's infectious... intoxicating._

"Course," he replied, his eyes glinting as Frea's flashed and they both looked ahead. "....He seems to think I'm some sort of Angel Slayer, huh Teach?" He sweatdropped slightly, "Not sure why though, Angel Slayers aren't a thing." He paused, glancing sideways toward Frea with a quirked eyebrow. "... Right..?"

Frea shrugged slightly, still smiling faintly, she didn't look his way.

"No clue Kid, this guy's a bit out there." She murmured, her eyes narrowing slightly, Chase blinked, before shaking his head and looking back toward Mordren.

"Well, Angel Slayer or not, this guy's got nothing on us." Frea murmured, slamming a fist into her open palm as both her Magic and Chase's began to flare up around them, their expressions becoming steely and hard as they locked eyes to Mordren, who had been waiting patiently.

_We have so many people watching..._

_... So many people who's lives depend on us winning._

_We have to win..._

_... We can't lose, no matter what._

"We're gonna show this bastard he messed with the wrong people, right Kid?" Frea growled,

"Oh, he has no idea how badly he screwed up." Chase growled, his tone dropping to something so low and so dangerous it was nothing like anyone had ever heard from him before, especially for someone who was so kind and fun loving all the time.

_Even against someone so strong, and power that shouldn't be possible in this world..._

... _. We have to give it our all, we can't back down, not for anything._

Everyone stood in awe, eyes riveted to the scene below them as the two Fairy Tail Mages faced Mordren with the most dark and dangerous expressions they had ever seen, chills running up their spines as the sheer anger and fire burning in their eyes as their Magic rose up around them quickly,

Mordren opened his arms to the both of them, smiling still as he invited them to make a move.

In an ancient Rite, a battle waged between the three most powerful beings of Energy Magic itself... And with the fate of Light over Dark on the line, and the lives of everyone they knew, not to mention their own.

Staring down a being perhaps more powerful than that of all the Mages in the world combined, with such overwhelming power their vision was blurring and it was a struggle to focus, but they faced that great, deep dark evil with the brightest, most daunting fire in their eyes that anyone had ever seen in either Frea or Chase.

And an enemy who was a thousand times more powerful, and knew everything there was to know about them both, and the inner workings of Magic itself, he stared back, his eyes dead and a sickly sweet smile on his face. As suddenly, in the minds of those three people, there was nothing but them in the world around them.

They three were the only ones on the planet... They three were responsible for countless lives.

"You're threatening our friends, our Family." Chase hissed,

"No one gets away with that. No one." Frea growled lowly, her fangs flashing. Mordren's lips pulled into a twisted grin, looking delighted by the sudden fury and the dangerous light he saw in both of them so suddenly.

"And so the Rite begins."

* * *

" _You've finally been pushed into this river, you know. And you can no longer get out of it."_

_Jynx blinked, her eyes snapping away from the scene below her and turning, but the familiar faces of the Guild standing behind her were gone, everything stretched away in a hazy grey expanse in front of her, the sound of the Guilds cheering on the Fairy Tail Wizards left her ears entirely._

_She blinked uncertainly, before she had been ripped away from the White Plan to stand as 'witness' among the others in Fairy Tail, she had been ripped from her own domain and she hadn't been able to leave her prison since entering it... and yet she was suddenly pulled here, and she wasn't sure how it could be possible._

" _You..." She murmured breathlessly, a bead of sweat falling down her face. She stepped forward, her brows furrowing slightly. "You knew this was coming, and yet you couldn't give a little warning?" She growled,_

" _You know it isn't my place to warn anyone, all I do is watch." The voice replied easily, cool and calm. Jynx grimaced slightly, her fists clenching at her sides as she hissed under her breath._

"... _. You know more, more than I do. You always have." She hissed, "This man, Mordren, what he's been saying about the Elements of Creation, it's familiar to me though I'm sure I have never heard it before now.... You know about all of it, don't you?"_

" _Yes, of course." It replied, "I am a Holder of one of those Elements of Creation after all, just as you are." Jynx stiffened, "Just as that girl is, the one the Dark One calls 'Malunafrey'."_

"... _Holder...?" Jynx mumbled,_

" _However, I may know much of what the Dark One is saying, I do not know all of it." The voice kept going, "I'm not all-knowing, nothing is. I only guess."_

_Jynx stiffened slightly,_

"... _guess....?" She mumbled, that sounded quite what she had been doing this entire time._

" _This river leads to many destinations, but it's impossible to know which will come about." The voice murmured, "I have a theory, but I have no way to know if I'm right before we reach the end........ So many paths... and they're all leading here. So many streams... all of them pulled inward toward this moment. Almost like a magnet..." it sighed slightly, "... some of these waters are ancient."_

" _You..... you don't seem at all concerned..." Jynx growled lowly, her eyes flashing. "You've never been nothing more than a bodiless voice. You've stood by and watched for as long as I can remember, always informed of anything and everything going on, always in the middle of things but ever on the sideline.... How...." Her fists clenched harder, eyes flashing hotly. "How can you be so neutral to the violence going on around you?! The death and the pain?! How can anything be so heartless to it all?!"_

"... _. Hmm... I suppose you could say it's in my nature. To be impassive... it's who I am." The voice returned,_

" _How can you say that?!" She snapped back, her eyes narrowing to slits. "Tch... I'd be astounded, but you're not even human. You're just pure force, of course you don't feel emotion. You need a soul to even experience it."_

" _Hehe~"_

_Jynx stiffened, the laughter ringing out around her on all sides from the ever present voice, sweatdropping slightly and quite unsure as to what had earned such a response._

" _You are a Master of your art, but you are still naïve at heart it seems." The voice replied lightly, "You've not taken a step back to see the full expanse, you've only ever peered closely so you have never seen it. It is true I may not be 'human' in the technical sense, what I am now is more ethereal... but I was human once." Jynx went rigid,_

"... _if you were human... then you must have..." She stammered slightly,_

" _.. somewhere, it'll be heard to find, it's lost in the rivers around me, but it is there I assure you. I do feel emotion, I have just grown to be impartial, but I am not numb. And I am not blind to the detriment this Dark One could have on the world should he win."_

_Jynx's head tilted slightly, there was something different... something about the tone of this voice now. She had heard it, spoken with it for years upon years, even before her death and all that time she spent between the White Plane, before finally returning to the land of the living. This voice had always been soft, calm, and docile. There was hardly ever any hint of emotion outside of the occasional amusement, but the tone she was hearing now... it was somber in a way, it was odd._

"... _I don't understand..." She mumbled, and damn it she hated that. She knew more than most, but even she found herself stumbling about blindly, and that infuriated her more than anything else._

"... _there is a path where this all leads to darkness, infinitely many that lead to destruction and death... but there are also those that lead to a world where Light reigns." Jynx's eyes widened slightly,_

" _You mean.. it's possible they will win...?!" She asked quickly, her heart jumping._

" _Light could win.... But perhaps the circumstances of that victory will not be as you'd wish." Jynx stiffened, her heart plummeting again._

" _The cost of winning may be more than you can bear."_

_Jynx's heart felt like it had been covered in ice, her entire being grew still as a chill ran through her very core._

"... _.. you are naïve, but it would seem that perhaps... you are not the only one who's been mislead, it's quite odd..."_


	56. To Be Slain

**Chapter 56**

**To Be Slain**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

**.:+:.**

"Energy Dragon-" Frea growled, leaning backward as she sucked in air and Chase moved beside her, his hand moving upward as his Magic flared about them.

"Energy Arrows!"

"-Roar!"

Silver and blue swirled together as Chase's Energy Arrows converged with Frea's Roar, the ground wrenched up and split apart by the sheer power as the combined attacks spun out toward Mordren. Frea glanced sideways, her eyes catching Chase's as they split apart instantly.

It was a very long time since they'd fought together, and even then they hardly ever did. Chase was a pacifist by nature, and didn't readily jump into fights like Frea did, and he was usually out with Aisha or Cana and Laki anyway. There hadn't been many major battles in which they had fought together since having become her student and joining the Guild, the fight with Tomaru on Tenrou and the mess in Hilshine had been the last times.

But it was almost as if they were in eachothers heads, like they both instinctively knew what the other planned and coordinated their attacks and spells in a moments time.

The combined tornado of blue and silver spun out toward Mordren at an insane speed, the ground rumbling and a trench wearing into the stone as Mordren simply smiled, not moving a single muscle as the Magic approached. In fact he looked... Amused.

"Yes... Give me everything you have." Mordren sighed quietly, his eyes closing as he leaned back slightly.

"I'll make this fair as well- I won't consume your Magic, though it does look delicious."

His voice was nearly lost to the resounding book that echoed as the combined attack made contact, and Mordren himself was lost to blazing light. Frea and Chase paused, fists clenched and senses on high alert, sweatdropping slightly at the comment.

Of course, an Energy _God Slayer_ would be able to simply eat their Magic. Frea could eat his as well- but she wouldn't dare. His Magic was... She couldn't even hardly describe it, the first thing that came to mind at the idea of eating his Magic herself was pain. Immense pain. Eating something so powerful and wild and opposite her own nature would probably just tear her up inside, Energy Magic or not.

"Did they get him?" Wendy mumbled.

"It can't be that easy..." Gray hissed,

Frea stiffened, her eyes narrowing to slits as the dust settled and Mordren stood among it, not a scratch on him- but a trench worn into the ground on either side of him, a direct line where he stood had been untouched. Almost as if he had simply... _Did he deflect that attack?!_  
  
"That's crazy, he didn't even move..!" Chase hissed, Frea growled.

"You didn't even question what it was I said?" Mordren asked, his dull eyes flicking toward Chase. "Not a wonder on 'Angel Slayer'?"

"We don't have to question insanity!" Frea snapped, her Magic blazing as Chase's did as well. Mordren blinked, watching with the utmost calm as Frea suddenly lunged his way, her movements so fast it was hard for the Guild to follow.

"Energy Lance; Storm!"

The air erupted in a blaze of light as silver beams of Magic shot down from overhead toward Mordren. He glanced upward at the attack, his attention diverted from Frea a moment as he blinked.

Without even moving a muscle, deep black sprung up through the air to engulf Frea's Magic entirely. It was destroyed in an instant, the silver quenched by the deep black in a resounding boom that rattled the stone.

"...that's a little boring, Malunafrey." Mordren murmured. "Was that meant to distract me?" His dull grey eyes moved back, Frea appearing right in front of him as her fist swung his way.

"Energy Dragon Iron Fist!" She snapped, her hand swinging forward only to be met by a wall of black that sprung up to meet the blow. Frea's eyes narrowed, glinting in anger as she pulled her hand back, and her leg swung out- only to be blocked again by his Magic. Mordren didn't move, he didn't have to, it was almost as if his Magic had a mind of its own.

Frea jumped back a little, a few more blows deflected as she growled. She couldn't even touch him damn it! Even with Magic encasing her fists it didn't matter!

"Is that all you've got?" He asked, "Is this all the power the mighty Energy Dragon Slayer has?"

"Tch, screw you!" She snapped angrily.

"And what of you, oh fallen Angel Slayer?" Mordren asked, his eyes moving past Frea and toward Chase, who stiffened slightly. "What Spell are you concocting over there? I can feel your Energy rising... Such a cool feeling, like chill water... It's almost refreshing."

Frea and Chase seemed to sweatdrop, this was odd... And somewhat unfortunate.

Being an Energy Mage gave you a heightened sense of all Magic and Energy- and often times in battle you could feel Magic building before it was ever sent out at you. Many people would see that as an advantage, and it could be- but they had never fought or even thought they would fight against another Energy Mage... Let alone a God Slayer with such an immense and choking amount of Magic Power.

Mordren would feel any Magic they were preparing long before they sent it toward him, and if he was any good- he could even know just what type of Magic was coming his way. They could do the same, yes, but this man was clearly on an entirely different level than they were, and they knew well they were at a clear disadvantage.

He didn't even move to block Frea's blows, he didn't flinch, he couldn't even seem to be touched..... It just seemed like he was playing with them.

"Of course, it is what you would expect of someone who was inherently good- good willed and pure." Mordren murmured. "Angel Slayers have come and gone, but in a way they still remain, right under our noses... Because of course it is the sins of the regular mortals that truly kill angels. And it is the just and righteous that bring such sacred beings to their knees. In this world Angel Slayers have become defunct, and devolved into a shadow of their former selves. But those shadows remain, and deep down... Angel Slayers still remain." Mordren smirked, sweeping his arms toward Chase. Frea blinked,

"... So... Regular Mages who are inherently good are what you consider Angel Slayers...?" She grumbled,

"You are a quick study, Malunafrey." Mordren smiled, "Thought that was rather basic... But yes. Angel Slayers have devolved to those that you now call Regular Mages. And should that Mage's Energy be pure and just, and their Power incredible despite being 'regular', they are those shadows of the Angel Slayers of old; the fallen Magic."

"... You're freaking insane..." Chase hissed,

"I don't expect anyone of this age to understand it." Mordren replied easily, "Much of the world has been lost to Time..." He smiled, maybe a little ruefully at the comment. "... Time indeed has done its best to stop me, but Gods will not bend to it. I've spent my life researching Magic and all it's forms, all it's Forces..... hehe, sneer at the idea all you like, I can feel your hesitation. You believe me more readily than others have in the past, it's a wonder what superiority can do when convincing people below itself."

_How old is this guy anyway...?!_

His Energy Signature and his Magic were both ancient, too ancient to put a number on it or even begin to determine how long he had been around.... But it was a very, very long time. She could feel the certainty in her very core, this man.... This God, he had been on this earth far longer than she or anyone she knew now to have been, and he had the power to prove it.

Frea shot a quick glance over her shoulder toward Chase, catching his blue gaze for a single second, before her attention snapped back around toward Mordren. Mordren glanced her way, blinking in slight interest as Frea slammed her hands into the ground, a silver Magic Circle appearing under her feet.

"Energy Trap!"

The ground cracked slightly as a series of explosions rose up from the ground underneath them, Frea and Mordren lost suddenly to a deep cloud of grey as the glow of their Magics combined. The Guild stiffened, eyes searching the sudden haze as they sweatdropped, uneasy at losing sight of Frea.

"Kid!" Frea snapped, jumping backward from the cloud as she skid to a halt away from it, her Magic spiraling around her as Chase raised his hands over his head, eyes closed and blue surrounding him. "Energy Pentagram: Five Point Strike!" The cloud cleared in a sudden gust of wind, seeing Mordren trapped away inside a large silver box. Five Magic Circles of a blue color appeared all around the edges of the box, light shining between them in the shape of a pentagram, Mordren blinked, looking slightly intrigued.

"Activate; all strikes!" Chase snapped, his eyes opening and glinting with a fire.

Five streams of light blue Energy Magic rushed through the air from the Magic Circles. The strikes were powerful, fast and flexible, easily bending as they moved out toward Mordren so fast they could hardly be seen. Frea clapped her hands together, both she and Chase striking hard and fast and with every ounce of power they could manage all at once. Even after Frea's Energy Trap Mordren didn't even seem to have been touched. As Frea clapped her hands together, the box she had created detonating with immense force in the same instant that Chase's Magic was about to make contact. Frea let her hands fall, eyes narrowed to slits and tense as she watched the dust and the cloud settle, her senses on high alert.

_Surely that much Magic on all sides managed a hit..._

Frea felt her body stiffen, a cold chill run downing her back as suddenly a searing pain ran across her upper arm. She hissed, her blood splattering against the stone underfoot as she held the sudden tear across her arm from nowhere. She cringed, turning about quickly when she heard Chase let out a small yelp and pain prickled on the air toward her, seeing him grab to his upper arm as his blood dripped from a wound there.

_But where in the hell....?!_

"This is disappointing."

Frea and Chase went rigid, their eyes catching sight of Mordren behind them, having appeared from nowhere- and still not a scratch on him. Differently from them, they hadn't even had any inkling sense those attacks were about to hit them, and even then they were just play-blows. He was teasing, playing with them.

"Nothing we threw at him even mattered...?" Chase hissed, blue eyes glinting.

".... Tch..... this is bad...." Frea hissed under her breath,

"I didn't even see him attack....!" Lucy breathed, her eyes wide.

"Tch... None of their hits did anything..." Solana growled,

"This man.... He's insane." Erza grumbled, Mira nodded slightly.

"Insane.... But extremely powerful."

"What the hell is this guy...?" Natsu grumbled, Frea tensed, she could hear more grumbles coming from the Guild and filtering though the projections above them. And damn it, they were right.

Neither Chase nor Frea had felt his Magic flare up in preparation for an attack, his Magical Pressure was just so overwhelming all on its own they couldn't lock on to any indication of an incoming attack at all. If they couldn't anticipate his attacks like they normally would, and with how overwhelmingly powerful and fast he was?

The appropriate term would be, 'royally screwed'.

"Thousands of years of waiting... and this all you have to offer?" Mordren mumbled, his eyes glinting and dull, so devoid of emotion. "I was hoping you would be a challenge, it would be incredibly wasteful for such an important Rite, if I were to destroy you so easily." Chase and Frea swallowed, Mordren's eyes closed, his head tilted back as a sigh escaped his lips. " _Mureii_..." He hissed, Frea blinked, her head tilted a moment at the unbelievably familiar tone of the word.

_But.... That sounded like.... The Dragon Language...? I thought.... I thought he didn't know it...?! That's why he forced me to open the tomb in Nvindorr... Right?!_

".... I suppose I'll just have to draw it out myself, so it doesn't end too quickly." Frea's thoughts snapped away from that instantaneously, both she and Chase going rigid as they felt a wall of suddenly newfound pressure engulf the area around them, the Guild over their heads stiffened as well.

Does he mean... he _is_ playing with us?! Frea and Chase looked to eachother, Chase felt his heart freeze when he saw fear in his Old Mentor's eyes, true fear... a fear he saw so rarely.

"That sudden burst of power..!"

"What the hell is he getting ready to do...!?"

"What the hell does he mean 'draw it out'?"

Frea jumped forward, stepping between Chase in an instant as she swung her arms forward, a silver dome erecting around the both of them as a swatch of black moved toward them from around Mordren, instantly engulfing them both in the black as the air shook with a series of explosions that seemed to go off inside the cloud. Fairy Tail went still, eyes wide and sweatdropping heavily at losing sight of both Chase and Frea in an instant, their gazes searching as Mordren lightly jumped to stand on one of the protruding rocks at the edge of the island, his hands in his pockets.

"Frea! Chase?!" Several Members called,

The air shook as the black cloud was suddenly thrown away by a wave of bright silver, the Magic passing out around Frea who appeared where she had been, blood dripping from a few scratches littering her body but no worse for wear. Everyone stiffened, lost for words and eyes searching when they realized they didn't seen Chase anywhere in the area,

"W-where the hell is...?!"

Frea clapped her hands in front of her, eyes glinting furiously as she bared her fangs at Mordren. The night lit up as a Massive Magic Circle appeared over Mordren's head, "Don't go acting like you're gonna play with us, bastard!" Frea snapped furiously, Mordren blinked, looking slightly intrigued she had managed to ward off his Magic like that, his eyes moving upward toward her Magic Circle over his head. He blinked again, seeing a pale blue Magic Circle the same size as Frea's own appear over him as well.

"Explosive Rain!"

"Energy Beams!"

The Guild's eyes snapped over to see Chase standing atop a silver box erected in the air above where Frea was standing, his arms held out as the array of hundreds of tightly compact Energy Bombs and rays of pale blue Energy shot down from the sky around Mordren. The area where the man stood was uplifted and destroyed by the sheer force of their Magics combing, glittering pieces of blue and silver dancing on the air around the spot.

Frea growled, her eyes snapping sideways to see a sudden shadow at the corner of her vision- not unlike what had happened in Hilshine. She swung her elbow out, ready to catch the man with a sharp blow before he managed to do damage. Mordren smiled, catching her arm with his bare hand and stopping her movement altogether. He lift his other hand, encased with his black Energy Magic as it swirled and moved violently.

Jynx went deathly still from where she was watching, her hands pressed against the cage and her red eyes glittering as she sweatdropped heavily. "Frea, you idiot...!" She snapped under her breath, a rush of panic at seeing the hit make contact. It was the same sort of hit that had been inflicted in Hilshine, Jynx remembered it, and better than anyone else she knew what had become of that last wound, and what it's consequences had been.

_That dark spot... it's expanding...! Growing stronger..! Damn it!_

"Not fast enough, Malunafrey." He hissed, Frea sweatdropped, her body growing rigid as she prepared for him to rip his hand through her torso as he had in Hilshine. "In this battle it is two Mages of Light against one of the Dark...but maybe that's not so accurate. You've not been fully Light for a long while, now have you?" He chuckled, Frea swallowed, her eyes narrowing to slits. "I suppose tainting that Energy of yours some more won't harm anything... except maybe the people you care for, hmm?"

His hand moved forward like lightning, blood hitting the ground as his fingers curled into the top of her shoulder, shredding the skin as his Magic whirled and Frea yelped, her eyes shutting tight against the sudden flash of pain as Mordren smiled wickedly, people from all of the Guild's yelled her name in worry. Mordren's smile faded, his dull gaze meeting Frea's as she smirked, just slightly, and her hand clamped down on to his jacket in the same instant he hit her, her hand glowing bright with her Magic as a Magic Circle appeared on his chest.

"Not fast enough, _jackass_." She hissed, Mordren ripped his fingers from the top of her shoulder and Frea winced at the pain,

"Energy Force!" She snapped, an extreme wave of pressure springing up between herself and Mordren as he was sent flying backward by it, eyes wide and jaw clenched in disbelief. Frea swept her arms forward, her fists clenching as a small, white mark of light appeared on Mordren's chest where Frea had been holding him.

"Energy Chains!" Frea snapped, Mordren coming to a halt as silver chains suddenly wrapped about his body tightly, and struck into the ground, bringing him to his knees as she scowled. "Now, kid!" She called, Chase nodding just slightly as he jumped from her box, his arms sweeping forward as a great, huge wash of light blue Energy Magic flowed through the air behind him like a flood. Frea leaned backward, her cheeks puffing up in the same instant Chase began to move.

"Energy Wave!"

"Energy Dragon Roar!"

Mordren was lost to sight in the intermingled wave and tornado of Magic, the Guilds over the Energy Mage's heads staring in awe at how quickly and how powerfully Chase and Frea seemed to grow in an instants time, and how bold. Without a second to waste as Chase's feet hit the ground again, both he and Frea swept forward, their Magic being wrenched apart by a simple wave of Mordren's hands- his dull grey eyes fixed to them both as they appeared in front of him, Magic blazing and faces deadly.

_Don't let up, not for an instant!_

_Hit this bastard hard and fast, don't give him a chance to retaliate!_

"Energy Dragon Claws!" Frea growled, her fingers bent and streaming in Magic as she swung down at Mordren in an 'x' formation. Mordren's Magic swept up to block the blow, but Frea simply dodged the jet black streams that struck out toward her, and advanced again.

"Energy Sword!" Chase growled, his hands raising above his head as his Magic formed itself into the shape of a large, broad blade. He swung out at Mordren, his attack blocked by a wave of black that clashed with his magic with a metallic ring, Chase let go of the blade and jumped over the wall, his leg swinging out toward Mordren in the same instant Frea brought a Magic encased fist forward.

The rest of the Light Guilds watched in stunned silence as Frea and Chase kept forward, moving in and out of dodging Mordren's attacks and sending out their own. They struck out, hard, fast, and with precise blows, weaving in and out of one another and always seemingly in tandem with the other, both of their attacks timed and synced perfectly with the other. There was an odd, powerful grace when they watched Frea and Chase fighting together, how one would strike out the instant the other did to try and catch Mordren off guard, how they never let up to give him chance to strike back effetely, how Frea or Chase would erect a shield in between the other in a moment's time when they knew there was no time for the other to dodge. It was the movement of two people who knew one another better than most people managed, and the movement of a teacher and her student, two unbelievably powerful and skilled Mages side by side. Their blows were precise, carefully calculated and professional,

Solana smirked slightly, seeing some of the moves she taught Frea in the middle of the Energy Dragon Slayers advance. Her eyes briefly flicked toward Aisha, seeming her sister's eyes glinting as she watched Chase move alongside his Old Mentor with ease and strength. Frea taught him better than anyone really realized, but they saw it now, full force.

For a small moment, a flicker of hope and excitement rose among the watching Guilds. Frea and Chase had this man on the defensive, and they were landing blows- small, shallow ones, but they were managing it. And in no small part thanks to their exceptional teamwork; they really were the two people best suited to work together.

Of course, for every hit they landed Mordren landed one of his own, a small slice across their skin, a puncture, small things, but eventually those would add up, and there was no doubt the wounds would begin to slow them down, that's why they were going so fast. They had to go fast, faster than they had managed before, because if they let up, both Frea and Chase knew Mordren would attack in a moments time, and with how powerful he was, they would be in trouble.

Frea dipped under a swing of an Energy Sword Chase sent Mordren's way, the blow blocked while she was given a chance to strike out with her Energy Dragon Claws, managing a small tear in Mordren's coat, but nothing else. Chase's blue eyes flicked down toward Frea, feeling the prickle of pain coming from her growing sharper by the second, and seeing her wince as a few more droplets of her blood hit the stone underfoot from the wound in her shoulder.

A crazy, foolish plan maybe... but Frea knew she had to take the chance to get close enough to Mordren to stop him from moving, even for a short time. Chase had gone with it, begrudgingly, and sooner rather than later, Frea would be regretting letting herself get hit like that.

Jynx's fists clenched against the wall of Magic keeping them at bay, her red eyes narrowed to slits and looking considerably worried. No one could see what she was seeing... she was seeing something bright slowly turn darker and darker as something deep and powerful grew. An infection, and it was spreading.... And she didn't doubt that Frea herself was feeling it now.

_Damned idiot..!_

Frea hissed under her breath, sweatdropping as she felt something chilly run through her core, something cold that seemed to be seeping into her heart from the direction of the wound in her shoulder. It was agony, it was throbbing and the feeling of it made her feel sick, disoriented... this was nothing like what had happened before, that had only been pain. This time... there was something else happening, swirling inside of her, and it felt oh so wrong.

Mordren jumped backward, flipping over on his hands as his Magic swept up around him in a massive wave, circling to create a huge orb in front of him, and between himself and Frea and Chase. The Fairy Tail Energy Mages stumbled to a half-halt at the sudden coalition of Magic facing them down, Mordren had condensed it all in a second, and blocked their advance as he landed back on his feet, his dark eyes glittering.

"... That's..." Sherria mumbled from the screen, her eyes wide as she recognized the same sort of Spell she was familiar with using. Orga sweatdropped, growling under his breath as he recognized it in an instant as well.

Frea and Chase immediately jumped back, but there was no time to dodge, and no room. Mordren smirked, his arms sweeping back slightly as he leaned in.

"Energy God's Bellow."

Frea and Chase smashed their palms together and lift the other arms up in front of them, their Magic flaring in an instant. "Energy Mage Def-" They said in unison, their Magic swirling toward the other as Mordren's Spell hurtled toward them, but the moment pale blue touched silver before them the Spell ceased. Frea cringed, a shaken gasp escaping her body as sheer agony swept through to her very core and her Magic imploded all in an instant, and she fell to one knee, her fist crunching about her shirt as Chase stiffened, blue eyes wide as he watched her fall.

"T-Teach?!" He stammered, how could her Magic have imploded like that? What the hell happened?!

Moon stiffened, her eyes wide as she saw Frea cringe in pain and her Magic exploded all in a single instant. It was a familiar sight, the same thing had happened when Frea had been about to beat Tomaru, and then something had gone wrong and it seemed her Magic just failed in a single instant. Everyone else around her went rigid, eyes wide and jaws dropping as they watched Frea suddenly fall to one knee as if she was in immense pain.

"Frea..?!"

Chase's eyes snapped away from Frea once he realized he had gotten distracted, his arms raising as he raised his own dome around the both of them.

The Magic engulfed them, blowing straight across the island as the stone surrounding it were shattered and the Magic broke free from the makeshift 'arena'. The watching Guilds all gasped and stiffened, eyes wide and frozen to the spot as they watched the attack send boulders flying like shrapnel, and the air shook violently with the sheer power of it all.

"Frea! Chase!" People shouted, their fists pounding against the Magic Wall holding them back.

"... That much power in that simple move...?" Orga hissed, shuddering slightly. "That can't be possible..."

"This man.... He could wipe out a continent if he wished to..." Freed breathed, ".. and I still get the feeling he is holding back.."

"No way..." Bixlow stammered, 'Not good! Not good!' His Tiki Dolls stammered.

All eyes snapped over to see two figures thrown from the depths of the Magic, both Frea and Chase skidding against the stone hard enough to wear divots into it, before they smashed into some debris that stopped their movement with a painful smack of body against rock. Chase yelped as Frea did the same, their eyes scrunched closed and their entire bodies covered in dirt, blood and cuts.

"Hey?! You ok?!" Gray and Natsu snapped, eyes glinting.

"What the hell just happened Frea?" Erza barked, Chase cracked open an eye, glancing sideways toward Frea who was stiff as a board, her jaw clenched at the unbelievable amount of pain he could feel floating off of her in waves, too much pain for simply getting hit by that attack just now.

".. Teach?" He growled, sitting up and wincing in pain.

"..... My body... it just.... tch..... felt like I had been.. stabbed a thousand times.... So my Magic... imploded...." Frea hissed through gritted teeth, "..... I think.... I think he did something... when he hit me in the shoulder..." She opened her eyes so they were only slits as she glanced his way. ".... This... tch.... Happened when Tomaru attacked Moon and I.... it's.... why I lost..." She added lowly, Chase sweatdropped. Frea had never mentioned that, _not once._

"Oi! What do you mean this happened before, Silver?!" Gajeel snapped, apparently having been able to hear Frea even from the distance he was at. The other Members of the Guild sweatdropped, blinking in confusion. Frea growled under her breath, her body relaxing a little as the pain subsided, but only a little. Moon sweatdropped, her ears flat against her head,

"... so it was the same as when Tomaru.." She mumbled, Lily's ears flicked her way in surprise.

"Hey you bastard! What did you do to her?! HUH?!" Natsu yelled, looking furious. Mordren was standing where he had been, eyes glinting as his lips curled upward in a faint smirk of amusement.

"I've done nothing... but speed up the inevitable." Mordren replied coolly, his eyes landed on Frea as she glared at him. "You're stigma against it is... heh, commendable I suppose. But the longer you fight it, Malunafrey, the more pain you will be in." Everyone stiffened, Jynx's eyes fell closed as her head hung, Mavis glanced toward the Spirit Mage in slight shock and worry when she noticed how panicked and tense Jynx was so suddenly. "Eventually, you will gladly give in, if only to stop the pain." Mordren smiled,

"What the hell does that mean?!" Natsu snapped,

"Small minds will not understand, not fully." Mordren replied, his dull grey gaze snapping toward Natsu, who returned the look with a deadly glare of his own. "You feel it growing, don't you Malunafrey?" He asked, looking back to Frea as she slowly pushed herself to her feet, her legs shaking as she forced them to still. Chase got to his own feet, "There, deep in you...? Something.... Cold, perhaps...?" Mordren asked, Frea went rigid.

_Cold...?_

Frea's hand moved upward self-consciously to grip her shirt about her chest, her eyes fixed to Mordren as she swallowed slightly. That chill in her very core, it felt like ice, like something slow and sickly seeping into her bones and her muscle, into her Magic, and her mind... it was icy, it was foreign.... It was.... _Foul._

Mavis went very still, eyes wide and sweat falling down her face as she slowly looked back toward Jynx, who's head was still hanging, though now her eyes were fixed downward. Mavis felt her heart drop slightly, seeing the pain and the regret on Jynx's features.

_N..No...._

"..... it's... it's too much.... Too much.... Corruption... there's no way to fix it...." Jynx whispered lowly, almost to herself, her eyes shutting tight. ".... It will... fester... grow..... consume..."

"... What the hell is he...?" Chase mumbled, seeing the sudden concern flash across Frea's features as he looked toward her for some clue or answer.

".... I... I'm not really sure..." Frea mumbled uncertainly, though her tone was edged slightly. Chase couldn't manage to be convinced by her answer, though that was an awful thought in itself. What reason would Frea have to lie..? And what about..? What on earth coud put her in the amount of pain he could feel throbbing from her in waves?

"You'll know, in time." Mordren smiled, seeing the confusion and the slight fear that flashed across Frea's face for but an instant. "Eventually... you'll have no choice but to give in.... and oh I wait with baited breath for it." He leaned back, his arms raising around him as he took in a deep breath of air.

"The abyss is more inviting than you know."

Frea and Chase hissed, seeing the clouds overheard swirling as black Magic shot from it in jagged lengths, the air lined with incomparable power as they felt their skin crawl at it. "You've shown me your fury, and your determination... let me show you just what you're dealing with." Mordren smiled, his voice low and dangerous. Frea and Chase stood still, their bodies stiff as boards and their hearts freezing as all breath was driven from them at the sheer pressure suddenly weighing down over them. For a few agonizing moments that seemed to stretch on forever, they didn't move, they couldn't, it was almost as if their feet had been bolted to the ground.

Mordren smiled, his hands moving up in front of him, palms flat as he crossed his arms in an x shape before him.

Frea took in a shaky breath, eyes wide and hardly breathing at all as she watched the clouds jolt and break apart over their heads in a swirl, it was almost as if his Magic had created pitch black lightning... and yet that wasn't it, they weren't continues streams, they were making a lot of noise, noise that was ringing and going off in short bursts... not lightning, not even fluid, what in the hell...?!

"Energy God's Battalion Burst."

"Move!"

Chase and Frea snapped from their sudden stupor when they heard someone up above them snap the order curtly, their hearts racing from the stillness as they scrambled to move, and the sky above them burst with a deafening series of cracks like thunderous fireworks all at once. The sky rained with hundreds of small, compact black orbs racing toward the ground like meteors. The ground caved where it was hit, stone shattered and broke into pebbles and dust as Frea and Chase struggled to move out of the Magic hurtling down toward them. Silver and blue sparked amongst the cloud and the black and they moved, erecting make-shift shield where they could manage to try and spare injury- but it was useless, and less than a few seconds had gone by before they were being pummeled and thrown about by the high power explosions falling from the clouds above. Frea and Chase's yells of pain rose amongst the booming but were lost on the ears of everyone watching, they could hardly believe their eyes or fathom what they were seeing- it was total and utter destruction.

Frea coughed, tasting faint wisps of the metallic taste of blood on her tongue. She groaned, shaking as she slowly sat up after having been thrown into the ground hard enough to crack her ribs, which twinged painfully now as she moved, along with the pain coming from the other wounds littering her body. Crimson smeared against the cracked rock under her hand as she slowly brought herself up, huffing as the projectiles came to a halt, thankfully.

Her body was torn into by small puncture like wounds, from where she had been hit with the projectiles. They didn't explode on contact with herself, thankfully, but they had enough force to rip through her body like butter if hit just right. Her arms were bloody from blocking her torso, and her legs shook as she stood up, her clothes torn and skin bruised all the more. They were powerful hits, sure, but the sheer speed and number of them all at once had been too much, and the area around them looked like a wasteland, though the stone outcroppings creating the walls of the arena were mostly standing. The attack had been focused on one are, on them.

Her silver eyes moved sideways, ever aware of the flare of Chase's Energy Signature there. Her eyes flashed, her jaw clenching when she saw that he was just as worse for wear as she was, if not a little more. Now they were both out of breath, their bodies battered and torn through in several, small various places, their blood dripping fresh as they shook slightly in their standing, but at least they were standing.

"Not many people could survive that assault and come out so unscathed. I applaud you." Mordren smiled, his words earning looks of shock and panic as they saw the state that Frea and Chase were suddenly in. And he called that unscathed?!

Frea growled under her breath, her eyes narrowed as her attention moved from Mordren to the Magic still above their heads.

..... His Magic, it wasn't smooth. It didn't really flow like hers and Chase's did, not as a single stream of it anyway.... Not really. While the Magic swirling around Mordren himself seemed to flow that way, the way it moved during his actual Spells was different, it was odd. She'd not come across an Energy Magic that seemed to move in rapid, powerful bursts like his did, nor did she expect to. Instead of a wash of Magic that moved like water or a smooth, long and continues flow..... his Magic was more like..

".... Bullets." She hissed under her breath, her ears ringing with the memory of how his Magic clapped over their heads. Yeah, that was it.... Like his Magic separated into trillions of high impact bullets that could shred anything, and moved all at once as to appear like a stream, but wasn't.

"..... that's one hell of a Energy Nature..." Chase grumbled, hearing Frea mumble the word under her breath, and having already begun to piece it together himself. He sweatdropped, his eyes narrowing as he wiped blood from his chin. ".... And a Nature, with that much power.... It makes it all the harder to contend with." Frea nodded slightly,

A single stream or flow of Chase or Frea's Magic was flexible, and powerful, but in terms of maneuverability and strike points it was at a disadvantage to that of Mordren's own Energy Magic. They could muster up a huge amount of their Magic and throw it out at once, but anything the size of what Mordren was throwing at them couldn't be matched by their capability, and Mordren's Magic manifesting itself in small, independent bullet like pieces meant he had full control to move every single one of the trillion parts any way he wanted. He could potentially hit them on all sides, at all angles, on every inch of their bodies all at once. He could end this fight in an instant, and with his sheer Force, they wouldn't stand a chance. And it was clear he could change his Energy's Nature even more, enough to let those tiny 'bullets' shred or explode on contact, and he did it effortlessly.

That realization explained how he could surround them with his Magic and seem to hit them at all sides at once, as he had done several times before.

"Dissecting my Energy's Nature are we?" Mordren hummed, looking amused. "There wasn't another Nature like mine in my prime, and I should know... I studied them for years, and destroyed those with many different Energy Natures." He grimaced slightly, his eyes growing darker as his jaw clenched a moment. ".... Maybe fitting, given.." He grumbled, before shaking his head. "It's been such a long time since I've been in company with those of Energy... it's almost refreshing. Even nostalgic... even more so once I rip you to shreds and feel your Energy Signature's snuff out."

Frea sidestepped, catching herself as he head spun violently a moment, and she swallowed hard to try and stifle the sudden woozy feeling in her core. She felt sick, it came in short bouts but it was strong and often enough to give her pause, it felt wrong... she felt wrong, and thinking that sent a chilly wave of panic racing through her.

It wasn't right, it sent shivers running down her spine and she could feel her focus waning slightly. The pain didn't go away, the throbbing in her shoulder didn't let up a moment, and now with the extra beatings moving was just an agonizing chore. Chase was hurting too, and she hated feeling that, but he was better off than she was.

Their plan to strike hard and fast with their full might had gone under, and it had gone under in a single second. Now they were back on the defensive, and defense wasn't working out well. No training could have prepared her for this, and for her- someone who usually could snap off plans and Magic in rapid succession- she was suddenly drawing a blank, she had nothing. Her mind was whirling from the disorientation of Mordren's Magical Pressure, and slowly there was a dark haze creeping over her, sapping her focus and her balance at once.

She could attempt to make a Spell that would Nullify his Magic, but chances were he would destroy that Spell before she managed it, and even if she did she doubted it would work on him. If she had managed a way around Magic Nullification she was certain this Ancient, immeasurably Powerful Energy God Slayer could manage a way around it too. She could throw every Major Spell and every ounce of her Magic Energy at him, and yet she still didn't see that working. Energy Theft didn't seem likely an option either, she couldn't possibly steal his Magic as easily as she had stolen Senna and Cobra's Poison, they hadn't been expecting that, but Mordren could anticipate it- and the anticipation could make it impossible for the theft to work.

Even Chase's Ricochet Shields usually had a possibility of sending someone's Magic back at them to cause damage. But Mordren's Spells were powerful, and even if they were snapped back, Mordren had such control and maneuverability with his Magic he could move it back in an instant, and at double the force.

_What the hell are we supposed to do? If we get hit with even just two more attacks like that last one, we could be done for._

Her eyes flicked from Chase, to the people over their heads as she sweatdropped, cursing in her head as her vision started swimming.

What if they couldn't possibly win? Everyone in the Country... in the World...everyone up there, what would happen to them? Mordren's plan after all of this wasn't clear, but it wouldn't be good. He could bring great evil on everything, he could kill and murder and control countless people, everyone in the country now ere under his Control. They were all puppets, they hadn't a chance to do anything against him, he could kill them all in a moment's time, and it would mean nothing to him. Those familiar and comforting feelings of everyone's Energy Signature's around her would just disappear, they would snuff out like a candle falling to a burst of wind. Every bit of lit in a world full of darkness would suddenly go out, and nothing but black would be left. Everything would be empty, all of it gone... she would lose it all.

She swallowed again, feeling the fear and panic at the thought swirling in the pit of her stomach stronger than that icy, foul chill slowly taking hold. Fear, she was truly afraid of that thought, of the idea that everyone she knew, everyone she loved and every innocent person in the whole of Fiore would suddenly just turn to nothing. The idea of feeling Chase's Energy Signature snuff out, of Moon's, Erza's, Lucy, Gajeel, Gray, Natsu, Mira, Master... everyone, that image in her mind made her shudder, and she swallowed again as her heart stopped.

Nothing in this world could be worse, not pain, not even her own death. She couldn't bear to feel those Energy Signatures go out forever, she couldn't let them die, she couldn't let them suffer whatever Mordren had planned for them. Not a single one of them.

Her eyes fell closed as she took in a slow, shaky breath. She raised her arms in front of her, ignoring or unaware of the fact that all eyes suddenly turned to her. She knew they were watching, she knew what this weight was, it wasn't just Mordren's Magical Pressure, it was responsibility. The responsibility of countless lives... it was not a feeling she welcomed, and not one she wished to hold again, and yet she would accept it.

_I have to do this, regardless of the cost._

_You'll gladly give it then?_

_If it means they live... if it means the people I love will live through this and be safe, there isn't even a choice. I always knew that._

She hissed, she felt the cold in her core growing stronger, and the haze in her head grew thicker, despite how much she tried to fight it. It was getting stronger, her focus was waning too much, and the more she tried to fight it, the more pain that raced through her. It was agony. But she couldn't... she had to fight... that...

_They will not see it as you do._

... _They have to accept it.... Master, he promised, and I know he will keep his word. That's all I need._

Frea's eyes opened, her silver gaze locking to Mordren's full grey one with such a neutral and cold expression, for a moment he looked confused at the sudden change.

_All of you.... I am sorry. I don't have a choice... I'll die, but you can live.... I have...._

Frea winced, for a minute her eyes dropping as she swayed on her feet, the swirling in her head all the more powerful as she felt her sense of balance and reality slip further and further away into the haze clouding her mind. She couldn't shake it off, and oh she tried to, she didn't want that cold to take over... that dark cold to consume her.....

_S..Shit.... I... I can't... keep... i-it.... Straight...._

Chase sweatdropped, glancing Frea's way from the corner of his eye as he saw her entire figure change. She suddenly wasn't shaking, she wasn't afraid, no emotion flowed from her at all, it was just calm... like everything in her had settled into nothing, she was a blank slate to him for the first time, ever. He didn't know this feeling, this steadiness, .... no emotion at all, how was that possible?

Mordren's eyes narrowed, noticing the sudden lack of any emotion coming from Frea at all, and for a moment finding it disturbing. It was like the world had gone numb around him, as his attention focused to her and her flinty gaze as she slowly looked up toward him, trying quickly to pick up any flicker of emotion, any shift in her Energy, anything.

"I'm going to make sure that everyone gets out of here alive." Frea growled lowly, her tone flat. "I'm making sure you all get to go home... regardless of everything else." Chase stiffened, Frea's eyes suddenly flicking his way for but a moment, and he felt his heart drop at how final her words were. It wasn't determination, or a promise... it was something utterly final, utterly stagnant. And for a minute, there was something, something he had never felt from Frea before... something cold. He shivered.

"Teach... what are you... thinking...?" He breathed as the cold feeling vanished altogether, he couldn't tell, he hadn't the slightest clue because still nothing came from her, not the pain of her wounds, not her exhaustion. Nothing. But her eyes had moved back to Mordren, and suddenly, she was gone, Chase stared with wide eyes as a burst of wind suddenly flowed past him, and the world slowed down just enough to let him see her suddenly appear right in front of Mordren, as a massive wave of Power struck him in his core- and it wasn't the God Slayers.

Frea's Magical Power tripled in all but an instant and with no warning, Chase struggled to catch back up with what was happening as Frea swung her hand out toward Mordren, who even looked shocked by the insane amount of speed she had suddenly gained. Frea's Magic flowed around her, warding off and burning straight through Mordren's Magic as it moved up around her, Mordren hissed, sweatdropping, her Magic hadn't ever been able to ward off his Magic until that moment. His eyes locked with Frea's flinty silver ones as she sucked in air, her face inches from his own now as he brought his hands up between them as quickly as she could manage.

Natsu, Chase, Gajeel and Gray stared in utter shock as they saw what Frea was doing, their jaws dropping and astounded.

"That attack, that close...?!" Chase stammered, Frea had never dared use that attack so close to anyone, simply because with how powerful it was, and at such the short range she was at, she could easily kill- and Frea never tried to outright murder anyone, never.

"Energy Dragon Roar!"

Mordren disappeared in the column of the silver tornado that easily reached three stories high in width, Frea's feet hitting the ground as she watched with cold neutrality as her attack panned out, utterly indifferent to the brutal execution of that attack at such a close range. She swept her hands forward, her eyes falling closed as her Magic swirled violently around her feet, and the very air and earth itself shook.

"Energy Dragon Slayer: Earth Shock."

The ground was torn up in a flurry of immense power pouring from it and around it, shaking the ground all around and sending up large slabs of rock, water and earth alike as her Magic made a beeline in the same direction her Roar had already destroyed. The light of her Roar only became more blinding as the air trembled and the rock under Chase's feet shook uncontrollably, the sheer force of the attack added on with the Roar creating a rapid succession of attacks that was overkill, even for Frea. It wasn't simply even overkill, she didn't flinch at it, she didn't seem to care, there wasn't even anger, even though those attacks had been utterly and uncharacteristically brutal. That Roar so close to someone could have easily taken off their head, and the successive Spell after that decimated everything in it's quake, stretching out into the water and the stone under the lake, the waves crashing and water rolling. It was all utterly, utterly brutal, and Frea didn't bat an eye.

"Wha-What's gotten into Frea...?" Wendy stammered, looking astounded and even a little afraid of how violent Frea had suddenly seemed to turn in her actions. It was a look shared by several other people watching, cold pits in the stomach's of many of the Fairy Tail members as they suddenly felt some feeling they hadn't in a long time, and one they never hoped they would. A dread, a sense of something... darker in Frea, as when she lost her temper or control when she still had Shadow and Winter in her body.

".... T-that's... not Frea...." Moon stammered breathlessly, her eyes wide and paws covering her mouth. "Frea would n-never..."

Frea growled, jumping backward and flipping on her heads as a sudden flurry of black launched from the line of destruction she had made, Chase stiffened, dodging quickly from the attacks that came toward him, and easily. They all seemed to be heading straight for Frea, and they seemed to move with an agitated anger and excitement.

A wash of wind swept up as Mordren swiped his hand, clearing the dust and uplifted land from around himself in a clean wash of his Magic, his clothes dirty and ripped, blood dripping from a cut across his face and arm, his lips twisted in an almost maniacal grin.

"Has the Abyss claimed the great and powerful Energy Dragon Slayer?!" He called, his Magic shooting out toward Frea who was still utterly emotionless, her eyes still and flinty as she pushed off the ground, landing neatly on an Energy Box she had created in but a moment, before she launched herself upward into the air, her Magic rising over her head as she lift her arms up.

Chase hissed, shuddering again at the neutrality on his Old Mentor's face, it was wrong, it was off... there was something suddenly different about her, and that feeling of cold hit him again, and dread creeped in. Something about her felt wrong, horribly wrong. He placed his hands on the ground, his Magic pouring into the cracks in the earth and moving quickly toward where Mordren stood, still smiling up as Frea fell through air toward him.

"You tried to take my head off! And bury me alive! Oh I hoped I would see this!" Mordren smirked, eyes wild.

"The day that Malunafrey, great Energy Dragon Slayer, will finally Fall!"

"LightStream Ark!"

"Geyser Minefield!" Chase snapped, pale blue springing up around Mordren in powerful bursts of blue.

The ark of burning silver swept downward toward Mordren as Frea flipped in air, the ground raising and a successive boom echoing out. Frea stared, her gaze cold and not a shred of anger or emotion coming from her, but suddenly that feeling of cold coming from her grew sharper, and this time Chase felt his heart stop.

A sudden flash of pure dark, evil flared from his Old Mentor. True and utter Negative Energy he had only ever felt in those Dark Mages, in Demons and in enemies. And now suddenly, in _her._

He stared, a cold lump falling into his stomach, it couldn't be true, Frea couldn't be that sort of person, she couldn't be evil...! That can't be Dark Energy coming from her now, the sort of Energy that seeped from those with black hearts and frozen souls, that couldn't be coming from Frea, it couldn't!

_N-no, Teach.... You can't be falling into Darkness?! Right?! There's no way!_

He stifled a gasp, eyes wide and shaking slightly, it was too much, it was a sudden blow and he couldn't fathom the idea, and yet he knew exactly what he was feeling at that very moment, there was no doubt... especially when he saw no emotion, no rage, and no hesitation in Frea's expression as she readied for another, brutal, crushing attack. She wasn't her, not the person he knew, she was different... the Frea he knew oh so well had suddenly vanished.

_Teach... is falling to Darkness....? H-how....?_

His fists clenched, eyes narrowed as he shook his head furiously.

_Damn it, no! Not a chance in hell I'm gonna let you, you idiot!_

A massive silver Magic Circle appeared over the area Mordren was standing in, Frea's eyes glinting as she swiped her hands down again. Her Power rose, much more Power than that attack ever needed, and yet she kept pouring her Magic into the attack without hesitation.

"Energy Lance: Storm!"

Chase threw his hand back, a stream of light blue appearing in his hand as his eyes fixed to Frea, jaw clenched. He couldn't, he damn well couldn't sit back and watch one of the few purely good and kind people he had ever known turn into something else, something like the cold and the dark he was feeling grown stronger now, consuming. He couldn't watch his Mentor, and his first friend fall into something she may never get out of, and though he could hardly fathom the idea, he had to do something.

Frea had suffered so much, it had always been something of a wonder that she had been so gentle and kind as she had always been. She had every justification to do bad, and never had... she had worked hard to be good and he couldn't watch that part of her be destroyed, not here, not now, and not like this.

"Energy Whip!" He snapped under his breath, bringing his hand forward as the whip swiped out and wrapped around Frea's torso, earning her flinty silver eyes in an instant as he pulled back, hard. Frea growled, her eyes flashing as she clapped her hand down on his Magic, trying to break it apart.

She landed on her feet not three feet from him, skidding to a halt as she managed to break apart his Magic completely, and his heart dropped when she turned that cold, neutral look on him, and he didn't see the slightest bit of recognition in her face, she was a stranger to him.

"Teach!" He snapped, his hand swiping forward to grab tight hold of her fist. She growled, her face darkening in a sudden glare as he saw her other fist clench, ready to strike at him, him. He growled, and brought his head toward hers, smashing his head against hers with a painful and jolting thud as his other hand blocked her incoming fist, he felt blood drip down past his forehead as his blue eyes met hers, his arms shaking as he held fast to her arms and the force behind them.

"Don't you even _dare_ , Teach, not for a damned second. You're _not_ that person, you can't go acting stupid and forget that. Not for this, not fighting him." He snapped lowly, his tone as flinty as her eyes and blue eyes glinting in fury. "You damned well better be sure I'm gonna kick your ass if you even try it, I'm _not_ gonna let you destroy who you are. You don't _get_ to do that." His voice dropped to low growl, he pushed his forehead against hers harder as she tried to pull her arms from his hold.

Everyone over their heads watched the two of them in tense silence, eyes narrowed and bodies rigid as they struggled to grasp what had happened, most of them all too unaware of what had changed, or why Chase had suddenly grabbed hold of Frea as he had. But all of them felt something off, they just couldn't place what it was, but they watched with baited breath.

Jynx watched intently, her red eyes narrowed to slits and biting her lip as Mavis did the same, Master looking serious and unbelieving. Unlike most everyone else, these three seemed to understand what Chase had, they sensed that sudden dark shift in Frea, they saw her become something else, as her actions and her Spells adopted a brutality very much unseen in Frea, ever.

Aisha and Solana swallowed, eyes half-way closed and looking wary, they felt something too, some dark feeling pass through their core. It was unnatural, it was as if something inside of them shifted as Frea seemed to alter, and they knew deep down something was wrong. And it was wrong with her, with Frea- the feeling was only reinforced when Chase suddenly grabbed hold of her.

"Snap out of it Teach you stupid idiot!" Chase snapped hotly, "You don't get to do this, not after all this time, you don't get to just let yourself fall." His grip on her arm and her clenched fist grew harder, he stepped in closer, pushing her back a little as her flinty silver gaze remained locked with his. "You have _no right_ to do that, not to yourself, not to anyone else who cares about you, and not to me." He glared, watching with glinting eyes and a scowl on his face as she slowly blinked, her eyes narrowed.

Jynx stared, her jaw dropped slightly and eyes wide. The dark spot that had been growing, it suddenly ceased... and it retreated a little. That was... that was impossible, how could anyone resist such pure malice after being consumed so fast...?

The flash of cold, and the dark prickle of Negative Energy coming from her faded, followed closely by her pain suddenly flaring to life to ram straight into him, and a sharp, nauseating feeling of sheer panic and guilt. Frea's push against him and his hands suddenly lifted, and her eyes closed, her legs shaking slightly and jaw clenched as she struggled not to fall onto her knees, the waves of agony running through her were nearly enough to knock Chase on his feet when he felt it, and his eyes flashed in sudden worry, but not without relief.

_T... this is torture...._

She let out a shaky breath, swallowing hard to ignore the throbbing running through her being and the sick feeling in her core, the haze over her mind lifting slowly as the feeling of Chase's Energy Signature and the grip he held on her wrists came to focus, along with the cool refreshing wash of his scent. She'd lost it, she couldn't even think, it was all just black in her head.... She wasn't there, she wasn't in control, and fighting against it was the hardest struggle she had ever faced. She felt her heart clench, she could feel some of Chase's blood trickle down her forehead, she could smell it, she could feel the tenseness in his body as he simply held her arms there in stillness, and she tried hard to regain what little focus she could.

_I... how could I.... I tried to hit him... The thought's that passed through my head.... When Chase stopped me.... How could I ever...?_

She swallowed, one thought, one emotionless, conscienceless voice in her clouded and uncontrolled mind when Chase stopped her. One thought, and one thought that made her feel more sick than she had ever bee, how could she....?! _What did... what did I just turn into..?!_

_Kill_

"S... sorry..." she gasped slightly, her shoulders hunched as she panted a little. Chase's grip on her wrists loosened slightly, his eyes glinting in concern as Frea wobbled, he pulled his forehead apart from hers softly. He'd never felt this much pain coming from Frea all at once, never, and it worried him immensely. He felt something like struggle, and could only imagine how much she was struggling to clear her head at that moment.

"Teach..." He mumbled, sweatdropping.

".... I'm good, you managed to... snap me out of it, Kid.." Her voice sounded forced, and it kind of was. She glanced up at him, nodding slightly as she pulled her hands away from him. ".... Sorry..... That wasn't..." She trailed off, shaking her head a little.

"Didn't it feel good though, Malunafrey?"

Chase and Frea stiffened, eyes wide and heads snapping around as Mordren suddenly appeared right beside them. He was untouched, outside of his arm bleeding slightly and his clothes were torn all the more, even despite Frea's uncontrolled brutality so suddenly. Chase whirled to face him, his fest clenching as he was ready to strike at Mordren in newfound fury, Mordren simply kept his eyes on Frea, and smirked.

Chase stopped dead, his face falling in shock and slight panic when he felt his body cease to move, and despite all his trying he couldn't move a muscle, and suddenly he felt his mind falling to black and senselessness.

Frea's eyes flashed, feeling the same cold numbness she had felt before suddenly spark off Chase as he ceased in his sudden movement toward Mordren. She saweatdropped, seeing Chase's eyes dull and all awareness leaving him. Mordren swept up to stand right in front of her, his hand moving under her jaw and he held her cheek, holding her face and her eyes and his other hand grabbed her lower back, and she found she couldn't move either, though the numbness of the world around her didn't come. She hissed, her shoulder throbbing painfully as he pulled her into him and she was left powerless to do anything about it, his dull grey eyes close to hers as he smiled wickedly.

Those watching above them hissed and snapped in anger and slight concern at how Mordren had managed to immobilize both Chase and Frea so effortlessly.

"Let go of her bastard!" Natsu raged,

"Don't you dare lay a hand on her!"

"Oi! Back off!"

A chorus of yelling and insults erupted overhead as Mordren pulled Frea into him, his eyes closing for a moment as he sighed.

"Let me make this clear for your simple minds." Mordren called easily, his voice ringing clearly all around them- as suddenly silence fell among the yelling and all movement ceased, everyone suddenly rooted to the spot and unable to move a muscle and waves of panic, shock, surprise and wariness sparked all around.

"I am allowing you to observe this Rite at your own leisure, but should you attempt to disrupt it or otherwise make too much noise up there, I can just as easily force you to watch without a word and without a single movement." Mordren called, his dull grey eyes flowing over everyone, all of them immobilized now and unable to do anything but hardly breathe, "Consistently annoy me, I will snap a few of your necks to earn your silence." He smiled, his tone cold and utterly serious in his threat, Frea felt her heart jump, eyes glinting. "And I'll start with the little Dragon Slayer up there, such a small neck won't need hardly any effort to break."

Frea's attention snapped upward toward Wendy, seeing the look of horror appear across her features as sickly pitch black wrapped around her throat, and tightened. Wendy's eyes shut tight, wincing in pain and she struggled to breath and everyone around her watched helplessly, unable to move though they were trying to. Frea's eyes snapped backward to Mordren, meeting his dull grey gaze steadily as she ground her fangs down on one another.

"E... Enough...!" She managed to hiss, Mordren smiled.

"Then answer me this Malunafrey, and for now I will spare your precious little welp." Mordren murmured lowly, his face moving closer to be inches from her own, and he placed his hand on the back of her neck, pulling her head up roughly toward him until they were only inches apart. She cringed slightly, though she couldn't move nearly at all, her eyes narrowed as she wanted nothing more than she thrown him off.

"Did it not feel good? To have all that pain and struggle against it just disappear? To be free of guilt and conscience, if only for those few minutes?" Mordren murmured lowly, his eyes never leaving her own as he smirked all the while. "It must have been freeing, to not worry about pain or righteousness.... To not have a care in the world about the violence and the brutality of your actions.... alluring isn't it?" Frea stiffened, her eyes narrowed to slits.

"N-no.... it's torture, feeling that... being that... it's madness.." She spat lowly, her eyes flashing as his smirk faded just slightly, his gaze leaving hers as he suddenly looked her up and down slowly, taking her in as his mind seemed to wander to somewhere else for but a moment.

"... hmm, madness is fun in it's own way.... But all of you never seem to understand that." He murmured lowly, Frea sweatdropped, he looked at her, and she swore for a split second he wasn't actually seeing her, like he was seeing someone else, and looking straight through her. Then, he smiled widely again, his eyes flashing as he locked them with hers again. "... Hehe... it's a pity you feel that way, since this will be your last day alive. You could have become oh so very dark, and you would be incredible at it too. Shame that potential will be wasted." Frea felt a flash of ice run through her veins, her heart rate picking up as he backed away again, but his fingers suddenly gripped her hair tightly, and still she couldn't move. "I could simply make you do what I want... but that would take all the fun out of it, so I'll simply settle for destroying you as you are now."

_S-shit..!_

Mordren smirked, before whipping about in an instant and throwing her straight into Chase, both of them skidding across the destroyed 'arena' a few hundred feet as a powerful impact went off behind Frea the moment Mordren let go of her hair. They both yelped, both of them smacking into an upturned slab of the earth with a crash, the people overhead suddenly released from their immobility. Carla and Lucy immediately moved to check on Wendy, all other eyes glued to the Energy Mages below them. Frea doubled over slightly, her body aching in a sudden burst of pain and her head throbbing slightly.

"... you ok, Teach..?" Chase grumbled, rubbing the back of his aching head after having hit it on the rock behind them.

".... Tch... been better..." She growled under her breath,

Both her and Chase's heads snapped upward when they felt the air begin to shake, and Mordren's Magical Power increase. They barely had any time to move to try and dodge the incoming flurry of small, powerful black bullet shaped bursts of Magic coming their way, and managed it for no more than a few seconds before being bombarded again, each of them sent flying in opposite directions as some of the bullets went off with a boom, they smashed into the stone again with a painful smack, as the breath was driven from their bodies.

Frea hissed, shaking slightly as she pushed herself to her feet, her Magic spinning up around her in attempt to provide extra protection. Chase stood up, holding a heavily bleeding torso, but his Magic flared too.

"Energy God's Arcing Storm."

Frea growled, jumping backward as a swatch of black sped out toward her, the ground shredded in it's quake. "Energy Shield!" She snapped, the dome appearing around her in midair, cracking the moment the attack made contact, and only blocking a few of the thin, small needle like fragments of Magic that came toward her, sticking into her body and singing slightly with an incredible amount of heat. She lost sight of Chase as a thick cloud of black surrounded her on all sides, and she couldn't hear him either, nor make sense of his Energy Signature as Mordren's Magic muddied her senses anew.

Her eyes shut tight as a wave of agony swept through from her shoulder, but damned if she let it destroy her concentration or implode her Magic.

Grrrahhh.... She had managed a hit, more than one when... She shook her head furiously, she couldn't fall into that again. That brutality and lack of conscience may not seem like a heavy price to pay against a force like Mordren, but she doubted she'd be able to pull herself back.. it had taken Chase to do that, and even then while she had been in that cold, numb haze, she had thought something she dare not, ever.

She couldn't risk it, not again.... But it didn't seem like there was much other option to gain some sort of advantage in this fight.

_Damn it... I wouldn't even call this a fight. He's got all the cards, we're just sticking it out as long as we can managed, damn it..!_

Mordren lift his hand straight up above him, his palm open as black spiraled up into the sky, creating a massive orb of pitch black over the island and where Chase and Frea had become lost to sight in swathes of his 'Arcing Storm' Spell. Everyone in Fairy Tail went rigid, their breath catching in their throats as the air became as heavy as stone on their lungs, the area around them growing darker than simply the storm overhead would allow, the air and their bodies reverberating with the power accumulating over their heads around that sphere. It was easily larger than the palace in Crocus, and the sheer Pressure it was giving off could be felt even in those away in other towns, watching through the screens.

"What the hell kind of Spell is that....?!" Gray stammered,

"We can feel it's pressure even here...?!" Sting and Rogue gasped breathlessly, looking stricken at the feeling as the Members in Lamia, Mermaid, Quatro and Saber did.

"H-how is that possible...?" Kagura stammered,

"Don't you dare use that on my Brats!" Master Makarov boomed, growing in size as he slammed his fists against the wall blocking him away. His action was mimicked by many others in the Guild, panic and fear in their eyes as they tried to break free and to try and stop Mordren from unleashing such a Spell, something like that would surely kill Chase and Frea, and they couldn't sit back! They had to help, they had to do something!

Magic flashed around Fairy Tail, all might and all power being thrown at the Shield, Spells called and bodies tense as they struggled against the wall blocking them. They didn't care about the earlier warning, they didn't even think about it, all focus was on finding some way to help those two down there.

Gildarts lift his hand to the wall, a flash of white appeared before him as he tried to break it apart using Crash, but it did nothing.

Master Makarov growled, stopping as he lift his hands before him, a ball of golden light appearing before him as many in the Guild stopped in shock at his sudden action,

"G-Gramps...?!"

"Hey, ain't that..?!"

"Fairy Law...?!" Mavis and Jynx both breathed, their attention turning to the Old Man the moment the realized what Spell he was getting ready for.

"I will not sit by and watch you kill my children!" He yelled, his eyes locked to Mordren, who glanced his way slowly. Master's eyes snapped shut, his Magical Power tripling as his began to glow with a brilliant gold light. Fairy Tail watched tensely, some of them awed at seeing the Spell so close, sweatdropping as they shielded their eyes from the intensity of the glow.

"Fairy Law!" Master's voice rang out in a clear boom, his hands clapping together. A wave of golden light passed out over the entire area, engulfing everything in it's brilliance, for a few moments, nothing could be seen among the glow and the sudden silence that fell on their ears.

Fairy Law, one of the most powerful and rare Spells on the planet, unleashed before their very eyes. Not even someone as powerful as the Energy God Slayer could stand against it,

The gold suddenly fluctuated, a boom echoing out over their heads as suddenly the light was thrown back and swallowed up in a massive wave of pitch black that appeared from nowhere, destroying every inch of the radiance in an instant, as a wave of it hurtled toward Master Makarov, who opened his eyes and watched in horror as it came toward him, too quickly to react.

A massive explosion went off inside the cage trapping the Fairy Tailers, a massive cloud of black appearing around the spot Master Makarov had been standing, the force and wind smacking into everyone near it as they covered their faces with their arms, their minds racing and completely lost as to what had just happened. Something crashed into the back of the cage with a sickening slam, all eyes wide and jaws dropped as the hearts of the Fairy Tailers seemed to stop, and they saw Master Makarov slumped against the wall, his clothes torn and bleeding from the impact that had sent in crashing backward in a moments time. The Old Man winced, one eye shut and looking stricken, as did they all.

The orb over their heads that Mordren had erected before was still where it was, and as was he, nothing had happened, Chase and Frea were still lost inside orbs of Mordren's Magic.

"W-what...?!" Jynx stammered,

"I-impossible.... How could Fairy Law have failed..?!" Mavis stammered, frozen in place as sheer terror filled her form, her eyes fixed to the orb still over their heads. "That cannot be possible..!"

"Master!" Several people yelled, a few rushing over to him as he hunched slightly. Porlyusica knelt down beside the Old Man, her red eyes glinting as she shook her head in irritation and tenseness.

"Fool..!" the Old Lady snapped under her breath,

"Oi, Gramps! You ok?!" Natsu demanded quickly,

"How... the Old Man's Spell..." Gajeel mumbled,

"It should have worked, that man is an enemy to the Master no matter how you look at it." Freed breathed, his attention shifting from Master to the arena again as many others looked that way as well. Laxus sweatdropped, stepping closer to the wall as he looked down, his eyes narrowed to slits and jaw clenched.

".... He's still smiling." Laxus growled lowly,

Mordren glanced upward, smirking widely as he felt the terror and utter confusion spark from the mass of Fairy Tail Wizards overhead, followed closely by words of disbelief. His dull grey eyes moved from his Spell, his hand still raised as he passed his gaze over the lot of them, relishing the stricken and fearful looks, they couldn't wrap their heads around how that Spell could have done nothing, absolutely nothing. For a moment his attention stopped on Jynx, who sweatdropped when she met his eyes, and he seemed amused.

"Fairy Law is meant to defeat any enemy the Castor's heart sees... There is no doubt that Makarov would see this man as an enemy, it should not have failed... how could it possibly have failed..?!" Mavis stammered quickly under her breath, fumbling for an answer as dread and terror as to the sheer power and force Mordren really held to be able to ward off Fairy Law, which should be impossible no matter the circumstance.

"Heh... I am older than Zeref, little ghost." Mordren called, his voice ringing clear and easily despite the booming of the orb overhead still spinning and shaking. Mavis went still, her eyes wide and freezing as suddenly Mordren turned his gaze on her, the Guild shocked around her. How could he even see her?!

Mordren smiled, finding her shock and fear all the more amusing. "I have been on this earth longer than the Legendary Black Wizard, and far longer than that Spell Fairy Law has been in existence. You'll need something more than that to stop me."

"... older... than Z-Zeref...?!" Mavis stammered, a bead of sweat falling down her face. How could such a thing even be possible?!

"... just who is this man...?!" Erza stammered,

"... and how has he managed to live this long?" Juvia mumbled, "Zeref is immortal... surely.."

"... he can't be immortal, can he..?" Lucy stammered, her hands shaking as she held them to her chest. "... if not even Fairy Law can stop him, and we can't get out... and if he is immortal.... How are Frea and Chase supposed to win...?" She asked shakily, her words sending a sharp pang of panic running through everyone around them.

"Energy God's," Mordren murmured, his eyes moving back up to the Spell over their heads as his smile twisted, Fairy Tail went rigid as they heard the words said,

"No!"

"Don't!"

Mordren's hand moved down toward the place where Chase and Frea had suddenly been thrown, both of them crashing against the sound painfully and blood all over their forms. They moaned, their eyes flashing as they took notice of the orb over their heads like a hundred buildings hanging over their heads, struggling to stand up again.

Frea's eyes snapped sideways, hearing Chase let out a hiss of pain to her left, his eyes shut and body struggling to function the way he wanted it to after the beating they had just taken. Panic rose inside of her, her skin crawling at the pressure hanging all around them, and the mass of wind falling over them from whatever Spell Mordren was concocting with that orb over their heads, she growled, eyes narrowed as she pushed herself to her feet painfully, holding her shoulder as she looked up.

_It this.... Mordren's final blow...?!_

Her eyes widened watching as it the orb suddenly jolted over their heads, and she clapped her hands together, panic and fear racing through her veins as adrenaline kicked in on ultra high.

"Etherion Cannon."

"FREA! CHASE!"

Everything went black, the whole of the island and the land around them encased in jet black as the world went deaf on their ears from the resounding boom that sprung up, and the orb launched downward, consuming Frea and Chase instantly. The Guilds watched in absolute horror at the sight, hearing both Frea and Chase's yells of pain throughout the length of the Spell, even with all the noise, before it all went silent again, and their voices stopped altogether.

"N-No...!"

"They c-can't..!"

"FREA! CHASE!" Natsu yelled frantically, his fists slamming down against the wall before him as his onyx eyes searched the cloud utter destruction below in panicked rapidity.

"This can't....!" Moon breathed, shaking from head to tail and fur standing on end.

"Where are they...?!" Mira stammered,

"They're not...?" Wendy nearly choked the words,

"Hey, do you see them?!" Sting snapped, followed by several other shouts from the other Guilds.

"No.... _no_." Solana growled, looking frazzled. Aisha slammed a fist against the wall, her purple gaze glinting feverishly and looking concerned as she searched below,

"You.. you damn well had better not die on me, you idiot..." The Moonlight Mage growled furiously under her breath,

The island had sunken in, the whole lake had, the water dropping lower as the land below it was caved in. Water sloshed and sprayed against the outcroppings and rose up in great splashes as entire chunks of land landed out in the water away from everything, bits of rubble still tumbling and falling to a halt as Mordren landed lightly on a jagged stone near the end of the island, his arms crossed behind his back and expression neutral.

A raspy cough earned the immediate attention of everyone, their eyes moving quickly toward the edge of the island where their eyes landed onto the slumped and hunched figure of Chase lying amongst a pile of rubble, blood running down over his eye from a gash on his temple, and his right arm bloodied and shredded. His sirt was soaked all the way through on his left side. He hissed, one eyes shut tight and failing to sit up when he tried, he looked like a wreck, but he was alive, as his eyes locked to the center of the island, looking panicked and exhausted all at once.

"Chase!" Several people yelled, astounded and yet relieved, despite how terrible he looked. Aisha's fists clenched against the wall, her expression worried and fearful, something much unlike her usual self as her eyes glittered, locked to Chase and nothing else.

"How in the hell did he get all the way other there...?" Gray mumbled,

".. but where is Frea...?" Moon stammered,

Chase trembled, trying to sit up again but is back just landed back painfully against the rocks again. His blue eyes glittered, jaw clenched as he stared into the still settling cloud,

"... Tch.... Teach you.... You god damned... idiot..." He hissed under his breath, his eyes closing in pain as his head bowed. ".... You.... You shouldn't have..... tch.... Why didn't you just... worry about yourself for once...?!" Gajeel, Wendy, Natsu, Solana and Laxus sweatdropped slightly upon catching Chase's words,

".... Frea.... Did she throw him over there to get him away from the center of the Spell..?" Solana mumbled, green eyes glinting.

"L-Look.....!" Lucy stammered, her eyes glistening. She pointed toward the center of the island, the dark clearing as suddenly they could see a faint glow, the shape of a dome slowly crumbling into millions of pieces, and the hunched form of Frea, heaving and gasping for air as she sat on her heels, leaned over and arms shaking as she held herself up. Her hair fell around her face and shoulders in loose strands, blood running down her arms in a steady stream and coughing slightly in her raspy breathing,

".. Frea!" People called, concern and fear flashing across their faces when they saw how haggard she looked, she looked worse than Chase did, much worse.

"... she managed to block enough of it, to save herself..." Evergreen mumbled,

"..... barely." Bixlow mumbled, Freed glanced sideways to see the frown on Laxus' face, feeling a sort of prickling coming from the blonde a moment.

"... this is bullshit." Laxus growled, "We're just watching them get killed."

"This is madness.." Gildarts grumbled lowly,

Frea growled, her Magic fading into nothing around her as she struggled to her feet, tilted slightly and holding her shoulder, her head tilted down and shaking from the effort. She coughed, swallowing hard against the metallic taste in her mouth, forcing herself to take in controlled, slow breaths. Everyone watched in stillness, everything silent around them as Mordren watched Frea get to her feet, all too aware that her student wouldn't be getting to his feet, he was spent... and yet the Energy Dragon Slayer still had fight left.

Mordren smiled faintly a moment, at least she was making it interesting.

"Frea...." People mumbled, they didn't know what to do, they couldn't do anything, and it was painfully clear.

Master looked down, his eyes narrowed and face twisted in fear and worry, eyes glinting in distraught at the state of both Frea and Chase, and his heart clenching as he watched Frea get to her feet again, and stand shaking, still fighting despite her wounds. Seeing her get up again like that, when she was clearly struggling to do so and stay focused, that made his heart ache more painfully than it had in a long time, and it ached worse when he was reminded he was powerless to help. He couldn't step in, he was being forced to watch her... watch her...

"Her body can't take much more..." Porlyusica growled under her breath, but the stubborn human she was, she was still fighting.

A part of the Guild wished she would stop, maybe if she did she wouldn't.... but they knew she wouldn't stop, Frea couldn't. She knew what was at stake, and she wouldn't risk everyone else, not over anything... but that just made their dread and fear grow all the more.

"She won't stop...." Moon stammered, her ears flat against her head, small tears pricking at her eyes out of fear and frustration. ".... She won't... Frea y-you ..."

"Impressive, Malunafrey. You are ever interesting... risking your own safety to make sure that student of yours didn't take the brunt of the attack." Mordren murmured, "... heh... my teachers were never so compassionate. Though, that was fortunate, compassion will get you killed."

"Tch.... Shut up." Frea hissed lowly, "... You wouldn't get it.... You can't feel compassion, or empathy.... You don't have a clue what it feels like to love someone... to want to protect someone.... or why you'd be willing to risk your life for someone else... you're numb. You're _empty_. You have _nothing,_ nothing to hold on to, or to fight for." Mordren's face darkened suddenly, his eyes flashing in a sudden spark of rage and disdain.

"Love is weakness." He hissed back, his tone flinty. "Love is a lie, there is nothing in the world more important than power. Power is the only truth, the only thing that lasts. You, Malunafrey, you will die, and for nothing but a _lie_."

Frea's head twitched slightly, her hand falling from clutching her shoulder as she finally glanced up at him, her silver eyes sparking.

"... that's a lie." She murmured, Mordren stiffened slightly. "You... there's disdain coming from you, pain and rage.... And uncertainty. You're lying through your teeth, Mordren." Her eyes narrowed, and he scowled. "... For the first time.... You don't believe yourself. You're lying to yourself, even after all of this. That, that is the first time."

"Be quite." Mordren snapped lowly, "You know nothing." Frea lift her head, stepping back to catch herself as she suddenly swayed, but her eyes never left him.

".... What you are, what you've turned into... is it all because of a lust for power..? Or was it.... Something like.... Pain, suffering...?" She mumbled,

"Shut your mouth, you insolate little fool." Mordren snapped again, his annoyance rising. Everyone else watched, surprised at the sudden flare of a reaction, how had she managed to push his temper like that?

Frea sighed, shaking her head a little as she swallowed.

_For some reason.... Once upon a time I think... back before he became this.. this monster... maybe.... There was a human there, somewhere._

_But that person is long gone.... Buried under centuries upon centuries of throbbing and growing evil._

".... Regardless.." She hissed, ".... It doesn't matter, not really.... You're determined to do this, and I'm sure as hell not gonna bend so easy. I'll keep fighting for love, for kindness, justice, whatever... I can't let you win, I can't let something as evil as you win over the Light. Not on anything." She stepped sideways a little, moving into a poised position as she raised her hands in front of her, Magic encasing her fists as Mordren blinked at her.

"If I'm the last thing between you and the world, fine." She hissed, "I'll fight you, and I'll give you everything I have." She closed her eyes, taking in a deep, painful breath as suddenly her clothes and her hair began to waver, pressure increasing around her and shifting loose bits of rubble.

_It won't be enough.._

"Second Origin; Release!" She snapped, the area around her suddenly engulfing in silver as waves of Magic flowed about her rapidly, and for a moment all sense of weariness and pain and injury seemed to fade, to be replaced with determination of the highest caliber.

"Hmmph.." Mordren huffed slightly,

"Have it your way, Malunafrey."

Everyone stiffened, watching tensely as Frea jumped into action again, despite her wounds, despite how much pain she was in, and despite the very real reality that this was a fight she wasn't going to win. They wanted to hope against hope she would, but Mordren's show of sheer power made them doubt, and still they held on to that small, wispy hope, wishing, dreaming. How she could face down something that had all of them shaking, all of them their hearts racing and pounding in fear, how she faced it and stood fast against something so insanely powerful they hadn't a clue.

"Energy Wave!" Frea snapped, dozens of waves moving out toward Mordren, who simply jumped to avoid them, snapping his fingers as a few dozen more tightly packed blasts of his own Magic shot toward Frea. She hissed, sending more Waves toward them so she could slice them apart, and erecting a shield around herself mid-jump to block the ones she hadn't managed to break apart. She hissed, clearly straining to block them at all as her Magic threatened to break,

The moment her foot hit the ground she swept her arms up, a Magic Circle appearing over Mordren.

"Energy Lance: Storm!"

She growled, jumping back again and being pushed back as dozens more blasts of his Magic raced toward her, and Mordren simply maneuvered away from her Magic as if it was nothing to him. Frea jumped back, flipping over in air as her cheeks puffed up, facing Mordren and ignoring the incoming blasts of his Magic.

"Energy Dragon Roar!"

The tornado reached the same caliber as it had before, destroying the Magic directly ahead of her, while several others closer to her rammed into her body and sent her skidding back with a sharp yelp of pain, coughing as scarlet drops hit the ground around her. The Guild's flinched at the hits, eyes glinting as Frea just pushed forward again with no hesitation, moving further toward the opposite side of the island from where Chase was, still struggling to try and get up. She was keeping a close watch how close the attacks were getting to him, she wouldn't risk him getting caught in the crossfire, but Mordren seemed much more interested in her.

"Energy God's Bellow!"

Frea stiffened, her eyes widening a moment as she heard the sound of Mordren's voice ahead of her. She jumped upward, her hands swiping down as a smooth box appeared in the air under her, she landed on the surface for a split second before a Magic Circle appeared under her feet, and she was propelled upward with incredible force. She tilted in air, her back brushing the top of Mordren's Energy God's Bellow just mere centimeters below her, barely managing to avoid it. She bit her lip, her hand reaching upward as the attack streamed by just below her, her outstretched fingers quickly producing marks of her Magic in the air above her, runes.

" _Clear sky abided by darkness,_

_Break free from stagnant hold and meld with thy Magic,_

_Flow free, and fast,_

_Crash against enemy as waves crash against shore,_

_Pound, and shatter,"_

Frea hissed under her breath, the runes glowing brighter as she twisted, facing downward again and her finger drawing a line in the air from the runes down as she pointed straight at Mordren.

_Hope this is as useful as that Old Geezer thought it would be..._

Freed, Levy, Moon and Master all stared in shock, eyes wide and astounded as they took notice of the Runes Frea had begun to write, and never quite expecting it from her.

"... Where did she learn those Runes..?" Levy mumbled,

"She's writing them as if she was a Master at it.." Freed breathed, his eyes narrowed.

"Aerian Rupture, Energy Meld!" Frea snapped, the air around her suddenly filling with hundreds of faint streams of Magic, that all moved and flowed like air, and rushed downward toward Mordren in the blink of an eye. Mordren himself looked thoroughly surprised at the sudden use of a Rune based Spell, and even more so when she weaved her own Magic into the very air controlled by the Spell itself.

Mordren swiped his hand in front of him, black clashing with faint glow of the streams. Frea erected a box under her to stop her fall, breathing hard and sweat dripping down her face. She didn't give herself a moment to pause though, and she jumped off from the box into the air again, both arms raising over her head and palms flat as the dark clouds overhead began to spin with silver, and the air shook as her Magic potency increased.

"Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Skyfall Tear!" She yelled, swiping her arms down as a massive beam of Energy poured down from the clouds like a waterfall, crashing straight through the waves of black of Mordren's Magic and shaking the air and the earth to it's core. Everyone stared, eyes wide at a Spell they had never seen from Frea before, and the sheer magnitude of it. She was giving it her absolute all, she didn't seem to be holding anything back, but it wasn't the unbridled brutality they had seen in her a bit before. It was her, Frea's true and utter resolve and Power.

"That had to have hit!" Gray hissed,

Frea sucked in air, feeling her muscles burning and her body throbbing in pain as she landed back on another box she created under her, this time for a minute she stopped to catch her breath. That Spell was more massive than most, and the Power needed for it was difficult, thus why she had never used it before.

She flinched, hearing a boom go off behind her as a blast of Mordren's Magic rammed straight into her back, knocking her from her place and sending her crashing into the ground painfully. "Tch... shit.." She cursed under her breath. She struggled to her feet again, rolling out of the way of a stream of Mordren's Magic coming straight for her, seeing him appear again, looking ragged and bleeding in a few places. But he looked enthused, like he was enjoying himself.

"Energy God Secret Art:" Mordren smiled, his eyes wild and raising his hand with his pointer finger and thumb raised to her, Frea stiffened, her heart jumping at the words. His regular attacks were insane enough, but now a Secret Art?!

"Shit!"

"Move!" Several people ordered over her head, but there wasn't time, he was too close.

"Thundering Barrage!"

Frea crossed her arms in front of her as a shield popped up between herself and Mordren, millions of long, jagged and spinning log shaped objects of his Magic raced out toward her, sticking into the ground and bursting on impact with deafening booms. Frea yelled in pain, her shield shattering instantly as she was caught in the middle of all the explosions, her body being battered relentlessly on all sides, until one hit her square in the chest and she was sent backward, skidding across the ground and leaving smears of blood in her path.

"Frea!" People yelled, eyes wide and growing more panicked by the minute. Frea scrambled to her feet again, tilting dangerously and one eyes shut tight as blood dripped from the edge of her mouth, but it was clear to everyone watching standing was hard enough for her, but she didn't seem to care.

"Explosive Rain!" She snapped hoarsely, the Magic Circle appearing where Mordren had been- but a short blast of his Magic destroyed the Spell before it could do a damned thing. Frea stumbled, her hand lifting and Magic flaring to ward off another short blast aimed straight for her, her Magic clashed with the black and imploded with a powerful boom that knocked her off balance and sent her stumbling again, but she didn't hit the ground.

_E... everything... I have...._

She yelped, another short blast knocking her backward and sending her crashing on to her back. Again, she got to her feet, panting and off balance, her arms raising as she struggled to ward off more blasts, and continued to get knocked this way and that, but she got back up again, even as her wounds began bleeding more and more.

"Tch, we can't just keep sitting here!" Natsu snapped, his eyes flashing in anger and bubbling rage as he watched Frea get thrown around. "We gotta do something, damn it!" He threw himself at the wall again, trying again and again to get through, all of Fairy Tail were trying.

"Frea!" The Guild yelled, their voices high and laced in panic. Every single member was pounding against their cage, all of them desperately punching away at it, nothing left even the slightest mark.

"Dark God's Piercing Shot." Mordren smiled, snapping his fingers as Frea got to her feet again, a black Magic Circle appearing ahead of her as a single, powerful shot burst from it with a loud bang.

"Dodge it!" Laxus snapped, his voice hard and reaching Frea only faintly as she looked up to see the blast headed her way, sweatdropping as her heart dropped. Immediately she knew this wasn't like the other blasts, it was more powerful more concentrated, but her body was too hurt to move nearly at all, and she didn't have time-

She tilted slightly, her arm sweeping out in front of her to try and ward it off, the blast went straight through her Magic as if it was paper.

Frea hit the ground, biting down hard on her tongue to stifle the yell of pure pain that she let out, the blast, however small it looked, ripping right through her right thigh. Her leg gave out instantly, blood spilling from the wound like a small fountain as one of her hands clapped down on it, immediately slick with blood.

"Teach!"

"Frea!"

"Shit!"

Frea's eyes shut tight at the pain, the people yelling her name blurred in the background and the sound of her heart thumping violently in her ears. Everything was a muddled mess of her pain, her exhaustion, the fear around her, and the wash of Mordren's Magic still bombarding her senses on full overload.

"Get up!"

"We gotta help her damn it!"

"Hold on!"

Their voices were getting hoarser, more course, more panicked, more fearful, it was painful to hear. To feel the sheer desperation on the air, the terror.... It made her feel sick.

"Is this it for you, Malunafrey?" Mordren smiled, "Do you hear them? Feel their terror?"

Frea got up, her body shaking and her leg trembling violently, she could hardly put weight on it, and the blood she was losing made her feel dizzy. She gasped for air, the pain was blinding, but everyone's fear, that was worse. How hard they were struggling, how futile it was...

Mordren smirked, his Magic swarming past him and toward Frea in a wave, she held her arms before her, eyes closing as her Magic flared to life again.

"Energy Shield!" She snapped hoarsely, flinching at the harshness of the impact of his Magic against the shield, but she managed to block it, by the time his Magic passed the shield was crumbling, and her head was spinning.

Her eyes fixed to Mordren, who was holding his hand up toward her, shaped like a gun, his eyes cold as his lips twisted in a maniacal, cold, dark smile.

"Boom." He smirked,

The world seemed to come to a grinding halt, all time passing by in moments that took ages. Frea's eyes widened, her mouth falling open as two sharp bursts of sound went off, her body jerking harshly as a scarlet spray engulfed the air around her. Everyone watched, their world's seeming to slow on that moment as they watched Frea jerk backward, scarlet splashing through the air behind her as one of Mordren's 'Dark God's Piercing Shot' ripped straight through her stomach. Their hearts stopped, tears pricking in their eyes and growing pale as a second Shot sent ripped straight through her back, all the way through the left side of her chest, and her blood splattered against the stone around her.

No one breathed, their struggle to break free suddenly waning as they slumped against the walls that held them back, their voices rising in screams of terror and despair, tears falling and all eyes fixed, not daring to look away. They were frozen, watching time stretch on forever as they watched Frea fall forward in agonizing slow motion, her face hidden and her form suddenly limp.

Aisha and Solana fell to their knees, very pale as suddenly a silver mark glowed on their hands, and shattered in a second- leaving something cold, and utterly empty, as if they had lost some piece of themselves. They couldn't breath, they just watched as everyone else did, all of them, every member of Fairy Tail, something shattered.

Chase felt his heart stop altogether, watching in horror as the world around him went silent, and he felt the air shift. He felt in that instant, right in his core as something so familiar, something he knew on instinct, and something that had always been there suddenly disappear. A piece of his world, something bright, snuffed out in an instant, and everything was icy, all warmth disappeared. The unmistakable feeling of an Energy Signature disappearing from the world altogether, just gone, forever.

"FREA!"

"N-NOOOO!"

 


	57. Little But Memory

**Chapter 57**

**Little But Memory**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

The sound of water rippling echoed on the cold air, a man stopped in the dim, only able to see little in front of him, his blue eyes flashing in the darkness. He stood still, each small movement sending the floor under his feet rippling, it wasn't earth, nor stone, all around him into the darkness stretched a great sea of still water, and he walked upon it's surface as if it were actually solid. An eerie, crimson and green low seemed to emanate from the depth of the water, illuminating very little, but tinging the darkness oddly around him.

He blinked, slowly glancing around and seemingly calm with what was otherwise a very odd place to anyone- but this was normal, natural even. This place had been ingrained into his very being for as long as he could remember. Though why he was here now he was unsure, he hadn't even been aware he had been pulled here, until suddenly the water was rippling under his feet, and he felt the darkness and the deepness on all sides.

It was silent, utterly so, and still, cold. Empty maybe, but he knew better than to believe that. He knew well there were things out there, always in shadow and always out of sight no matter how far he could travel in any endless direction here. It went on forever, and always, always there was something there, something large, something powerful, it always watched, and he needn't guess what it was.

But something was different, in this place that had become so familiar to him, somewhere far past the reality of the waking world, and far below that of anything else, it was acting off. He could feel it, this place moved slowly, so slowly... but things were moving around him, fidgeting, the air crackling as he searched the shadows, ever aware that incessant sense of being watched was growing stronger, and that endless, ever present thing in the dark wasn't still, it wasn't sleeping as it usually did.

It was awake, it was circling, and the entire reality itself was moving in reaction to it, shaking, pulling.

".... What's happened...?" He breathed, mumbling under his breath to himself, and sweatdropping slightly. "... this place should not be moving this fast... what could possibly disturb anything here..?" He hissed, the idea was not a pleasant one. This place was eternal, it never changed... and yet it was reacting to something now, and there was no doubt it would have to be something monumental to make this place stir like this.

He stiffened, his head turning a he felt something suddenly somewhere behind him, his eyes narrowed and glinting in the darkness as his face fell, looking astounded.

".... Y... you....?" He stammered, "..... how... how are you here...? You....." He went a little pale, his eyes flashing as he took in a small intake of breath, his heart dropping.

"..... when...?"

* * *

" _Oi! What are you doing all the way out here in the rain?"_

_The pink haired 12 year old boy's head snapped upward, his mouth and nose buried in the white scaled scarf around his neck. He was soaked, his clothes dripping with wet and his hair weighed down by the moisture, his shoulders hunched and hands holding on to the pack on his shoulders, the bag weighed down as the small blue Exceed curled up into a ball inside of it to avoid the rain. He turned around toward the sudden call behind him, looking stunned a little stunned, having been unaware of anyone behind him at all, the land around him was dim and dark, there wasn't even the distant shine of a town, they were too far out in the country for such a sight. The blue Exceed popped his head out from the bag at the voice, both their eyes locking to the figure of an older blonde girl with silver eyes a ways behind them, standing higher up the rolling and rocky hills they were traveling over from them._

_She blinked at them, eyebrow quirked and hip cocked. One hand rest on her hip and the belt about her waist, to which a piece of cloth bearing the Fairy Tail Emblem could be seen on it. Her hair was braided down her back, her silver eyes glinting in the dark around them. Natsu blinked, his mind slow a moment at seeing her all the way out here, they were nowhere close to Magnolia... and to be honest he hadn't seen her around for long before he left himself._

_He turned to face her completely, she cleared the distance between them with a few steps, crossing her arms over her chest as the rain continued to fall around them, droplets of water falling from her bangs. Happy popped his head out, looking over Natsu's shoulder with gleaming eyes._

" _Frea..." Natsu mumbled, his head tilting. ".... Why are you here?" He asked, she sighed slightly._

" _I think I just asked you that." She replied easily, "You're soaked, Flame-Brain. You shouldn't be standing out in the cold like this, especially not in the dark." His eyes narrowed slightly, a small flash of annoyance racing through him._

" _Yeah, well what about you?" He huffed, "You're just as soaked as I am!"_

" _Yeah, but I'm older and my immune system is stronger." Frea replied easily, not missing a beat. "You'll catch a cold easier than I will, dummy."_

" _I'm a Fire Dragon Slayer, I don't get colds!" Natsu snapped, Frea quirked an eyebrow at him._

" _Tell me that later, when you're sneezing your head off." She replied, he growled under his breath, not at all enthused she had showed up and was bossing him around, regardless if she was older._

_But he didn't have time to argue it more, as Frea just shook her head and stepped forward, her hand falling down on his head, ruffling his wet hair up as she pulled him after her. He stumbled, walking beside her in confusion as they went forward, before his attention snapped upward at the sudden glow of silver over their heads, and the rain stopped. Happy's ears twitched, his mouth falling open and eyes gleaming as he looked up in the same expression of awe that Natsu suddenly had on his face._

_A thin, see-through sheet of Frea's Magic had appeared over their heads, the rain splashing against it's surface and keeping the rain away altogether. Natsu let out a low breath, eyes shining, he hadn't even seen Frea move to make her Magic do that, she made it look... effortless. And the feel of her power was... warming in a way. A different warm than his own Magic... something special maybe._

_He stared, still following as her hand fell away from his head and hooked around his shoulders. He stiffened, looking up her way as she smiled at him, softly, gently._

" _Come on, we'll find someplace warm to bunker down. We can wait out the rain and head back to Magnolia together in the morning, kay?" She smirked, her silver eyes flashing. He blinked a little, slightly lost for words or a response for a moment. Though she made it sound like a question, she wasn't really giving him a choice... not that it mattered much, despite his stubbornness. He had been walking all day, he was exhausted and he knew Happy was too. The sound of stopping for the night was pleasant, so he simply nodded._

" _Yeah, okay..." He mumbled, Frea smiled slightly as his eyes fell closed. She continued to lead him forward, her arm on his shoulders, and the soft patter of the rain against her Magic sounding over their heads._

_His mind fell away into a fog as he just let Frea lead him, eventually coming across a cave and settling down inside of it. Natsu plopped down, his clothes and hair still damp though the time out of the rain thanks to Frea had done him and Happy some good. He let out a weary sigh, his eyes drooping and more than ready to just doze off. Happy yawned, climbing from his bag and curling up in his lap as he leaned against the cave wall, his fingers rubbing the blue cat's head gently a moment._

_He glanced upward in slight surprise as Frea suddenly sat down beside him, his eyes glinting in question from the dim and the pale silver glow of a small orb of Frea's Magic that was floating near the entrance. Frea stared ahead toward the opposite wall from them, her knees propped up and her elbows resting on them. Natsu sweatdropping, watching a few moments as she simply sat there, her eyes narrowed and face neutral, almost unnervingly neutral, and somehow..... kinda unhappy maybe._

"... _you ran off." Frea murmured under her breath, Natsu sweatdropped slightly, his eyes flashing as his heart sped up slightly. "You got up and left Magnolia all on your own... without telling anyone where you were going." Natsu's eyes fell more, his knees coming into him more and wrapping his arms around them, Happy yawning again in his sleep as he was pulled closer to Natsu's chest._

"... _you've got everybody at the Guild worried about you, Natsu."_

_He buried his face in his knees, shoulders hunched slightly as he bit the inside of his cheek._

_He felt a rise of sudden agitation and unhappiness well up inside of him, his mind suddenly flashing back to the sheer anger and hurt that he had felt those days ago, before he ran off from town in a sheer haze of anger and pain, and a deep sense of loss that hit him like a charging Vulcan. How did Frea even know about all that anyway? What did she even know? She wasn't even there!_

_His grip about his knees tightened, his fangs grinding down on one another._

"... _. Tch.... So what...?" He hissed lowly, shoulders hunching more. ".... Why do you even care? It's not like it has anything to do with you."_

"... _. I know it hurts." She murmured lowly, "I can feel how much pain and sadness you're feeling... how betrayed you feel. I really do get it."_

" _You don't get a damn thing!" He snapped hotly, lowly._

"... _.. maybe not in the same way." Frea relented easily, her voice never wavering, nor raising. ".... But I can tell you that he didn't do it to hurt you."_

" _He's going off without me, for years!" Natsu snapped lowly, his head snapping upward and onyx eyes glinting furiously. Frea simply looked back at him, not at all fazed by his sudden anger. "You haven't even been at the Guild in weeks! This had nothing to do with you, so why are you even out here anyway!? I didn't ask you to be here!" She blinked, he glared, small tears pricking at his eyes as his emotions suddenly ran on wild._

" _I don't need anyone! He can just run off and do what he wants! I'm fine! I don't need anyone else but Happy and me!" Natsu snapped, his eyes shutting tight as his fist clenched at his sides, "I don't need you running after me, so why don't you just go away! Go away like-l...like...!" His voice broke, his anger dissipating as pain and sadness bubbled up all the stronger._

_L-like... like Gildarts... is going to leave..._

_He couldn't bring himself to say the words aloud, it hurt too much, and he seemed to pull in on himself a moment._

_After Igneel, he had had only one person he looked up to like such a father figure... and Gildarts had been that person. He respected and loved Gildarts, and it hurt more than anything else to know he would be leaving, and he was leaving without him. Natsu was being left behind and he couldn't help but feel a little abandoned, and in the quake of that pain he had gotten angry, angry enough he couldn't think straight, and he had run off on his own with Happy, almost out of spite._

_It made him angry she was here, bothering him about this. He wanted her to leave him alone, he didn't need her to tell him that Gildarts wasn't trying to hurt him, he didn't need to be consoled like a child... he didn't need anyone to try and make him feel better about how hurt he was feeling right now, he didn't think anyone could._

_Frea let out a breath beside him, but he didn't dare look up at her, he was hiding his face in his knees, trying his hardest not to let her see the tears that had suddenly started falling._

_He was being abandoned by his father figure... it was happening again..!_

"... _I know you don't want to hear it, kiddo." Frea's voice murmured slowly, softly beside him. "... I know it hurts, a lot... and I know you're only angry because of how much pain your feeling right now.... I know you feel like you're being abandoned, like what happened with your Dragon is happening all over again." Natsu stiffened, his shoulders hunching more as he bit his lip, but the tears didn't stop, but he didn't say anything either._

_People didn't really believe him about Igneel, they never had, they all thought it was a fantasy he dreamed up, and he had been hard pressed to find anyone who believed him readily... but Frea always had. She believed him about Igneel, she did it readily, and she never doubted what he told her about him, he'd always really liked that about her, but it did little to make him feel better at the moment. But he was shocked at how well she had picked apart what he was feeling and thinking, she was scarily good at that._

"... _. I know Gildarts leaving hurts, really bad.... And I know you're feeling left alone, but you're not all by yourself, you never will be." Frea went on, her tone low and cool, gentle and calm all at once. It was softer than he had ever heard from her, or ever had her talk to him. "Gildarts will be back, though it may take awhile.... And in the meantime you'll never be alone, you've got everybody in the Guild with you still. You've got Master, Happy, Lisanna, Gray, Erza... everyone. You're not gonna end up alone again, never."_

_His tears didn't stop, and somehow her words made him feel worse, sadder... and yet somehow, he felt a little better too, a pleasant feeling settling in his chest at just how sure and reassuring she sounded just then, how kind._

" _I'm never gonna leave either, Flame-Brain. You don't have to feel so alone... you'll never be alone, ever."_

_Frea slung her arm over his shoulder gently, pulling him closer to her. His body tightened in shock and surprise, his eyes slowly moving upward her way and blushing at the unexpected contact, though he made no move to throw her off, but finally his tears seemed to slow, just a bit. Besides, even if he tried he could tell her grip was gentle, yet incredibly firm, he wasn't sure he could get her to let go._

_Frea wasn't looking his way when he looked up toward her though, her eyes were closed as her head tilted back against the cave wall, and her hand moved up to gently rest on top of his head, ever so lightly. He blushed more, She didn't say anything, and she didn't look his way, she simply sat there, her arm on his shoulder and her hand lightly resting in his hair, she felt warm against him, pleasantly so, and despite the embarrassment and the nervousness prickling in his stomach, and the pain and sadness in his heart, he felt drowsy again, and his eyes dropped halfway._

_But this was very much unlike her, Frea wasn't ever around the Guild as often as the rest of the younger members, and when she was she was always kind... but she was also stubborn and hot-headed, and he hated to admit it, but when she lost her temper it was slightly frightening. She was nice to him and all the rest of the kids, but she also kept her distance much like Erza seemed to... and she had certainly never been this gentle or actively friendly and close to him, and it caught him off guard. It was weird, because before this moment he felt something pleasant and warm seep into his chest, something... good. He felt himself relax into her hold as his eyes dropped more, and his tears stopped altogether. Being held by her, it felt nice, and calming.... And he felt himself slipping away, his nose dancing with her scent, something light and like mountain air... and something incredibly sweet and almost reassuringly familiar all at once._

_He felt all his pain and sadness slip away into nothing... and the looming sense of loneliness went away too._

_He didn't feel alone, he felt wanted. She made him feel at ease, like he had a place... and he would always have someone there, ready to hold him if he needed it.  
_

* * *

__

Natsu's body went slack, all energy and strength seeming to leave his body altogether as he watched, his face shadowed and pale, eyes wide and shaking as he leaned against the wall of Magic keeping him back for support, his legs threatening to give out. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't look away, he was frozen, and he felt his heart shatter in his chest, as tears fell from his eyes in his terrified stupor.

" _I'm never gonna leave either, Flame-Brain. You don't have to feel so alone... you'll never be alone, ever."_

He felt an incredible emptiness and pain in his chest he had never felt before then, nothing had heard this much... not once... not even then, because maybe... maybe somehow he had had hope she wouldn't leave, not really.

Now, now he felt more alone than ever, and those words felt like swords piercing his heart.

* * *

" _Hey, Erza."_

_The young teenage redhead's attention snapped around, dressed in her armor and skirt, her long red hair braided back. She turned away from looking at the river, the sun setting over Magnolia as the voice snapped her from her silence. Her attention landed on Frea, the older girl running her hands through her hair to take up out the braid it had been in, as she walked over toward Erza slowly. Erza blinked, noticing Frea had her bag on her back, but another one slung over her shoulder as well, and a folded piece of paper hanging from her pocket loosely._

" _Frea." Erza murmured, her head tilting slightly as Frea stopped in front of her. The Energy Mage's hair fell around her shoulders, wavy now from being braided up all day. "... are you headed on a job..?" Erza asked slowly, noting the bags again._

_She found herself a little tense, she usually did when anyone in the Guild approached her. She's not been a member for very long now, and to the best of her ability she had kept a distance from everyone, though they seemed determined to get her to open up.... Erza's fists clenched slightly, her heart lurching a little at the thought and the sheer uneasiness that settled in her core._

_She... she just had a hard time, trusting anyone. There was too much pain... too much suffering, she swallowed hard to keep herself from reacting outwardly._

_Her eyes moved up toward Frea again, her heart jumping slightly to see the faint look of sadness on the Energy Mage's face, before she seemed to erase whatever she was feeling, and smirked a little toward Erza._

" _Yep, I'm headed out, and I was looking for a Partner." Frea murmured brightly, Erza sweatdropped, stiffening. Frea cocked her hip, her eyes glinting brightly as she looked down toward Erza, so carefree and calm. "I was kinda hoping you'd come with, I haven't had the chance to work with you yet, and I'd love to." She grinned, "I've heard a lot about how strong you are from Master, and I can feel your Magical Strength myself. I think working with one another could be fun." Erza eyes dropped, sweatdropping._

"... _No, I don't really think it's a good idea." She mumbled under her breath, swallowing again as she bit the inside of her cheek a moment. "I'm sorry."_

" _Ah, that's too bad." Frea sighed, smiling though as she didn't seem to miss a beat, even after the refusal. She shrugged, crossing her arms behind her back with a small nod, "Well, I won't push you. But I'm about to hit up this new bakery in town square before I leave, maybe you'd like to come have some goodies with me instead?" Erza glanced her way slowly, for a minute her tenseness easing at sudden intrigue with the offer._

_She'd never been anywhere like a bakery before, and she'd only heard little things about them. They were supposed to be filled with food, surgery food, deserts, the likes of which she had never seen before... things like cake._

_For a minute her heart sped up, she'd never had cake before. She'd seen pictures, heard a few people mention it.... But she'd never had the chance, and she couldn't even begin to imagine what it was like._

" _It's supposed to be pretty popular, even though it's new." Frea murmured, glancing away toward the center of town, her silver eyes reflecting the light of the dying sun overhead. She chuckled, "I'll admit, I've been wanting to check it out for awhile now." Frea glanced back at Erza, who quickly looked away when their eyes met, simply out of nervousness and slight embarrassment._

" _So, what do you say? Care to give it a shot?" Frea asked lightly, "I'll pay if you come keep me company." She smiled, Erza sweatdropped slightly, her hands hooking behind her back and shuffling slightly._

"... _will..... there be cake...?" Erza mumbled lowly, her voice almost too low for Frea to hear the words, she couldn't help it, she felt embarrassed asking such a question, and she felt her face heat up a little. Her eyes remained locked off to the side, not daring to meet the older girl's eyes for fear she'd see her looking at her in confusion, it must have been an odd question, and she felt flustered at how little she knew of something so common for everyone else._

_Erza was too busy looking away to see the soft smile appear on Frea's face, her eyes glinting as her features softened slightly, easily able to see Erza's embarrassment, but she could tell she had caught the redhead's interest._

" _Tons." Frea grinned, Erza's eyes looking her way to see the Energy Mage leaning in, her hands on her hips and eyes glinting in excitement. Erza paused, struggling for a minute between remaining reserved and refined, and her rising intrigue and desire to take the offer, images of cake and wondrous flavors filling her head in the next moment like a flurry._

_The redhead cleared her throat, straitening up and putting on a serious face as she nodded to the other girl curtly. "Then yes, I will join you." Erza replied, "Please, lead the way." She murmured, Frea chuckled lowly under her breath, but flicked her head and started to the lead the way as requested. Erza followed the older girl in silence, walking purposely behind her as Frea lead them through the streets bathed in crimson and orange, people milling around in the pleasant afternoon sun and eating in the café's they passed by._

_Frea shot a smile her way as they rounded a corner and came upon a small shop, the outside decorated in carved wood and flowers blooming from planters all around the front of it. The door was followed with the sound of a small bell as Frea opened it ahead of her, holding the door as she let Erza pas her by slowly, before coming inside herself. It was cool inside, and smelled fresh, Erza's eyes shown as she looked around the inside, her sights passing over the counter and the glass box full of all number of sweets and desserts anyone could have ever even think of- or at least, many, many more than Erza herself could have conjured up._

_She was so entrapped by the sight of all the new treats and tasty looking morsels of food, Erza just stared in complete and utter awe from the other side of the glass box. Frea chuckled under her breath, her eyes moving toward the similarly amused shop owner as he looked their way._

" _Welcome." He smiled, Frea dipped her head at him._

" _Hey." She smirked, he nodded toward Erza, who was still starstruck, leaning against the glass case and her eyes shining._

" _What can I get you two?" The man smiled, his eyes gleaming as he glanced toward Erza, looking thoroughly amused._

" _I want a box of a dozen cookies, doesn't matter what, just pick anything random and fill it up." Frea murmured, the man nodded in understanding. His eyes remained fixed to Erza, still smiling as he leaned against the top of the counter a little._

" _And you?" He murmured toward the redhead. Erza cleared her throat, trying and rather failing to contain herself again, she felt her face heat up out of sheer excitement and flusterdness._

_She jumped slightly, her attention snapping sideways as Frea leaned down next to her, the older girl smirking with the most fun-loving and carefree look in her eyes, but not without a hint of mischief. But for some reason, that look and that smile... Erza felt herself relax, something she hadn't been able to do around anyone before then. It was like Frea herself was emitting a calming essence about her, and for the first tie it seemed to reach out, and settle Erza's heart like nothing had done before._

_Frea smirked, her silver eyes glinting._

" _Eat up Erza, order whatever you want, and however much you want!" Frea smiled, "I said I'd pay right? And don't worry about anything like the cost or the amount, it's my treat and I want you to do whatever will make you happy, kay?"_

_Erza blinked, feeling her heart flutter suddenly, but not out of nerves, but excitement, and something more pleasant she wasn't quite sure she could place. Something warm._

_Erza blushed, her eyes gleaming as she simply gazed at Frea._

_Something... something like happiness, appreciation... and maybe even fondness, all at once, and all in one simple moment._

_Erza nodded slowly, her eyes moving from Frea toward the man a bit sheepishly, but suddenly firmly as she looked up to him._

" _A piece of every cake you have." Erza said easily, her voice level. The man looked a bit stunned, but Erza glanced sideways to see Frea smiling all the brighter, the older girl leaned against the counter with her elbow as the man looked toward her, almost as if he meant to ask if she was sure about such a large order._

_Frea smiled at him all the more, not at all perturbed by Erza's answer._

" _Make sure you make the piece of that strawberry cake there extra big, kay?" Frea smiled toward the man, he sweatdropped, nodding slowly as he shuffled to get the order ready._

" _R-right.."_

_They sat down near the window, their table soon overflowing with plates upon plates of dozens of different cake pieces, eating away in content silence for awhile before small conversation finally broke between them. For the first time, Erza sat and talked with someone, and laughed, and ate- and with Frea she did so well past the sun going away and the stars coming out. For the first time, she was happy to talk, and didn't feel nervous about it, or tense, as if the walls she had placed around herself had chipped away, and somehow, Frea could see through the solid stone, and do it with ease._

_For the first time, she opened up to someone... and Frea seemed to know precisely how to go about it._

_They left Magnolia behind, treats in their bags and walking together under the light of the stars and the moon, moving side by side as Frea and Erza munched on the cookies the older girl had ordered._

_She knew, she knew just what to do...  
_

* * *

__

Erza's fists slammed against the wall, her body leaning into it and legs shaking violently as tears streamed from her eyes, her eyes locked ahead and her heart breaking in two. She yelled, her voice cracking painfully as she called out her name, her tears hitting the Magic under her feet and splashing, her yells couldn't be heard, her voice was lost among the rest, but that made it no less heart wrenching to hear. Titiania trembled, her fists clenched and pounding again at the Magic wall weakly, her shoulder hunched as the Fairy Queen broke along with her shattering heart.

She had been possibly the first.... The first person she ever opened up to, and she had known just how to do it... she had always made her feel wanted, and happy... always...

..... the first she had felt safe with since... all of it...

* * *

" _Ice Make: Cannon!" The young boy yelled, the weapon of ice falling into his hands as the shot boomed out across the destroyed and torn apart clearing. He panted, blood dripping into his eyes from a gash on his temple, his skin torn and bleeding as his Magic tore through the trove of Wyvern that flocked around him, shrilling and screeching as many more lay around him, already defeated at his hand, but still more seemed to come._

_He hissed, wincing at the pain from the beatings and the scores of claws that ran as angry red marks over his body, his legs trembling from the exhaustion of fighting as long as he had, but damn if he was gonna keel over now!_

_I can do this damn it, I'm strong enough!_

_The cannon disappeared from his grasp, breaking into frost as he slammed his fist down into his palm, his eyes narrowed and glinting as he ran forward toward the dozen or so left, regardless of the protest his body made at the movement._

" _Ice Make: Lances!"_

_The wyverns screamed and roared in pain as his Magic met there marks, pushing them backward and sending them running or unconscious. He huffed, sweat dripping down his face and wincing as he hunched over slightly, his hand moving to hold his side, which was bruised darkly and throbbing painfully. He hissed in pain, legs shaking slightly as he suddenly sat down, eyes shut tight against the pain throbbing all throughout his body. He'd been fighting for what was probably two hours now, and it had definitely taken everything out of him, and now he wasn't sure if he'd make all the way back to Magnolia with how tired he was.. but he'd be too stubborn to admit it._

_For a minute he smirked wryly, seeing the last few straggles fly off with cries of fear, while more still lay around._

... _. That'll show Erza... I can do a lot by myself, I'm stronger than she thinks I am._

_He laughed slightly, but it only ended in a pained wince as he cringed again. Damn it, he'd taken more a beating than he would have liked, and already his head was spinning... maybe he'd just crash there for the night and head out in the morning..._

"... _. Nice job, Popsicle."_

_His eyes snapped open, jumping nearly out of his skin at the unexpected voice and eyes bulging slightly as he jumped to the side,_

" _W-Wha..?!" He stammered, scooting backward slightly. He sweatdropped, his eyes landing on the figure of quite possibly one of the very last people he would expect to see out here, and yet there she was._

" _Frea?!" He stammered, breaking off slightly to wince as his pain flared from moving so quickly in reaction to her appearance. Frea leaned over, her hands on her hips and eyes glinting in the falling twilight around them, her hair free from it's usual braid and falling about her shoulders. "W-What are you doing here?!"_

" _Hehe, you ran off by yourself before I had the chance to ask you along on a job." She replied brightly, "You were so wrapped up in your own head you didn't even hear me when I tried to catch your attention." He blinked in slight shock, "I could tell you were pretty determined, so I tagged along to see how you would do on your own. And I gotta say, for one of your first higher level missions all on your own you did pretty good." She smiled brightly, he looked away quickly, his cheeks heating up in sudden embarrassment._

"... _s-...shut up.." He stammered flusterdly, he heard her chuckle._

" _I mean it, a whole herd of Wyvern all by yourself is pretty impressive." Frea grinned, her eyes glinted slightly in amusement, "Even if you did waste all your energy doing it." He blinked, going rigid in surprise at the comment, and more so at the knowing looks she suddenly wore as she looked his way. He'd seen this look before, the look that Frea knew more than she was letting on. She had it a lot, she'd glance his way or someone else's and something about her would change, a look of knowing came into her eyes like she could just tell what someone was feeling or thinking... in a way it was kinda off-putting, how well she knew everyone, or at least seemed to._

"... _I'm fine." He mumbled quickly, her eyes flashed as she simply smiled at him still. A part of him wondered if she believed that, and he honestly didn't think she did... she always seemed really good at telling when people weren't telling the truth, but hell if he wasn't going to be stubborn about it._

" _Mmhmm." She hummed easily, looking all the more amused as he huffed at her. "So, mister 'I'm Fine', you up to walking home now?" She asked, her tone slightly teasing as he frowned at her, stiffening without meaning to._

" _O-of course!" He stammered hotly, Frea's eyes flashed, still looking amused. He turned away from her with an aggravated huff, his eyes closing and arms crossing over his chest._

" _Hehe..." Frea chuckled lightly, her hands falling on her hips as she leaned back a little, her eyes moving upward toward the stars overhead. "... it's a long way back from here, you know." She murmured, he swallowed slightly._

"... _. Maybe to you." He grumbled, still stubborn to the end._

" _Hehe," She chuckled lightly, still looking up and head at the deep indigo over their heads. She shook her head slightly and sat down beside him easily, her legs crossed and her arms propping her up behind her. Gray stiffened, glancing toward her from the corner of his eye and sweatdropping slightly at the sudden close proximity._

" _Well, we're not in any rush." Frea murmured lightly, "We can just relax here for awhile, I don't think those Wyvern are coming back any time soon with the number you did on them." She chuckled again, nudging him with her elbow slightly, in good fun._

_Gray felt his face heat up slightly, looking away quickly at the unexpected praise._

_They fell into a silence, he didn't have anything to say to her, and Frea didn't seem all that interested in talking either, so he let it be. He still wondered how in the hell he had failed to notice her following him earlier... though he had been pretty annoyed at Erza when he left, so maybe it wasn't so much of a stretch._

_He blinked, sweatdropping slightly when his vision suddenly started to blur, he shook his head a bit to clear it. He could feel his body slowly weighing down heavier and heavier as his exhaustion pooled in faster and faster, after awhile he was having trouble focusing, but he did his best. He wasn't about to let Frea know he was beat, especially after denying it._

_He took in a breath, huffing slightly as he forced himself to his feet, refusing for a moment to look her way, though he had the distinct feeling that those silver eyes of hers were fixed to him._

" _That's enough sitting around." He grumbled,_

"... _hmm... if you say so." She relented easily, he glanced, his vision blurred still and head spinning slightly at having gotten to his feet, but he watched her get to her feet easily. Gray sweatdropped, biting the inside of his cheek slightly as he started forward, still stubborn as ever, but he hardly cared, he wasn't going to look weak in front of her, not for a damn thing._

_Not ever again._

_He huffed slightly, blinking furiously when moving made his head spin all the more out of the sheer exhaustion pulling at his body with every step. He could hear Frea's footsteps behind him, and they began their way back down the mountainside and toward home in silence._

_More and more it was like his vision was getting darker, and after awhile he was struggling to focus on the path ahead of him. He kept forward, relentless, even as the ground underfoot suddenly swirled into a chasm of blurred colors, and it went black,_

... _but only for a minute._

_He groaned slightly, his eyes fluttering open and his mind moving back to wakefulness slowly as he tried to make sense of what was going on. He hadn't felt as if he had been out of it for more than a moment or two, but the minute his mind cleared enough to make sense of where he was, his heart leapt in nervousness and he felt his face heat up._

_W-Wha?!_

_Frea was holding to him easily, having pulled him on to her back and started to carry him, by which now night was settled in deeply and the mountain was behind them. He stiffened, very nervous at the sudden close contact, his eyes wide and sweatdropping as his head snapped up- but when he tried to get off, he found his arms and legs weren't quite following orders, his muscles screamed and ached in pain and soreness, and still he felt heavy._

"... _you really don't need to push yourself so hard, ya know." Frea said lightly, her eyes shifting sideways as she became suddenly aware he had woken up. She smiled slightly, for just a minute as she caught his eyes, he stared. "It's not a bad thing to get tired, you did a lot of work. And you worked hard on top it."_

_He glanced away quickly, his heart jumping slightly as he bit the inside of his cheek, his eyes narrowed._

"... _. I have to get stronger.." He growled lowly,_

" _Heh," He blinked, hearing her laugh lightly at the comment. "You're getting stronger everyday, I can feel it. You don't have to rush it, sometimes it's better to take things in turn... lest you overdo it."_

"... _. Mmm... You're one to talk." He growled back lowly, "All you ever do is overdo things."_

"... _. Hehe... yeah, alright. But I do have a sense of when to stop." She replied without missing a beat. "And I do let up sometimes, something you haven't quite mastered."_

_Gray let his eyes fall, narrowed and glinting in the twilight at he fell silent._

" _Erza's really got a knack at pushing your buttons, huh?" Frea murmured, "She seemed to have hit a nerve.... But you shouldn't let it get to you. I promise, you're going to be one strong dude, enough to even outshine me some day." Gray's eyes widened slightly, she looked his way again, her silver eyes glinting._

" _Don't you doubt that. You're stronger than you know, and you just keep improving. Just remember, you can't do it all at once, even Erza took a long time to grow. You're gonna need time too, and you will get there, promise."_

* * *

__

Gray's shoulders fell, his face growing pale as his entire body suddenly grew cold, painfully cold. Even his own Ice Magic had never made him feel like this.... This was the sort of mind-numbing cold and deep fear and silence that fell into his core that he had felt before... and god he had never wanted to feel it again, and surely not like this... not because of this, because of her. This was the one person he thought he would never have to risk, not this deep cold pit, that icy sheer panic, fear and pain that settled inside of him, too heavy for him to bear. He couldn't breathe, not really, and he forced his eyes away, his arms and body shaking as he leaned against the barrier between himself and her, his elbows pressed against it as he leaned his head on in. His face fell, his hair around him as he seemed to fold in on himself, one arm clutching at his chest as he felt his very being break into tiny fragments in the course of a few moments. Tears dripped from his eyes and splashed against his feet as he stifled the sobs and the yell of sheer sadness,

Something ripped away forever, a pain he knew all too well.... He watched someone he cared for be taken from him, again.... And again he was helpless to do a damn thing.

... _w..why.... why her...?!_

* * *

__

_Chase fidgeted a little, he felt like he should tell her, about his family. She had been willing to tell him about her life, why shouldn't he be willing to tell her about his?_

_But it was hard, even thinking about it was torture in itself. He'd closed himself off to deal with it, and she had been respecting that.. she'd never asked, but it was like something about her was pulling him, making him feel like he should._

_"Teach," He murmured and she blinked, waiting for him to continue. He looked away, swallowing hard as the mass of emotion rolled up to slam into him, his heart beginning to pound. "My family..." He began and he forced away the tears that were threatening to spill over, he dare not or he may not be able to stop._

_Horrible flashes of what had happened appeared before his eyes, blood, horrible screams... He heard the sickening sound of bone and flesh and muscle snapping, he heard the shrill, terrified shrieks rip from their throats, their wild eyes looking at him as he stood fixed in utter terror, their blood spraying on the air, the scarlet drops falling against his face. He felt his stomach flip violently, his breathing suddenly quickening as the horror reared it's ugly head._

_"They're dead..." Chase hissed, eyes shutting tight against the images. "They were eaten by those things attacking Jogenen... There was another reason I chose you as a teacher, when you protected me... it reminded me of how I hadn't been able to protect my family... I want to learn Energy Magic so I can protect the people I care about."_

_He hated feeling so helpless, he hated having to watch that, unable to do a damn thing... he just sat there, frozen, hearing them yell and their faces twist in agony. He'd never forget it, their expressions haunted the darkest corners of his mind._

_"I know." Frea murmured and he looked up in surprise, she was looking at him calmly. There wasn't any surprise on her face, no shock, she didn't even flinch at the sudden confession, she just looked at him in the utmost calm... but it was almost like her eyes were shining._

_"B-but... how?" He stammered and she sighed._

_"I know a lot more than you think I do." She replied softly. "But I'm glad you told me anyway, this way you can get over it." Frea told him. "You have to remember, I was fighting those things along with Gajeel and Lily, and we got hurt pretty badly. You couldn't have done anything to save your family, but you have something worth striving for. Wanting to protect the people you love is a very good thing, and that's why I have faith, that you're going to be able to learn Energy Magic." Frea gave him a smile. "Because I know you're strong enough to move on from what happened back in Jogenen, and as long as you start to look at the positive side of life, you're going to get even stronger." She told him and her fangs flashed as she smiled at him._

_Chase stared, his sudden rapid heart and breathing slowing altogether as he simply looked at her, and her small, calm smile. Her eyes never left him, her composure was light, she looked content... and something, something about her... it was like her presence calmed him down. Her voice rung on his ears, clear, and immediately they sank in, and his emotions stilled._

_She was so sure, her voice was so sincere, there wasn't a shred of doubt... and somehow, something about her just made it feel as if all that pain and all that weight lifted from him. For the first time in a long time, he wasn't tense, he wasn't cold... he felt warm, and something like happiness creeped in, filling the void._

_"Thanks, Teach."_

_She always did that, she taught him everything. And not just Magic, she gave him everything he knew of love, and care and family... of having strength to protect the people he cared for, it all came from her. It was all because of her. She had pulled him out of the deep pit he had fallen into, she had helped him grow, helped him find true strength. She gave him everything, all he was today was because of her, he owed her all of it._

_She had replaced the part of him that had died away, the part that had blackened, and she had made it possible for light and happiness to reach him again. He wouldn't be around, if not for her... he wouldn't be the person he was, not without her._

_She had saved him, truly saved him, and she had done it more than once._

* * *

__

He couldn't watch, his eyes shut tight as he held his head in his hands, the tears falling from his eyes and splashing against his lap in a constant stream. He didn't feel his wounds, not single thing from those marks that were bleeding an angry red around him. The world felt dead, no life, no feeling, no light, and no warmth. It was constant, numbingly cold, a cold that halted everything in it's place, nothing had ever felt so empty, and yet it was like everything was just gone.

His family, his home, his life... all of it had been awful and suddenly he was in the middle of it Hell itself. And this emptiness, it cut deeper than anything ever had. A piece of him had been ripped apart, a giant, gaping hole in his heart that would never fill, he'd be left broken, and torn apart.

Gone.... Just gone...

* * *

_"I... I am so sorry..." Moon breathed lowly, pain and sadness gripping her heart. "... Everyone... I'm sorry... I dragged you into this..."_

_"Don't be sorry." Moon stiffened slightly, her mind managing to pull free from the black waves without her at first realizing it- able to hear the lurking a of the people around her, the blurry figure of the room of Death Bolt's main hall appearing above her, accompanied by the soft pale blue glow of Wendy's Magic as she worked away to heal her wounds._

_Moon's eyes moved to the side, seeing Lily looking down at her. "You've nothing to be sorry for, Moon." He murmured gently, "You were already told before, so don't apologize."_

_"... You guys... Are you all... Ok...?" She breathed, wincing harshly. "And... Shadow...?"_

_Lily smiled slightly, eyes softening a little as he nodded. "You won, Moon. You did a splendid job, you are truly one of the strongest Wizards I know." He told her softly, she blinked at the words, eyes glinting a little as she let a small, exhausted smile slip._

_"... I'm glad." She breathed, "I just wish... Frea... Knew..." Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes, ".. That Shadow is finally... Beat..." Her eyes fell closed, missing the blink of slight confusion that Lily gave her._

_She wanted in her heart, for Frea to know that she had done away with the creature that had hurt her, made her life hell... she wanted Frea to know that Shadow's reign of terror was over..._

_"I know, and you did great." Moon stiffened, her body going rigid and eyes snapping open, wide and heart leaping into her throat._

_That voice...!_

_"Just don't let all that power go to your head, alright?" She murmured, tone weary but not lacking a little amusement as she said the words. Moon sat up, hissing at the pain of moving and causing Wendy to stop healing her, Lily stiffened as she moved- looking a little worried she was moving so much so quickly._

_"Moon, you really should lie down," Wendy told her softly, but Moon's eyes were fixed on someone else._

_Frea blinked from where she was settled down beside them, one knee propped up with her elbow of her uninjured shoulder resting on top of it, her silver eyes rest on Moon, looking a little confused to the utterly shocked look her Exceed Partner settled on her. She was pale, and nearly every inch of her being covered in bandages or bruised or cut, and she seemed exhausted, and strained and maybe even a little frayed- but even more so... It was better than what Moon had thought._

_Moon stared, eyes wide and sweatdropping heavily, her jaw dropped slightly as her entire being began to shake with a sudden flux of insane and powerful emotion- of shock, pain, sadness- but most of all, sudden relief. Her eyes watered, the tears spilling over as she remained fixed, her eyes locked on to Frea._

_There was a sudden onslaught of powerful emotions sparking inside her heart, Moon felt her begin to shake and the tears start to flow freely._

_"What's with the look...?" Frea murmured, looking a little unsure. "Moon, are you- huh?!"_

_Moon moved faster than anybody managed to react, or even thought she could move at all. Frea broke off in her question, reeling slightly as Moon jumped forward despite her injuries and pain, ramming straight into her stomach as she settled in the Energy Dragon Slayer's lap, her bleeding and torn arms wrapping about her torso as Moon buried her face into Frea's shirt, her tears staining the fabric. Frea went still, eyes wide and glittering as a sudden swath of pure happiness and joy began to spark from Moon in seconds- followed by the calming and powerful wash of pure relief. She blinked in confusion, not sure what was going on- or why Moon had reacted in such a way at all, let alone why she was suddenly so happy and overjoyed- especially after all the awful things that had happened during this mess._

_Frea's hands gently landed on top of Moon's head as she continued to cry, a small smile pulling at her lips and eyes closed, nuzzling her head into Frea's torso in a sudden wash of affection. The Guild around her looked nearly as shocked as she did, quite caught off gaurd by Moon's sudden reaction._

_"Moon..." Frea murmured, eyes narrowing. "Hey... What's the matter?"_

_"I... Frea..." Moon stammered in between her crying, her voice cracking painfully- Frea felt her heart clench a little, feeling Moon still shaking. "... I... I thought I lost you... I thought Tomaru... I thought he... Killed you...!"_

* * *

__

Moon hit the ground, her head thrown back and sobbing uncontrollably. She cried, and she screamed, she didn't care, her voice broke painfully and she could barely form the words- this was a pain all too familiar, and yet it didn't come close to anything before.

Lily held her, his ears felt against his head and holding her as if she were about to slip away, she felt like she was falling forever ad ever, and he was the only thing holding her to reality. She struggled in his grasp, weakly, and he never let go, he knew he couldn't, and she reached out, grasping at air with trembling paws as she struggled to breathe at all.

It was crashing over her head, her true fear, her true terror, all of it was coming to light... and just as always, she couldn't do a damn thing...!

* * *

_"Gajeel!"_

_His name was called out in a firm, nearly resonating voice that seemed easily able to break through his agony and confusion, easily sounding above his own screams of pain. At first he thought the voice was that of Levy... Before in a split second, his pain faded and before his eyes everything swirled... Into a large meadow; the grass bathed in moonlight, the scent of blood and death around him, his eyes wide as he heard the sound of shattering and someone hissing in pain, head snapping upward toward the bladed tail of the monster that had been about to attack him while he was down- only to find someone had stepped between him and what would have given him a world of hurt, her hands bloody and dripping in crimson as she held on to the razor sharp tail firmly, the tip of it plunged into her chest, body shaking from keeping the monstrous creature and its deadly weapon for a tail at bay, and stopping it from hitting him all together._

_Soft silver fragments of Magic fell to the ground around her, her shield shattered and destroyed- leaving it so her body and her steely grip was the only thing guarding both himself, and her._

_Gajeel stared in shock, he couldn't fully wrap his head around the fact that she had jumped in front of him. Why would she do that...?_

_He stiffened as she smiled and glanced over her shoulder at him, the shadow passing from over her eyes. The silver gaze was bright as fire and she smiled wider. Despite her obvious pain... She was still smiling at him._

_"Tch... Don't give me that face, what did I tell you?" She asked. "I said I'll be there to stand up for you whenever you need me to, remember?"_

_"But..." He murmured and she rolled her eyes at him._

_"Get it through your thick head already," She told him. "You're family, and I'm willing to die for you!"_

_Smiling, smiling despite the fact that her hands were ripped and bleeding, and there was a gash in her chest. Bright, cheerful smile._

_She always did that, she sit with him, listen contently and simply let be, and she would always do it so calmly, so happily... even when they brawled. There wasn't a single fight with her she didn't enjoy, and he loved it too.... Of everyone he had ever known in his life, there were very few he 'liked', and very few he felt relaxed enough to be around for long periods of time._

_And still more, there had been very, very few who had shown him that... such undying, and resolute trust. Trust and loyalty to him, and honestly trust and loyalty he didn't deserve... and still he had always wanted to return it tenfold._

... _. One of only three people who had ever made him feel as if he could be redeemed._

* * *

__

Gajeel stood in stillness, his red eyes wide and completely frozen, all thought on action or movement shattered as the shots rang on his ears. A bead of sweat dripped won his face, his veins running cold as his body seemed to give up on itself, and all he could do was stand there, not daring to breath, not daring to blink, he wasn't sure of reality in those moments that stretched to centuries. Everyone around him, their voices cracking and choked as they yelled and screamed, the salty scent of tears on the air.

But he felt cold, he felt panic and terror the likes he had never experienced, ever... and he suddenly felt a hole, somewhere in him. Something had just disappeared, and left a gaping, dark gap where it had been, he felt his stomach flip as his breathing became short gasps. His mind whirling, and feeling pain and sudden despair he had never experienced, and it rammed into him like a train.

* * *

_In hindsight, it may have been a bad idea to take a short cut through this alley, just walking through it had her skin crawling, and her senses on high alert. It was like the shadows were creeping in and growing closer the longer they made their way down the narrow space, and short as it was, it suddenly seemed so much longer. Beside her Carla was tense, her eyes narrowed and tail flicking back and forth behind her._

_Wendy came up short, her arms pulling to her chest as a figure suddenly stepped out in front of her, and the smell of acrid breath hit her nose. Carla stepped in front of her slightly, her ears falling back._

" _Heh? What do we have here?" The man murmured, taking a small step toward the both of them._

" _W-we aren't looking for trouble.." Wendy mumbled,_

" _Eh? Trouble you say?" The man grumbled, "A girl and her cat walking alone here, I'd say you were asking for some trouble." He stepped closer again, Wendy stepped back slightly._

" _You keep your distance!" Carla growled lowly,_

" _Be quiet, you stupid cat." The man hissed, suddenly moving forward quickly as he pushed Carla aside, his hand lunging out to meet Wendy's arm as she brought them up to block herself. His hand landed with a steely grip on her forearm, roughly yanking her toward him as she tried to pull away._

_"Ah! Let me go!" Wendy stammered, trying to pull her arm away from the firm grasp as her heart thumped in sudden panic._

_"Don't complain little girl!" The man snapped, his eyes wild and glinting strangely in the dim around them._

_"Unhand her you Hooligan!" Carla yelled, her wings sprouting as she moved toward the man, looking to distract him enough to allow Wendy her arm back. Wendy's heart jumped, sweatdropping as she winced against the pain his grip was causing, her mind a wash of panic and uncertainty as she struggled to come up with what to do in response. She had to find a way to get herself free, and she probably could, if she used Magic-_

_"Hey!"_

_The sudden struggling and movement between Wendy, Carla and the strange man halted as a clear voice rang out from ahead of them. The man turned slowly, still holding Wendy as both his and her eyes met the one who had suddenly said something._

_Ahead of them in the alley stood a tall girl with strawberry blonde hair that turned to silver at the ends, with striking silver eyes and markings under her eyes to match. Wendy stopped, frozen slightly as she took in the appearance of the new arrival, her attention riveted to those strange, seemingly glowing silver eyes in the shadows around them. They were like nothing she had ever seen before._

_"Let her go!" The older girl growled firmly, not a shred of fear or concern in her eyes, just sheer determination, and even anger._

_The man smiled as he took in her appearance, seemingly uncaring to the threats. "What's a puny little girl like you gonna do?" He sneered, Wendy felt her heart drop, what little relief she felt for the sudden arrival dissipating, and suddenly she became very afraid of what he might do to the stranger._

_Wendy blinked, a little taken aback by the sudden intense glare that took over her expression as the older girl settled it on the man, watching as the blonde clenched her left fist at her side. Wendy stiffened slightly, feeling immediately the air thicken and throb around her as some strange, intense power seemed to build up around the other girl, even Carla seemed to feel it, it was stifling it came on so fast._

_The girl took a step forward and brought her fist back, her hand suddenly engulfed in some strange and slightly dazzling silver Magic._

_"Fist of the Energy Dragon Slayer!" The newcomer growled, her hand connecting with the man's face, sending him flying away into a trash can a good 20 feet away. Wendy stood still, stiff as a board with Carla beside her as they stared in awe and shock, it was a sort of move they were all too familiar with, and it was entirely unexpected._

_The older girl took another few steps and stopped in her tracks, her fist still raised. To her slight surprise, as well as Wendy and Carla's, he got back to his feet and shot an angry look at the newcomer._

_"So, you're a mage are ya?" He hissed and his hand shot out in front of him, a pillar of flame shot out toward them from up the alley, the flames licking at the walls as Wendy felt herself freeze in sheer surprise at Magic from the man so suddenly._

_Her eyes widened, her heart jumping in her chest as that same newcomer didn't hesitate a single moment to place herself directly between Wendy and Carla, and the walls of flames approaching ever so quickly. She looked ahead, her arms crossing in front of her, her gaze calm._

_"Energy Shield."_

_Red and orange clashed with the silver of the girl's Magic as it appeared before her, easily deflecting the flames as if it was nothing. The older girl smirked, the wall of silver light fading as she smirked, seeing an astonished look on the man's face, unaware of how awestricken both Wendy and Carla were at that very moment._

_"Energy Dragon Roar!" The girl growled, a large column of her silver Magic shot out toward the man and sent him flying across the street at the end of the alley- and he stayed down this time._

_Wendy was frozen, her eye riveted to the scene and mind suddenly racing, and working so utterly slow all at the same time. It had been terrifying to run into that man, and more so at how much the situation had escalated and so quickly... but this drove her breath away._

_The air was still heavy and tingling, and there was no doubt in Wendy's mind that feeling came from that girl's sheer power, more Magical Pressure than she would have expected, even from an apparent Dragon Slayer. And one with an Element she had no clue about, she was reeling._

_"Hey, are you alright?" The older girl asked, suddenly turning toward Wendy, her sudden glare turning into a soft and reassuring smile that managed to settle Wendy's thumping heart a little._

_She didn't even hesitate.._

_"Y-yeah.." Wendy murmured, letting out a small breath before glancing up toward Carla, who had her paws crossed about her chest. "Are you alright Carla?" She asked,_

_"I am quite all right. Wendy, thank this kind stranger for her help." Carla told her with a rather stern look, Wendy nodded quickly._

_"Oh, uh Thank you!" Wendy said with a small smile, bowing slightly as her eyes suddenly landed and noticed the bandages running up the stranger's arm, Wendy felt her heart jump again._

_She's hurt..?_

_"You're Welcome." The older girl smiled easily, Wendy felt her heart slowing more. "Honestly, I'm kinda glad I ran into you, nothing like a good brawl to wake you up!" The newcomer said brightly, Wendy smiled despite herself, faintly for a moment she was reminded of Natsu... She shook the thought off._

_"So you're a Dragon Slayer?" Wendy asked,_

_"Yep," The girl replied and Wendy smiled wider,_

_"I'm a Dragon Slayer too!" Wendy said brightly, though inwardly she noted she couldn't begin to compare to this girl, or any of the other Dragon Slayers.... But this woman, there was something different, just her Magical Pressure alone gave Wendy some pause.. "You're the Energy Dragon Slayer?" Wendy murmured, again she received a nod. "I've never heard of that before.."_

_"Nor have I." Carla commented, the girl smiled slightly._

_"Yeah, I'm the only one in all of Fiore that uses Energy Magic actually." The girl explained, Wendy's eyes went wide._

_Energy Magic..?!_

_"What element do you use?" The older asked, breaking Wendy from her shock and wonder. Wendy looked away with a rather shy smile, feeling suddenly a bit embarrassed._

_"Oh, I'm the Sky Dragon Slayer..." Wendy said quietly, she caught the girl smiling slightly in pleasant surprise and a bit of knowing from the corner of her eye._

_"Hey, if you don't mind my asking, what were you doing down this alley way?" She asked, Wendy blinked._

_"Oh, I was taking a short cut to the train station. I just got done with a job I took to help heal some of the people in the hospital here." Wendy explained._

_"Healing Magic is a Lost Magic isn't it?" The girl asked, Carla answered before Wendy had a chance._

_"Yes it is." Carla said flatly, for a minute Wendy sweatdropped at the silent stare her Exceed Partner was resting on the girl who had just saved them both, but she wasn't all that surprised by Carla's reaction either she supposed._

_For a moment the other girl looked up at Carla, but she didn't seem perturbed by Carla's expression nor tone in the least. She simply looked back at Wendy and took a step past her,_

_"Come on Wendy, I'll walk with you to the Train Station. I was heading there myself anyway." The older girl offered, Wendy paused in slight surprise at the offer, before she smiled, catching up to walk beside her._

_She was thankful the situation had been resolved, and even happier they had managed to find themselves in the company of someone so seemingly kind._

_All the more now she appreciated that was how she met her. It reminded her that it was always the small things that she did that could make Wendy happy, and relaxed. Like walking to the train station, talking with one another. She could be quite the scary woman, and yet she had always made sure to be gently and kind with Wendy herself._

_And suddenly it reminded her immediately how she always stepped between Wendy and whatever danger, always on seemingly automatic, and without question. It didn't matter what, she always did... and she always seemed to be looking out for her too. Always._

_She had always been that same way as when they first met that day, strong, kind, determined, protective._

_Always the same, she'd never forget that day she met the one and only, Energy Dragon Slayer.  
_

* * *

__

Wendy fell to her knees, eyes streaming with tears and her entire body shaking as she cried. Her heart broke in half, her breath driven from her body and her body trembling violently, her stomach flipped. Carla fell to her knees beside her, her own eyes streaming with tears and trembling.

Of all the times, of all the battles and all the sorrow she had felt before this moment, all the worry and the pain she felt when people got hurt, when she watched her friends and her family.... None of it was like this... nothing felt like....

* * *

_"Water Slicer!"_

_"Energy Dragon Wave Attack!"_

_Frea and Juvia's arms swept out before them, their Magic swarming out toward the surrounding enemies at an unreal rate. They remained pressed up, back to back and both of them smiling._

_Their enemies fell back with a cry, some knocked away from Juvia's water, and some blown backward as Frea snapped her fingers, making some of her waves explode while others only impacted._

_"Still good, Juvia?" Frea said with a small glance at the bluenette. Juvia glanced her way and nodded with a smile,_

_"Are you?" The bluenette countered and Frea smirked, looking away._

_"Never better." She replied and stepped away, Magic spiraling out over the ground toward the new line of enemies coming toward them. Several of the bandits stopped upon seeing her Magic, while others ignored it. That same line of Magic suddenly split apart to create a circle around the two Fairy Tail Mages._

_"Energy Trap." Frea said levelly, the air shook with the boom of explosive silver Energy Magic, dust rose up and their sight of their enemies was lost. Frea and Juvia's eyes scanned the surrounding brown warily, they could hear the grunts of enemies who were still not out, and Frea's eyes flashed entirely silver for a split second as she murmured, "Energy Sense," under her breath._

_"There's ten over there," the Energy Dragon Slayer informed as she looked to Juvia while tilting her head in a direction, Juvia nodded. "You take care of those, I'll take the next ten over here." Her head flicked in the opposite direction she had first gestured in._

_"Energy Dragon Roar!"_

_Juvia glanced over to see the tornado of spinning silver arc out over the landscape, swallowing the bandits in front of Frea entirely. Moon sweatdropped from where she was close to the Energy Dragon Slayer,_

_"That... Was a little over-kill, Frea." She mumbled, seeing the deep trench carved into the surrounding plain. Frea paused, clearly hearing what she had said, and glanced up with a sheepish smile, looking a little flustered._

_"Ah... Haha... Maybe a little." She chuckled and Moon chuckled a little too. Juvia smiled slightly, her attention moving from the both of them toward her own adversaries._

_"Water Nebula!"_

_A column of water engulfed the enemies in front of Juvia, sweeping them away and throwing them nearly as far as Frea's own breath attack had managed. Juvia smiled a bit more, for a moment a bit pleased she was able to keep up with the Energy Dragon Slayer as well as she had been._

_Juvia didn't see herself as all that competitive... or at least, not with Frea particularly. But there was no doubt she was one hell of a Mage, and Magic Juvia had respect for, and she liked the idea of being able to keep up,_

_Even more so she really enjoyed this, the job together... Frea could be a bit off putting with how powerful and brash she was, and to be entirely honest, Juvia had been a bit daunted by her on more than one occasion, but this trip together had showed her a side of the Energy Dragon Slayer she hadn't known before._

_"Great finish." Frea called to her suddenly, causing Juvia to turn round toward her, blinking in slightly surprise. "That was easy! You did a great job Juvia, thank you for coming on the job, the last few days have been fun." The Energy Dragon Slayer smirked, her fangs flashing as she said the words. Juvia blinked, face going a little red and blushing at the compliment. Moon smiled at the sight, amused by the bluenette's flustered reaction._

_"Oh... Ah... Juvia really didn't... Do much..." She stammered, tapping her fingers together. The praise from the Energy Dragon Slayer was a shock to say the least, but inwardly she appreciated it.. and she was happy Frea had enjoyed her company too._

_"Oh, you can stop being so modest." Frea chuckled,_

_"Juvia should be thanking you," Juvia mumbled, her heart still fluttering slightly, as her shy nature took over a moment. "It's an honor to go on a job with an S-Class Wizard of the Guild..." This time Juvia was surprised to see Frea blush at the words, and she blinked in surprise at the reaction._

_"... I only just got that title... And it doesn't mean so much, I'm still the same Wizard I used to be.." Frea mumbled, rubbing the back of her neck in embarrassment. "It's really not so important, I'd be happy to go on a mission with you regardless of me being S-Class or not..." Juvia blinked at the embarrassed look Frea had, and smiled at it at the same instance that Moon did._

_Juvia had noticed how embarrassed Frea could get, and she found it both sweet and amusing. If a little unexpected... but as she said, Frea had shown her a side that Juvia hadn't been used to before now._

_"You ready to collect the reward, then head back to the Guild?" Frea asked, and both Juvia and Moon nodded._

_"We should do this again, Juvia." Fees murmured with closed eyes and a small smile as she followed along beside the bluenette, Moon sitting on her shoulder comfortably. "It was really a lot of fun." She smiled._

_This was the fifth day the three had been on this mission, to travel around between six different villages in the countryside; and destroy the bandits that had been setting base up in every one of those towns. Most days had been like this one, to find a band of those bandits and take them out- then move to the next band. They had reached the sixth village last night, and the band they had taken out this morning had been the last one left to defeat._

_The reward for the job was rather large, especially considering the fact that all of the bandits had proved easy to beat- it was only high in pay because of how far the job stretched. But at any rate, it was a large payoff even when you split the reward between them._

_"Juvia agrees," Juvia answered with her own soft smile. "And Juvia... Would love to go on another job with you some time." Frea nodded._

_Considering how long the job had gone on, they had a large amount of time to talk with and learn much more about one another. Though Frea had been someone with considerable power and skill, Juvia had never quite had the chance to get to know her all that well, which now that she had, she regretted not accompanying the Energy Dragon Slayer on a mission sooner._

_At first she had been nervous about spending so much time alone with Frea at all, and she hadn't been sure what to expect. It was natural that the Energy Dragon Slayer try and talk to her while they were together, but it had been slow going on Juvia's end at first, and she knew it. She needed time to warm up a little, and incredibly.... Frea had been more than gentle about it all. Incredibly gentle, soft and easy when she prompted Juvia on questions and the like, and she listened so intently and so easily to what was said... it was, for lack of a better word, intimate- and Juvia found herself relaxing and opening up more than should have been normal. But with Frea, it was almost easy to feel so relaxed with her, there was just something pleasant about the way she acted, and talked._

_Juvia had noted this before hand, and with happiness when she found how easily Frea had warmed up to Gajeel, regardless of what had happened when Phantom Lord was still around. Juvia, having been the one to encourage Gajeel to join, had hated seeing people treat him badly those first times he was in the Guild, and she had wished nearly more than anything for someone to give him a chance. And no one had, everyone regarded him with hatred and spite and for a while she had been worried Gajeel would simply leave Fairy Tail altogether and never come back.... And then Frea came in._

_Frea, the wizard who had been in the Guild longer than most of the younger members, and someone who Juvia knew to be unbearably loyal and protective of everyone in it- she walked into the Guild and did nothing, said nothing, about what Gajeel did, In fact, she had proven herself protective of Gajeel quickly, and seemed to trust him immediately too. The thought warmed her heart._

_But more than Frea's kindness to Gajeel since coming back to the Guild, there was something she appreciated a bit more than that... even more than Frea's kindness to Juvia herself._

_Juvia was aware that many people in the Guild saw her affection for Gray as trivial, or maybe even sometimes annoying and blown out of proportion. She head mutters and comments behind her back about how over the top she could be, and that stung a little, because she knew her feelings were real, regardless of what everyone else thought about._

_But Frea had been openly supportive of her feelings from the start, she never said a word about it, and encouraged Juvia and Gray from time to time about it. It was the support she loved most, and she loved that Frea seemed to understand what she was truly feeling... she seemed extremely good at that._

_Juvia smiled to herself, her eyes casting down as she held her hands to her chest lightly._

... _. She always seemed to know what people were feeling, and somehow she knew precisely how to respond.... Just being around her was calming, it was like she felt she could automatically trust her. It had been that way from... well, nearly the start._

* * *

__

Juvia stood, trembling and her hands shaking as she covered her mouth, stifling trembling breaths as thunder rumbled overhead, and the unnatural dark clouds bean to threaten a downpour as her heart fell in motion.

She stifled a small scream of pure terror and heartbreak, her eyes riveted as she watched in slow agony. It was the same slowness it had been that day, the day in Crocus...

"N-no..." She whispered, her voice cracking painfully.

* * *

" _Oi."_

_The tall woman with the silver eyes suddenly turned toward her as she said something. The sky was dotted with the shimmering light of hundreds of stars, the city silent below them as she stood atop the hill, standing just before the railing, the windows alight in many of the buildings and people still spanning the street as they talked and laughed and drank, all excitement and smiling faces in the climax of the GMG still raging through the week._

_Solana stopped, her arms crossed over her chest and head tilted slightly. Her red hair ruffled in the wind, her emerald gaze meeting the silver one of the other woman steadily._

" _Hey." Frea murmured softly, leaning against the railing with her back._

"... _You're not with anyone from your Guild." Solana murmured, "I thought you would be... not having seen them in months." Frea nodded slightly, her eyes falling._

"... _. I'm just thinking is all." She replied easily, "... works better without the Guild being all noisy around me." She chuckled lightly, though it seemed a bit tired. Solana sweatdropped, her eyes narrowing as she swallowed slightly._

_They hadn't been on their own since Black Chimera, since.... Well, since Frea saved her life, actually._

_It had gone by in a blur in the Spirit World, everyone there were being generous and kind, they seemed to know she was a bit out of her depth... I mean, whoever expects and plans to go from being Human to a Celestial Spirit? She certainly hadn't been expecting it, and she couldn't imagine Frea had been either... she had to think it was probably hard, she knew it was hard, at least physically.... But mentally too._

"... _. You ok?" Solana murmured, her green eyes flashing in the dim of the night around them. "..... I know.... I really haven't had the chance to thank you, for what you did." Solana mumbled, "... it couldn't have been much fun."_

_Her eyes narrowed slightly, feeling her heart tug a little as Frea settled her with a small, easy smile._

" _Don't worry about it, I wasn't about to just let you die." The Energy Dragon Slayer replied, Solana took in a small breath. "You would have done the same."_

"... _. It's not the same." Solana mumbled lowly, her eyes falling closed. "Yes, I would have fought like hell to save you... but what you did, that goes a bit far beyond the normal role of 'saving'." She sweatdropped, her shoulders hunching slightly. "... you did something impossible, something incredibly brash and something that could have easily gotten you killed.... You can't just chock it up to being 'nice' or even being a good friend. And you certainly can't brush it off like that and say I would have done the same thing...."_

_Solana growled inwardly, her eyes glinting as she stared at the ground a moment._

"... _what you did..... it's not something I can pay back." She said softly, her heart clenching painfully a moment. And that was maybe the part that killed her the most, of course it hurt to think what Frea did for her could have gotten her killed.... It was what she had given up to make sure she lived. The pain and the exhaustion, the after effects of a Spell like that... she hated to think what it would do in the long run. And she knew well enough Frea would never tell her if something was wrong because of it._

_She had grown considerably fond and close to that stubborn, powerful and kind Energy Dragon Slayer. She had had few friends in her life, and fewer people she cared for, and even loved... and in the time they spent fighting, training, talking, she couldn't deny she loved her. She'd do anything to protect her, and she knew Frea felt the same... and it made it worse._

_She was angry she had been so foolish, she was thankful she had done it at all, and touched too.... But still she worried about it too. She couldn't help it._

_She couldn't repay it, she knew it... and it was such a painful and pleasant thought to know she had someone who would be willing to lay their life on the line for her like that, there hadn't been really anyone who felt that way for her, and having someone finally, after so long...._

"... _damn it." She hissed under her breath, her emotions were on such a high she couldn't pull them together, or make sense of them or even her thoughts, and that just made her more irritated in that moment._

_Solana went rigid, her head snapping up as Frea suddenly stopped right in front of her, she hadn't even heard her approach at all._

_Her jaw dropped slightly, eyes wide as suddenly she felt herself pulled forward, Frea's arms wrapping about her firmly. The Energy Dragon Slayer buried her nose in Solana's shoulder, holding her close and firmly, as if she was suddenly afraid to let go. Solana felt her heart jump, concern rising inside of her at the unexpected and somewhat out of character action._

"... _quit getting all worked up about it." Frea murmured softly, ".... You don't have to repay me for anything, I know what I did, and I did it willingly... I wouldn't change a damn thing." Frea's grip about her tightened slightly,_

"... _I'm just happy you're not dead."_

_Solana swallowed, her eyes glistening as she heard Frea's drop very, very low, and for a moment... it was like her voice almost cracked. That made her heart drop a little, and ache all the more, she heard the pain in her voice, but she also heard the sheer relief too._

_Solana's eyes closed slightly, her arms wrapping about the Energy Dragon Slayer to lightly return the gesture._

_She cares, more deeply than people usually see... and to be cared for that deeply, it meant more than life._

* * *

__

Solana and Aisha remained hunched over, clutching their chests and having trouble breathing at all, they felt like their hearts had been ripped from their chests. Like something had been ripped from them both and they felt so empty and in so much unbearably pain all at once they could hardly think.

Not a single breath stirred past their lips, they remained on the ground, nothing but pain and sheer agony tearing at their very beings as they struggled to make sense of anything at all. Nothing had felt like this, no wound, no battle, it was like they had been ripped into hundreds of pieces, put back together, and torn apart again. They couldn't move, nothing but pain crossed their minds and the world around them was lost in the haze of the sudden torture that clamped down on their very souls. Nothing humanly possible could have inflicted this pain, nothing natural... nothing anyone could ever possibly imagine, and yet they knew instantly why.

Their world's shattered, the markings shattered, and at once, it was like they themselves were falling apart too.

No one... no one ever stopped to ask... what would happen if...

* * *

_He remained still, his eyes fixed to the flowing waters going past his feet, his legs handing from the small bridge over the riverway, his hands in his pockets and hunched slightly. He didn't say anything, or register the sparse few people or noises moving past and behind him through the town, becoming fewer and fewer as the sun continued to set over his head, rays of orange and red dancing from the water and flashing against his glasses. He felt numb, utterly numb... and even that was a better alternative, even when he couldn't seem to care about anything else._

_This was hell.... But maybe it was a hell he deserved._

_He cringed slightly, feeling a sudden stab of pain in his core, a pain he was all too familiar with. He sweatdropped, waiting with narrowed eyes as the pain gave way to a constant throb, again, familiar... and something he knew he would be living with until..._

_He jumped slightly, his head snapping up and away from his silent dull watch of the water as someone suddenly settled down to sit on the wall beside him. He watched in slight surprise and confusion as a tall slender girl with strawberry blonde, silver-tipped hair and silver eyes sat beside him. She pulled her braid over her shoulder and rolled up her sleeves, her feet dangling and swinging back and forth over the water slightly as she smiled his way, her silver gaze glinting from the flashing light coming off the water._

" _Here ya go." She smirked, handing him a flavored milk, dropping it lightly into his hands as he scrambled to take it from her, quite shocked at the sudden gesture, especially from someone he had known less than a week or so._

" _U-uh, ah, thanks." He mumbled quickly, holding the box in both hands as she stuck her straw through her own, nodding slightly to him. His eyes fell from her toward the drink in his hands, sweadropping slightly as he simply stared at it for a few moments, somewhat perplexed._

_He slowly stuck the straw in the box, his eyes moving her way from the edge of his glasses as he saw her take a sip of her own, her eyes fixed ahead to further up the water column below them, leaning back on her free hand._

"... _.. it's almost weird to think you've already been in the Guild for a month, huh?" She murmured almost absentmindedly, before smiling a little. "Especially so, since I only met you a week ago."_

"... _Yeah... I guess so.." He replied, none of his usual bravado and flirtatious attitude to be seen, as it usually was. Which may have seemed odd, if he hadn't already crashed and burned on that end with her already, on the first day they had met actually. He usually flirted with any pretty girl he could find, that's how he was, and she was certainly pretty, he didn't deny that- but Frea had made it abhorrently clear from the get go she wasn't going to swing with his flirting, not at all. He had attempted it, but nothing he did seemed to faze her at all, nor make her the least bit uncomfortable or nervous like it usually did with other girls, and she certainly didn't seem to like it either. She was just neutral about it, and she brushed it off as if he had never acted that way... so as deflating as it was, he quickly quit trying it with her._

_Something told him he could try all he wanted, but it would never work. Even having only known her (and not really know her, to be fairly honest) he got the sense that she really wasn't the type of woman to be impressed by his sort of shameless flirting. To be honest, she was somewhat of a mystery to him, as was clear she was a bit of mystery even to the rest of the Fairy Tail Guild sometimes... and a bit odd._

_He hadn't poked around all that much but he was fairly certain he had heard something along the lines of Frea being a 'demon'._

"... _time's gone by pretty fast in the Guild though, it's like there's never a dull day." He murmured, taking a sip of the offered milk box and looking away from her._

" _Hehe, not really." Frea chuckled slightly, he paused, glancing sideways when he swore he saw her smile fade to a small frown, but it lasted so little a time he wasn't sure. "I would hope it's not too exciting though... and I hope you have fun here, or at least as much as you can." She murmured, he stiffened slightly, his eyes snapping toward her as he sweatdropped._

"... _what do you mean...?" He asked slowly, feeling his heart speed up a little in slight panic. Something felt off now, like she suddenly seemed to know something, something she shouldn't._

_Frea glanced toward him from the corner of her eye, her silver eyes glinting a moment as she simply looked at him in the utmost calm. He met her gaze, silent and feeling a bit nervous, something about her stare... well it was almost as if she was looking right through him, like she saw more than she should be able to, it was unnerving in a way._

_She looked away, her eyes falling halfway as she bit the top of her straw, but didn't drink anything._

"... _. I suppose I'm being a bit indelicate, but I don't think I can just let it go." She mumbled, again he felt his heart skip a beat. He blinked in shock, seeing her teeth clamp down on the end of the straw harder, her grip about the box tightening slightly and bending it a little. For a minute she looked almost pained, and he swallowed, unsure of what it was that had suddenly changed, and quite uneasy about where this conversation was going._

_His attention snapped away from her as a he cringed again, his eyes closing and turning his head away from her in a small attempt to try and not let her notice the sudden change. He stifled a hiss, doing his best not to let the pain show, he took a small, slow breath and slowly looked back her way,_

_Frea's eyes had closed, her grip on her milk box a bit tighter and her body tense too as a bead of sweat dripped down her face, she looked nearly as uncomfortable as he felt just then, but why..?_

"... _You're in a lot of pain, Loke." She murmured softly, her hand slowly falling as she set her milk box down. To him he felt his heart drop into the pits of his stomach, going completely rigid at the affirmation so suddenly, and slightly panicked too._

_How in the hell could she even know...?! He had been hiding this for so long, no one else knew, and yet she'd pieced it together in a week? He hadn't even seen her all those days, just once or twice, so how...?!_

" _Sorry," She mumbled, he just stared, his eyes fixed and his glasses sliding down to the edge of his nose, though he hardly cared, he was too shocked. "... I'm not trying to freak you out or anything, and I really hate to pry. But to be honest, the amount of pain you're in all the time is worrying, and I can't just ignore it." That sent his heart pounding even more, it was like she could read his mind, how could she possibly know how he was feeling?_

"... _b-but... how could you even...?" He stammered, his mind racing. Frea smile a little sadly, her head tilting his way._

" _I guess I didn't tell you a lot about my Magic, hmm?" She murmured softly, "Energy Magic, specifically... it lets me feel all sort of Energy around me, and identify Magic and Power, as well as physically feel emotion coming from other people." His eyes widened slightly, sweatdropping more. "All emotion really, surprise, sadness, panic, fear, pain.... All of it. And I feel mostly pain, exhaustion, guilt and despair coming from you, all the time." His eyes fell away from her, his jaw clenching._

" _You're dying, right?" She murmured, her voice low. The sudden sound of it out on the open air made his heart lurch painfully, he honestly hadn't wanted anyone in the Guild knowing about it... he just wanted to waste away, and he didn't want anyone to know he was. He wanted to disappear, alone, and away from everyone's mind. And yet somehow he had picked and joined the one Guild, with the one Mage, who literally could feel his pain, and had immediately pieced together that he was a Deadman, and he hated it more to know she was already worried about him, he hadn't wanted that._

_He reached up slowly, pushing his glasses back up his nose so the light bouncing from the river hid his eyes._

"... _.. y-yeah..." He stammered, swallowing slightly. "But it's not.... Well.... There's nothing to do about it... at least.... Well nothing you..... just.... just please don't worry about it." He mumbled, his hand falling back into his lap slowly. "... I'll be alright, there's nothing you or anyone can do to change it.... So it's better to just.. forget about it..."_

_There wasn't a damn thing to be done, not a thing... he knew that, he accepted that, a long time ago.... This was his punishment._

_He felt his heart clench more painfully for a moment than his body ached, he shut his eyes against it, his head falling and shoulder hunching slightly._

"... _.. god you're a pain in the ass." Frea hissed suddenly, Loke's head snapped up to look her way in utter shock at the sudden words. She was sweatdropping, her eyes closed and head tilted back slightly._

"... _huh..?" He breathed,_

"... _.. I don't know much about the Spirit World or anything, or Spirits in general, but I gotta guess it's gotta be something pretty big to have you sticking around like this, and to make you keep feeling like such crap." Frea grumbled, "As far as I was aware Spirits weren't supposed to stick around in this world for long periods at a time, especially without a.... KeyHolder, right?" She went on, Loke just stared, completely taken aback by how her mood seemed to change from sullen to something more easy going, and let alone how she knew about the Spirit thing?!_

"... _. You're obviously in a lot of pain, and you're freaking exhausted. Not to mention, well, guilty for something.... But geez, could you maybe try to be less of a downer?" Frea went on, completely ignoring or unaware of the sheer shock plastered on his face, his glasses fell nearly all the way off his face as he just stared at her. She crossed her arms over her chest, her head tilted slightly. "I realize you're not in the best situation, but it doesn't do any good to keep sulking about and distancing yourself from everyone." He blinked, she paused a moment._

"... _Loke, I think you're lonely enough." She said softly, her tone suddenly so very gentle. He stiffened, suddenly taken aback by the softness of her voice, his eyes widening slightly as she finally looked back at him, the light of the water dazzling in her eyes as she looked toward him steadily._

_For a split second, the ache in his body just disappeared altogether. He was transfixed, he couldn't look away, again he felt like she was looking straight through him. Her gaze was so steady, and so unbelievably calming, he almost felt like they had sunk away into another world entirely, like it was just the two of them._

" _So." She suddenly smiled, smirking almost as she bit down on the end of her straw again, her eyes glinting. He blinked, her softness and calm demeanor so suddenly shifting back to happy and bright in all but an instant. "Now don't think you're gonna be getting rid of me so easily now, there's no way you're gonna push me away. You had better believe that!" She smirked wider, leaning in slightly toward him. Loke tensed up, feeling his heart jump slightly._

" _I don't care what it is you're guilty for, and I'm not gonna make you tell me anything you don't want to. Just know I'm not about to let you fade into the background, keeping everyone at arm's length. I'm sticking close, regardless of what you'd like. And you're going to have to deal with it." She said easily, but in her voice was something more, something deeper, and something utterly determined and sincere. He felt something in his heart stir, something deep down, something he hadn't quite felt before... something pleasant, and warm, and just seeing her smiling at him and hearing how serious she was about what she said... about how she wouldn't let him push her away._

... _. After all she knew and all she had already figured out about him..... how could she not ask him? How could she promise him she wouldn't force him to tell her anything? How could she have figured all of that out... and still look so bright and determined like that?_

_Why... why did hearing her say that make his pain dull in a sudden warm pulse?_

_She smiled a bit more, nudging him slightly with her elbow as she took a drink of her milk a moment._

"... _. Now, that's a better isn't it?" She smirked at him, "You've perked up a bit, it's a bit more pleasant than constant despair." She chuckled slightly, before she smiled a little to see the flash of concern in his eyes at the comment. "I'm just teasing.... It really isn't a bother, but I'm glad I could make you feel better, even just a bit."_

_He was reeling slightly, having a hard time coming up with a response. It was all so fast and so odd all at once, he honestly hadn't expected any of this... she shocked him, more than he could have expected from anyone, ever._

_Was she talking about.... About his feelings? This sudden warmth inside of him?_

_Could she actually feel it....? Like seriously..?_

"... _.Ah..." He breathed, "... Okay..... How...... I think... you... that was.... did you just..... Propose to me, with flavored milk?" He chuckled just a little, still reeling slightly and the words making it past his mouth before he could think about them._

_Frea grinned, shaking her head at him as he simply smiled back, completely unsure, but suddenly... it was just so pleasant between them. More pleasant than he had felt in a very, very long time. For a moment he felt like his old self again,_

" _Cheeky." Frea smiled, "I mean it though, you won't be getting rid of me. You need someone to talk to, and someone who knows better than everyone else how you're feeling...." She paused, her eyes softening. "... After all, what are friends for?"_

_There hadn't been anyone, not a single person who made him feel that. Not since Karen, not since he was back in the Spirit World..... since being banished there, to live every day of his life in agony, no one had made him feel so relaxed and happy. No one had been able to make him smile and laugh like that, and until he met Lucy... there had only ever been one person who had made him happy, who understood and made the pain fade._

_She had been the first person who hadn't known him before Karen, the one person he told, and the one person who listened and didn't care what he'd done._

_One person._

* * *

__

Loke took a step backward, trying to catch himself as he suddenly felt as if he had been hit by a train at full speed, the breath being driven from him as that same pain and numbness suddenly rammed into him again after so, so long.

This didn't compare, this was a thousand times worse.... Even years of living every day, slowly fading away, with each and every ounce of his power and life force being ripped away..... the pain and the suffering he endured, the guilt and the self-hatred and the despair. Even if he were to wrap all of it up into one massive ball of emotion, it didn't come close. This.... This was...

He couldn't breathe, he felt as if a part of his whole world was ripped away, a part that had been constant, kind...

* * *

_Rain pound down over the silent and sullen figure of the Fairy Tail Guild Hall, the sky rumbling and wind howling as the darkness and the cold seemed to seep into the solemn figure of the Fairy Tail Guild. The members were inside, all of them grim faced and eyes fixed to the floor, all of them with heavy hearts and several holding back tears as their heads bowed, not a smile among them and not a sound outside of sniffles and gasping breaths. Everyone lost in their own heads and the sinking feeling in their souls as they listened to the choked and gasping cries of the two white-haired siblings collapsed on the floor near the back wall, the older with her one good arm wrapped around her sobbing brother tightly as he cried into her, muttering over and over, and feeling more guilty and unbearably evil than he had ever in his life._

_Master Makarov sat atop the bar, his hands folded and pressed against his forehead as his head bowed and he remained hunched, hiding his face and unbearably tense. He was doing his best to remain as composed as he possibly could, though this hit him harder and more painfully than anything had before... or at least for a very long time, and then the heavy hearts and the broken expressions of the Guild around him did nothing to lessen the ache in his chest._

_How had it all gone so wrong so fast...?_

_Natsu and Gray were staring at the floor, not saying a word and hardy able to think let along move. They, like many of the other young members couldn't wrap their heads around it, most everyone couldn't... it was too much, too devastating. Erza was at the edge of the hall, arms over her chest and pointedly looking away from the sobbing siblings in the center of the hall, her face dark and eyes lost to memories that constantly bit at her heels, the crying all too familiar on her ears. Cana was sitting at a table by herself, hands clenched in her lap and struggling to hold back her tears as she stared at the floor, shoulders hunched, her drink abandoned completely on the table beside her._

_The door opened slightly, a few heads turning to see the figure of a tall slender teenage blonde step from the pouring rain outside. Her hands fell from the door almost limply, the heavy frame shutting again as a flash of lightning lit up the windows. She walked in, her silver eyes glistening in the dim and her hair falling about her face in wet strands, her eyes tired and shallow cuts running up her arms and legs, with one trailing across her jaw and cheek, though she hardly seemed to care nor notice. Eyes trailed her way, many of them realizing immediately that she must have come straight to the Guild, after having been in the northern mountains for weeks... abandoning her travels in an instant, once she knew._

_She swallowed, for a moment looking pained the moment she walked into the hall, as her silver gaze landed on the two white-haired members, and nothing else. She walked forward without a word, making her way across the center of the hall and through the close knit bands of people all weighed down by pain and utter sadness it must have been agony for her to be in the room, regardless of her own feelings. Her feet took her straight there, straight toward the sobbing pair as Mirajane's glistening blue eyes looked up her way, her face pulled in pain and sadness as she held Elfman, who kept shaking his head, muttering to himself he was a monster, staring at his hands and seeing nothing but the blood of his own sister there._

" _F-Frea...." Mira stuttered breathlessly, her body shaking more than it ever had. Mira's tear-filled eyes looked up at the older girl, pained, almost as if she was struggling and reaching painfully at the space between them, unable to say a word- though she hardly needed to. To Frea simply being in the hall, being near anyone... that was more than a thousand words, she felt it, deep in her very soul, and for a moment she felt it more deeply and more painfully than should have been humanly possible._

_Mira stared, her heart a million pieces and holding tightly to Elfman, she didn't dare let him go, she knew he needed her... more than he ever had. But she wasn't sure she had the strength to, she felt as if she was falling into a pit more deep and dark than ever, there wasn't a way out of this, and even the guild and the pained faces around her were fading. Frea was blurring in front of her, and she shut her eyes tight against it._

_Mira's heart jumped, her eyes snapping open as she felt steady, gentle arms wrap about herself and Elfman both at once. Mira stiffened, her eyes wide as Frea sat down before them, pulling them into her with a soft yet firm hand on their heads. She pulled them into her, holding them under arms, her eyes closing as she rest her chin atop Mira's head lightly._

" _F-fre...Frea....?" Mira stammered, her body shaking against her brother and the older girl like a leaf, the chill damp of the older girl's clothes and hair made her shiver, and yet it was somewhat refreshing by how hot she felt, and how badly her head and her body throbbed._

" _I know." Frea said quietly. "I know."_

_There was nothing special about those words, not really. They had no special meaning behind them, no secret feeling that came along with them. But suddenly, very suddenly, it was almost like the pain and the despair crashed over her head a thousand times strong- but it didn't hurt so much, it was.... Better._

_There was pain in her voice then, sadness too.... But it was soft, gentle... her hold was more gentle and kind than it had ever been. Never had she held them like that, never had she expected it. It was unbearably gentle, caring..._

_Her emotions slammed into her a thousand fold, all the pain and the anger and the sadness, it rammed into her all at once, and she felt herself breaking apart all the more. She felt herself crumbling and falling into a deep pit with no light, and yet she didn't fall all the way... and she never did._

_There was someone there, holding on, never letting her fall all the way.  
_

* * *

__

Mirajane stood still, her arms falling to her sides and her heart following suite. She stood still, completely immobilized as she stood transfixed and horrified, unable to tear her eyes away. That deep dark pit rose up around her, the darkness crawling in all at once, she shadows licking at her arms and body as it slowly began to drag her under.... Down into some place cold, someplace numb, someplace she would never come back from.

She heard the unmistakable sound of her lifeline snapping, the rope holding her above the dark suddenly sprung back as it broke, forever.

* * *

_"You're Lucy right?"_

_Lucy jumped a little at the sudden question, from where she had been sitting alone and in silence while the Guild bustled and filled with conversations- all spurred by the sudden return of one of it's members. They had been preoccupied with the returnee since she walked in, and she understood it of course. Having just been watching the rest of the Guild light up and be so happy at seeing her come home made her heart warm, it was clear she meant a lot to everyone here, so she was happy to leave them to their reunions._

_She turned around in surprise, her heart jumping and eyes locking to none other than their returnee sit next to her at the bar, her silver eyes glinting as she smiled toward her._

_"Uh.. yeah!" Lucy replied quickly, trying to regain her composure. "And you're Frea right?"_

_"Yep." Frea placed her elbows on the counter. "How long have you been here? From what Mira told me, you've gotten into a lot of trouble so far." She smirked a little, especially so as Lucy glanced away in sudden embarrassment at mention of it._

_"Not very long, but.. yeah, our Team has gotten into some trouble, you're right." She smiled nervously and Frea nodded,_

_"With Lullaby, Eisenwald, Galuna, The Tower of Heaven, and even Phantom Lord." Frea smiled, looking out to the Guild as her eyes landed on Erza, Natsu, Gray, Happy, Gajeel, and Juvia. "I hate to have missed so much of the exciting stuff, and things that were so important.." She sighed. "Had I been here, I could have helped everyone out." She murmured._

_"It all turned out alright though." Lucy said softly, the blonde smiling herself as she looked out over the Guild herself. "Everyone was able to band together and fix things, Fairy Tail seems to have a specialty for helping everyone." Frea nodded a little, though Lucy only faintly registered it._

_"That's true." She agreed, then blinked. "Oh, Lucy."_

_"Hmm?" The blonde looked her way, only to blink in surprise to see Frea smiling softly at her._

_"I would like to thank you for saving Loke." She told her softly, and the blonde froze for a moment, "He and I became really good friends since he joined the Guild, and I was able to tell he was a Spirit from the beginning. He explained to me his situation, and however much I wanted to, I wasn't able to help him." Frea smiled, "But you were, and I thank you for saving one of my friends, where I couldn't." Frea said softly,_

_For a long moment Lucy could only stare, her mind working slowly and groggily in surprise at the sudden mention of Loke. For a moment she was shocked, she hadn't been aware he had told anyone in Fairy Tail about being a Spirit, nor what had landed him trapped in the Human World in the first place. She had assumed he had not, as it was understandably a very hard subject to talk about... hell, she had to pry a bit to get him to tell her anything._

_But the sudden softness and the sheer gentle expression Frea was wearing now was a bit more of a shock. Frea had entered the Guild ready and raring to brawl with the boys, and she seemed a bit gruff.... But just now, there was something sweeter there, calmer. Frea's eyes were glinting, and in them Lucy could see pain, and regret... as if she really felt terribly for now being able to help Loke, and in an instant she could see how deeply he meant to Frea. She realized then and there they must be good friends, and it must have killed Frea to not be able to do anything for him._

_Lucy swallowed slightly, feeling her heart fluttering slightly, nut suddenly there was something warm growing there too- appreciation, and happiness._

_Lucy felt strongly about her friends, and she felt strongly about her Spirits too. It wasn't something all Celestial Mages shared, nor anyone else really, but she was suddenly incredibly grateful and happy that Frea seemed to care so strongly for Loke, especially knowing what he was. She appreciated that more than anything, and she was really happy Loke had had someone to care about him as much as Frea seemed to. And immediately, she felt herself really liking her, just for that._

_Everything after, all the times Frea fought with her, the kindness she showed when they went on their first mission together, the fun they had, the pain and the sadness they shared as they fought for the Guild, and for eachother... all of it just added to the love she felt for the girl since that very first day._

* * *

__

Lucy felt herself falling apart, her eyes streaming with tears as she struggled to stay standing, her legs shaking terribly and unable to take a single breath. She was paralyzed, it felt like her heart had stopped altogether, and the world around her was suddenly so very silent.

In her mind flashed that, that terrible, terrible day.. all the terrible days, all the pain, the sorrow, terror, every minute of it... and it didn't match this.

Nothing could match this... this was just... just so wrong..

* * *

"... _I didn't realize you guys were so worried about me," she smirked, her eyes glinting. "It's actually really sweet of you two, I'm glad you guys feel the same way I do about you, as friends." She chuckled, her tone lined with slight teasing as both Sting and Rogue stared, eyes wide and sweatdropping slightly, before they blushed a little._

_"... Friends...?" They breathed, finally able to pull the popsicles from their mouths as they simply stared at her in shocked silence. They hadn't thought of it that way before.. And for whatever reason, they hadn't considered Frea thought of them as friends either. They'd not started off not knowing one another in a good way, she'd been pissed at them, cold even... until suddenly she was warm. All of a sudden, it was like she had just forgotten all about the awful things they had done, and she smiled at them, laughed..... she cared. She fought with them, worked with them, and without a shred of hatred they had expected._

_Frea was pleasant, and kind, **unbearably** kind to them, and she had worked to keep them safe tirelessly.... They'd be lying if they said they hadn't grown to care about her, they worried and they having heard about Death Bolt not long before, their hearts had dropped and their minds had raced in panic and sheer concern, concern and worry for her. They cared, and they weren't sure when it happened.... But they hadn't realized Frea thought of them like that, like friends... and hearing her say that now... They felt a little pleased at it, and deep down... happy. Really happy._

* * *

Sting and Rogue went rigid, tears glistening in their eyes as they leaned against the Magic keeping them trapped away, their eyes locked to the stream as the sight of crimson washed across the ground and the air around where she was. They took in strained, rattling breaths as they watched, frozen, their hearts stopping in their chests and beginning to crack in the most agonizing way. The rest of SaberTooth around them watched in horror, eyes wide and sweatdropping heavily at the sight, not a single word went out among them. Nothing, just unbearable silence broken only by the yells of agony and sheer despair filtering through to them from the Fairy Tail Guild.

Sting hissed, his fingers scratching as the wall as his eyes glistened with moisture, his head falling as he shut them tight, shoulders tense and shaking. Rogue stepped back, catching himself as his legs seemed to forget how to hold him, every cry and yell of her name that echoed from Fairy Tail striking his heart, but none of it more painful than the sheer feeling of loss that dumped down over him. He hadn't even realized there had grown such a large place in himself for her, he'd never realized... neither of them had realized what place she had taken in both their hearts... and now it was gone, forever.

* * *

_"You worry too much, you old geezer. Frea's fine, and I know that Death Bolt wasn't the end of it- there's still that Thing going after her, and I know you're worried about it." Master blinked in slight surprise at the sudden change in subject, and how utterly serious and firm Laxus was being just now._

_If Frea could face her past, if she could face all of the awful, break down and manage to put herself back together again, and push on like she was- she could get past this new enemy too._

_She'd changed, she'd grown and become stronger. She wasn't the same Frea from all those years ago, she was stronger, and still she was more understanding, more gentle... and he had the feeling that what had happened a few nights ago, the words exchanged between himself and Frea, how she had crumbled. Frea was reserved, and didn't let other people in... and he knew she had broken, and it had been with him, and she seemed better for it._

_That thought struck him the most out of anything, his eyes closed and he let out a small growl at himself._

_"Frea's not gonna go down easy. Whatever's coming, she'll beat it. So quit getting worked up over it."  
_

* * *

__

_"Why have you been following me?" She asked bluntly, he blinked, glancing away a moment, a little nervous to meet her eyes at the sudden question. He hadn't meant to have her notice, and certainly hadn't been expecting her to question him outright. "You've been following me since the Bingo game ended, Natsu. You've not been very subtle either."_

_He had wished and hoped maybe she hadn't noticed his less than usual behavior the last few days, he knew he was acting off... and he knew it was stupid to hope she wouldn't notice, she always did._

_Natsu lightly hopped out from the bush, Frea turning slightly to face him as he landed beside her, still rubbing the back of his neck._

_"Sorry." He mumbled, "I was just... Making sure you didn't get into trouble." Frea blinked in slight surprise, head tilted slightly. "... Or you know..." He blushed faintly, for a moment hating the wash of nervousness that ran through him._

_"... Pushed yourself too hard, you're still healing and all."_

_Frea's eyes widened slightly, sweatdropping a little as she blinked at him. Natsu just looked away, having a hard time coming up with a proper response to back that up- he couldn't find a good way to explain what he was doing, because in reality he wasn't sure why he was.... But maybe that was a lie. He knew.... He knew exactly why, and it was because of how tight his chest became and how painfully his heart clenched when the image of seeing her crucified to the Guild Hall suddenly surfaced. How painful the memory of seeing her arguing so hard to go to Death Bolt, regardless of the state she was in, and he swallowed hard when he remembered the small flashes of fear and panic he could see in her just under the anger at the time._

_She's been hurt, and beaten, and she was barely on her feet... and yet he had never seen that, he had never seen her so defeated and so humiliated. Not once, and he certainly never saw her panic like that. And seeing her in that state, he couldn't look away, he couldn't get past it, and her certainly couldn't let her risk getting hurt again._

_It had pissed him off, he'd wanted to murder the person responsible for hurting her like that- but that anger had been nothing compared to the sudden surge of worry and concern he felt, coupled with a strong sense of protectiveness he hadn't ever felt so strongly in himself about Frea. Frea had always been able to take care of herself, she didn't need to be looked after- and for the first time ever, she suddenly did._

_He wasn't used to that, but his own body jumped into the idea without pause. He stopped her, pushing aside his own anger and doing what she had often times done for him- and placed himself in her way as she tried to jump ahead without thinking. He would have done anything to stop her from going, he'd have stowed away his own anger at Death Bolt and desire to go after them if he needed to, if only to keep her away from it. And now, even after all of it was over that feeling of concern hadn't faded... to be honest it had been growing stronger since he had felt the pain she was in, when they switched bodies just after Nvindorr. Felling her pain then made it unbelievably clear to him that she hid her pain really, really well, and he had to wonder how often she did hide it._

_Frea pushed through pain and weakness and injury and didn't seem to care for herself or her own health over anyone else's, and that recklessness suddenly started to worry him... because he could think of little else worse than the idea that some day, he'd lose her... and it would be because she was protecting someone else._

_He wasn't good with words, not usually.... And he wasn't sure how to voice what he was feeling, or even if he should._

_Frea smiled softly, though he didn't see it._

_Natsu stiffened, seeing Frea move toward him suddenly and head snapping up as she did something she hadn't done... Since he was a little kid._

_Frea's arms wrapped about his shoulders and neck, pulling him into her as she rest her head lightly against the side of his, smiling still as her eyes closed and she held him close, her scent slowly mingling with his and dancing off his nose. Natsu stared, eyes wide and mind suddenly drawing blank at the unexpected response, and rather odd gesture coming from her._

_"I never said thank you, Natsu." She murmured softly, earning a blink from him. "For trying to keep me safe, back when I tried to run after Death Bolt. You stopped me from doing something stupid, you've grown up a lot." She chuckled,_

_"So thank you, really."_

_Natsu blinked, feeling like there was so much more she meant than what she said, like... The hug was telling him more, that she wasn't just happy he had tried to stop her, but she appreciated something about him much more than simply that. It wasn't like Frea to hug him, she wasn't usually this gentle... She wasn't usually this calm and so sincere either. He got the feeling she had picked up on what he was feeling better than he had expected, she usually did- and as usual, she seemed to understand his own feelings better than he really did._

_With Frea, he really didn't have to say much... she always just knew. Always._

_His eyes fell closed, his chin lightly resting in her shoulder as his own arms raised up to return the gesture lightly, gently- still very much aware of the sharp, metallic tang of blood he could still smell from her, and knowing her wounds were still healing._

_"Yeah, you got it."_

* * *

__

_How.... How could anyone do this?_

_Not a week ago, he had found her, alone, broken, falling apart from the murderous, utterly terrifying things she held in her past and in her mind. She had been beaten and bloody to no end, and she had been so shattered she had broken down to the point of sobbing... the same Frea he had never seen cry or even shed a single tear in all the years he had known her, had been reduced to crying so much she hadn't been able to stop for such a long time. He remembered with an ache in his chest how haunted and hurt she had looked, how terrified and pulled apart she was- he saw it all, in her body, in her eyes, in her expression._

_How was it possible for anyone to cast off all the darkness? All that pain and suffering he had seen in her, all of it that had crashed over her head and managed to swallow her whole? How could anyone have pulled themselves from something like that... and look like the person he saw before him now?_

_How could anyone who had known such true and utter pain be so gentle? So kind and caring? How could anyone who endured the torment and the torture Frea must have possibly be so bright, look so truly happy and cheerful? How could she even find the strength to keep going, with all that, all that's she's been through pulling at her, dragging her down?_

_How.... How is it she was smiling at him with the most bright, gentle, and soft smile, her eyes gleaming in happiness and calm... She looked stronger than he had seen her before, and this wasn't Frea simply acting like everything was alright. She_ _**was** _ _alright, she strong and steady, and she was happy, pleasantly happy and so at ease as she looked up at him, and the multicolored and gleaming petals from the Sakura trees danced on the wind between them, their light reflected in her eyes in the most beautiful way he could ever hope to even imagine.  
_

* * *

__

_"There you two are." Frea smiled, earning the attention of Gajeel and Gray in an instant, though they had already been aware she was approaching... they had been keeping an eye out._

_"Silver," Gajeel grumbled,_

_"What are you two up to?" Gray asked, quirking an eyebrow at the both of Natsu and Frea, as well as the bags in her hand. Natsu shrugged, he hadn't a clue, but Frea looked focused._

_"I've been looking for the both of you." Frea said in a matter of fact way, they both blinked at her. She grabbed Natsu and pulled him forward as she stepped forward and stepped between the both of Gray and Gajeel, hooking her arms around all three of their necks and shoulders and pulling them closer to her, grinning still. All three boys stiffened, sweatdropping a little at the action but not pulling away._

_"What the hell-?" Gajeel huffed,_

_"Hey?" Natsu huffed, his hand moving up to hold her arm as he rammed into Gray due to her sudden and somewhat firm hold._

_"Frea..?" Gray mumbled, eyes glittering slightly. This was odd, very odd for her..._

_"Look, you three. Just listen a moment." Frea murmured softly, they all blinked, hearing in an instant her voice softer and lower than she'd ever used with them. "I realized it when I ran into Flame-Brain." Frea's voice suddenly dropped a little more, to a soft tenor, gentle even, her grin fading to a soft, bright smile as her eyes closed. "I never did say thank you, to any of you for trying to keep me from running after Death Bolt, or everything you did when fighting them. I should have, but I was so wrapped up in my own head I forgot to think about how you guys were feeling... And I get it, more than you realize." She squeezed them a little tighter in her grip, to them it felt like.... Almost like she was holding to them, like they'd slip away, and they swallowed, frozen in shock_

_"You three are family, much more than you even know. Don't think I didn't notice how you've been sticking close the last few days, or how careful you've been around me. I did, I just didn't think as to why- but I get it now." She chuckled softly, "But I know you three enough to realize you won't admit why you've been acting off, so I won't mention it. Just know that I truly appreciate it, and I love you three for it all the more." Her eyes opened to glance between the three of them quickly, still smiling all the while._

_Gray, Gajeel and Natsu's minds reeled, all of the frozen and staring at her with faces of shock, their eyes glinting as one word flashed through their heads, one word Frea had never said to them, never aloud. And yet they knew, but they'd never felt it more true and sincere than that moment._

' _Love'_

_This sudden softness in her, the gentleness... it wasn't like her, not how they had become used to it. And yet, they knew she could be this.... But they had never imagined she would act this way so easily with them, and they felt their hearts jump a little, a strange feeling racing through all three in an instant._

_One word._

* * *

__

_Rain pound down hard upon the city of Magnolia, all streets were deserted, all of the citizens had gone inside their homes, wishing to stay out of the rain. The sky was dark and only the low flickering lamps that lined the streets provided light._

_A young girl who looked no older than 10 or 11, was splashing through the puddles as she sprinted through the streets, before she veered down into an alley and slowly came to a halt, leaning up against a wall, crossing her arms over her chest she slowly sank down to the ground, knees pulled close to her chest, shivering. Her breath billowed out in front of her in a foggy cloud and she cast nervous glances from side to side. She shuddered as the cold drops of rain steadily soaked her, she buried her face into her knees._

_"What are you doing out in the rain child?" He asked easily, his eyes fixed to her as she looked up in surprise, before she looked away uncertainly._

_"I... I don't know..." she murmured, her voice hitching slightly as she looked to the ground in clear uncertainty, unable to come up with any other explanation for him. The old man stayed silent a moment, his eyes remaining fixed to her and completely numb to the chill of the rain around them._

_"Where are your parents?" He asked the second question, his voice never raising, ever so calm. The girl hissed, her eyes shutting tight._

_"I.. I don't know..." She muttered, clearly frustrated with herself. "I don't think I have any parents..." She said after a moment, he blinked in slight surprise._

_"What is your name?" He asked after a pause, and she opened her eyes at the question, looking his way again._

_"Frea." She told him slowly. The old man nodded a bit, and his eyes narrowed in thought._

_"Do you have anywhere to go?" He asked after a moments silence._

_Frea narrowed her eyes and shook her head slowly. "No..." She answered softly, sweatdropping a little as she stared at her knees, "...I don't even know how I got here.." She mumbled, silver eyes narrowing more as she tried to remember._

_"Then my Child, why not come with me?" He asked, offering her a small smile. "Let's get out of this rain, and somewhere warmer." He suggested and she thought it over, looking him up and down for a moment, not sure what to make of what he said. "At this rate, we'll both catch colds!" He chuckled, his hand outstretching toward her, her silver eyes glinting in the din of the late hour and the rain._

_Another child lost in the world, with nowhere to go and no one to look to. Another child who needed someplace to stay, some place to call home, to live and to learn and to laugh, as so many he found did. All of them, all of them his children, all of them with a deep and special place in his heart, and this one.... This one the first._

_"Welcome to Fairy Tail, Frea."_

_The girl who, all soaked from the rain, lost and confused, a Demon.... A girl who smiled at him from over her shoulder, a bright, cheerful smile that seemed to light up her entire appearance. Someone with so much light, so much kindness, passion. The first child he found lost, the first he brought into the Guild, the first he welcomed from life alone. Her eyes were shining with such happiness he felt his heart warm under that silver stare. In that instant, he had no doubt that he would enjoy having her in the Guild, for all the time she wished to be here. No matter what her presence brought to the table in the future, it was all worth it to see that happiness right now._

_Knowing her, watching her grow, walking beside and offering a helping hand along the way. Guiding her, offering a gentle push in the right direction. Offering advice, and scolding her when the time came. Arguing, laughing, talking... every moment of it was an adventure, this girl with such power, such life in her. This girl weighed down by darkness and strife locked in such a kind and gentle soul, living years under the scrutiny of a Council that wished her dead or imprisoned. This girl who spent years, working hard to be who she was, guiding him along the way as much as he did her. A girl who hated herself and the damage she could do._

_He watched her grow, grown stronger, mature. He watched her become a guide for the other children who came to the Guild lost and alone, he watched as she interacted and grew close to every single one of them, by simply listening, and understanding each and every one. There wasn't a person in the Guild who cared for the other Members more, or so deeply as she did... and maybe there wasn't a single person who didn't care for her deeply in return._

_They all loved her, she had that effect... she trusted easily, she could be trusted easily, she was kind, she was strong and she protected everything she loved with every inch of strength. He trusted her without a doubt, he trusted her in what she did, in her decisions, in her actions, and her emotions._

_There may not have been a single person in the Guild he was more proud of, especially for how far she had come. For how far she moved passed the things that weighed her down, the doubts, the fears, the pain..... Even watching her fall, watching her get hurt, that wounded him... but it was worth it, just to have her there, to know her._

_She did things impossible, she overcame countless obstacles, prospered and thrived, and through all of it- she never lost herself. She only showed him more and more, just the kind of person she was, and the person he was thankful to have in the Guild, one person, of all his children, that had managed to snatch a special place in his heart, a precious place._

* * *

__

_Master blinked, sweatdropping slightly when he noticed the sudden flash of sadness appear on Frea's face for but a split second, before her tenseness shown through and she faced him, her silver gaze steady and calm._

_"Master, there's some place I need to go. And I don't have time to explain, it won't be dangerous. But I have to go now.... We don't have much time. Whatever this Thing's planning, it's coming, in maybe a few hours." He stiffened, a sudden flash of urgency sparking from him, and small inklings of fear. She offered him a small smile, it was meant to be reassuring, but he could see sadness in it too. "Listen, there's a lot of things I'd like to do before this happens, and a lot of things I haven't finished, but this is important." She smiled a little more, her head tilting as she crossed her arms behind her back._

_Master Makarov simply gazed at her, his mind racing now that she affirmed the danger was mere hours away- and what she said. She had some place to be? For what? He would have begun to ask, but she cut him off easily._

_"I promise, Master, I'll be back before you know it." Frea murmured lightly, nodding to him a little, her voice filled with the utmost calm and surety, her tone somber almost. "And when I'm back, I'll win. Don't doubt it, alright?"_

_His face fell slightly, staring as his eyes glinted in worry, surprise, and sadness almost. He blinked, his eyes searching for a moment._

_He didn't want to doubt, but he did. He worried, he was afraid, afraid he was about to lose her again... this is what it felt like to him. Frea telling him now she was leaving somewhere, it sounded more like a goodbye than he liked. Her promise... it didn't sound true, like he was used to from her._

_"You've always trusted me to come back Master, even when you had every right not to." Frea murmured softly, catching him off guard. "I'll come back, trust me, please."_

_He didn't reply, not for a long while. Frea could see he was struggling with doing so, she figured he wanted to tell her to stay, or force her to- but another part of him wanted to trust her, she hoped he would._

_Slowly, reluctantly, he nodded, his head bowed and his eyes away from her. She nodded back,_

_"Thank you." She murmured softly,_

_"You had better come back... brat..."_

* * *

__

She said she would come back

His heart never broke into so many pieces, not in all the years, not even the first time.... This was so much worse, and it was made all the worse when he felt the Guild's pain flare around him, and he watched helplessly as that first, young, damaged child... the child who had grown into such a strong, kind, beautiful young woman... he watched helplessly as his heart was torn, and he felt himself break.

Only her... only she could break him like this.

* * *

Jynx slumped onto her knees, her hands and arms trembling as she caught herself from hitting the ground entirely. She looked away, her eyes shutting tight and shaking her head furiously as she sobbed, her tears never ceasing and falling in constant streams, what heart she had once, and what she could feel of it- it suddenly tore in two, and she felt pain unlike anything she had ever felt before, more despair than she had ever experienced. She heard it, the clear sound of something breaking, like glass... and then followed by the sickeningly familiar sound of everything falling silent, her sobbing heard in the silence, alone, as Fairy Tail and the waking world faded into white all around.

She felt that pull in her very being, a small, slight tug away from reality, a sudden feeling she had known all her life, and here... and never had she wished to leave, never had she wanted so badly to be able to.... And she couldn't, this was her role, her duty..... and yet suddenly she couldn't stomach it.

"N-no..." She hissed, her voice choked with her sobbing, shaking her head furiously as she refused to look up. Her hands curled into fists, "N-no...! P...please.... Not..."

Her forehead hit the ground, her hands balls on either side of her as she let out a yell of utter despair, shaking her head still,

She snapped upward, her body shaking uncontrollably and her red gaze filled with tears, the streams spilling down her cheeks continually, her face pulled into something of extreme pain and the utmost despair, her heart was still breaking under the weight of all the pain.

".... Don't make me take this one!" She yelled into the empty, her eyes shutting again as her head fell, her shoulders hunched and trembling. Her tears hit her hands, splashing from her pale skin, and glinting in the sudden approaching and deepening light.

"... I beg you... please... n-not... not this one.... Please..." She stammered, but she knew all too well her voice was lost, there was nothing, it was empty... just vast nothingness.

".... i-I..... I tried..... I d-did.... Everything I..... please.... I c....can't....." She hissed, her voice low as she folded in on herself slightly. ".... I... I can't.... I can't t-take... this... one... not this.... O-one....."

She took in a shuddering breath, her vision blurred from the tears, and slowly, fearfully, she looked up, her eyes glistening all the more as new tears streamed from her eyes, a wall of pain and true despair ramming into her all at once. She gasped, her hand reaching forward, trembling violently as she felt all her strength and conviction dissipate.

She coughed, sputtering and gasping against the sobs racking her chest and her body, her hand shaking as she reached out, slowly, gently wrapping about a glistening, bright orb floating before her in the darkness.

Jynx gasped, bringing it to her, and hugging it to her chest as her tears flowed faster, her red gaze looking down at the small, delicate thing in it's shine, her face twisted in pain as she lightly traced her fingers over the gash made into the light, the black there, something so foul that had corrupted something so beautiful.

She threw her head back, holding it to her body tightly, from her lips escaping a wail of the most profound sadness and pain, all of it lost on only her own ears, as she remained alone, all alone in a state of fear and agony, of such sadness she couldn't breathe at all.

"..... I... I..... I'm so sorry....." She cried, "... this.... You didn't... d.. deserve....."

Her held fell, as she hunched over, her jaw clenched as she held the orb in her arms, hugging it to her stomach.

".... This.... This wasn't.... please...."

* * *

They couldn't do anything, they couldn't reach her, they couldn't find the strength anymore as they pushed and slumped inside the dome, all the strength leaving their bodies, their breath driven from them and hardly able to make sense of the passage of time. It was all agonizing slow motion, every once watching, all of them so close and yet there was no way forward, no way there.

There wasn't a damn thing they could do, they knew it, the minute they felt that emptiness settle in over their hearts, their tears had started falling, their breath taken, their strength... they knew, they all knew, and they watched. They fell to their knees, struggled to stay standing and heads thrown back as they wailed and screamed and cried, the sound of Fairy Tail's sudden agony filling the deathly silence that had fallen just instants before.

They say it, her face, her smile, how bright she was, how kind... they saw her, the time they spent, the battles, the conversations... every moment they had spent, all of it, rushing through their minds, and all of it fading away into their pain, until that bright, soft smile of the girl with the silver eyes, the one they loved- those memories became all that was left, and were slowly shattered in their pain. Mind-numbing pain, pain that struck their cores, turned their blood to ice, left them weak, and oh so broken, unlike any horror or pain they had felt before.

* * *

_She turned to meet the smiling faces of the rest of the Guild._

_"Welcome back!" The call echoed over the hall as everyone called out, and she smiled back at them, bright and happy as she waved a hand lightly._

_"Good to be back!"  
_

* * *

__

_Natsu rushed forward as soon as the Guild Hall came into sight, and once the doors could be clearly seen and he rushed forward and kicked the doors open._

_"HEY GUYS! GUESS WHO'S BACK!?" Natsu shouted out into the Guild Hall and Frea stepped around him and into the Guild Hall, meeting the many shocked faces on the other side. She wasn't ready for the entire Guild to suddenly surround her and crush her in its grasp,_

_"FREA!" They all shouted in unison and she was hugged by all of them, crying, all of them happy._

* * *

__

_Frea was weaving and moving about the fire, her movements slight, controlled, and graceful- seeming completely free of the soreness or the pain from the wounds she still had. She seemed to be flowing as easily as water did over rocks about the fire, her steps balanced and moving in intricate designs and spins, her expression gentle and eyes closed as she moved in steps, spinning in purpose and arms moving about her person purposefully. The light off the fire glinted from the golden bands on her wrists, her pale orange skirt flowing out about her hips in her twisting and turning, wisps of light fabric draped over the sides of her torso from where they attached to her top, that left her stomach exposed and tied about her neck. Her hair was braided into a bun that fell away into wavy strands of hair at the back of her head, tied up by a ribbon that was hatched across by zigzag designs._

_The crowd around them stared in shock and wonder, eyes wide and hardly believing their eyes as she stepped lightly between the other dancers in fluid, rhythmic movement, hardly seeming to be paying any attention to the world around her, and all focus on the music and her own movement._

_No one in the Guild had ever seen Frea like this before, they had never once seen her join in on the dancing, and never expected to see her do such a thing.. and seeing her now, moving with such grace and such purpose, as if she had done it hundreds of times before, they were astounded, and found they couldn't look away._

_She was utterly beautiful_

* * *

__

_"You're late." Frea murmured. Laxus glanced over his shoulder to rest on the defeated Energy Dragon, glittering with slight annoyance._

_Everyone else just blinked in surprise at her words, she sounded as if she knew that he, of all people, would show up?_

_"Late my ass." Laxus grumbled, "You know you owe me for saving you, again." He told her._

_"We'll be even by the end of all this..." Frea murmured, glancing back up at him. Their eyes met for a split second, before the Lightning Dragon fixed his attention on Hades again._

* * *

__

_Laxus frowned a little, there was something on his mind, something he had been meaning to ask her for awhile now, but he never got the chance to._

_The only problem he had never come up with a way to ask her, he was starting to think he just needed to be straight-forward about it. Laxus stopped walking and Frea took a few more steps before stopping as well, and Laxus traced his gaze over the spiral scar on Frea's back for a split second._

_"Why so serious all of the sudden?" Frea asked and he blinked in surprise at how fast she had picked up on his emotions._

_"Tell me," he started. "Why did you convince Gildarts to let me back in the Guild?" Laxus asked as he crossed his arms over his chest. Frea stood there for a minute._

_"Why wouldn't I?" She replied and he narrowed his eyes._

_"You hate me, remember?" He told her. Again, silence._

_Frea let out a heavy sigh and turned to look at him, "I don't hate you." She replied and he blinked at her answer. "We just find it hard to get along sometimes, your my Guild-mate, I could never really hate you, idiot." She murmured._

_Laxus frowned a little at being called an Idiot, but Frea smiled a little at his frown. "Believe it or not I think you learned your lesson after getting kicked out of the Guild, besides, we had to be even somehow, didn't we?" She smirked at his confused look. "You mentioned that I never paid you back for fighting the monster off for my on the Mountain before the fight with Rified." She lifted a finger and placed it on his chest, he saw her fangs as she smirked more. "And you were right, I never really did. Convincing Gildarts to let you back in, has made us even in my book." She explained as she crossed her arms over her chest and chuckled a little._

_"So you're not counting the fight with RavenTail against me?" He asked and Frea shook her head._

_"You didn't need my help for that, I just joined in for the fun if it." She replied and he smirked a little bit._

* * *

__

_"Well, don't go getting too full of yourself." He warned with a smirk of his own. She smiled in return, before his eyes finally took note of the long, deep scratch running across her cheek- cutting its way through the silver markings under her eyes. His smile faded and without even thinking about it he had reached a hand forward to draw his thumb lightly across the mark, his hand curling under her jaw and gently making her turn toward him completely, bringing her legs up onto the bed and folding them underneath her._

_Frea stiffened slightly at the sudden action, immediately feeling her face heat up as her eyes rest on him, wide and sweatdropping a little as his aqua eyes traced over the scratch, his eyes narrowing and lips pulling into a frown._

_"... Laxus...?" She breathed, he didn't hardly hear her say his name though, his attention was fixed to the mark running across her skin._

_"Did Ivan do this?" He asked lowly, she blinked in surprise at the question._

_"... Well... Yeah..." She mumbled and he took in a slow, deep breath. "... But that's probably the worst of it, he barely touched me." He slowly let his hand fall away as he met her gaze silently, for all her insight to the emotions of others, being able to feel and see them... She couldn't, just now she couldn't do it._

_"Doesn't mean I like the idea the bastard hurting you or anybody else on my account." He muttered, "Are you ok?" He asked,_

_"... Yeah, I'm fine." She murmured, "Just a few scratches, that's about it."_

_She cringed suddenly, her body stiffening as she seemed to bite down on her tongue to keep herself from hissing, but Laxus noticed it immediately, his eyes narrowing._

_His hands moved down toward her waist when he noticed the bandages there, he gently moved her shirt a little to see them and she could tell he wasn't happy. His hands rest on her hips a little as he stared at the wound, irritation flaring inside of him and hardly thinking about what he was doing._

_"Frea..." He muttered. "What was that about a few scratches? You idiot." He growled, his anger flaring suddenly inside of him- all at the thought that Ivan did something to hurt her when she was off saving his ass. He clenched his jaw, his eyes flashing._

_Damn you, shitty pops._

* * *

__

_"... You know, Laxus... I know I said I hate you, hundreds of times when we were younger... We were always fighting and we were awful to one another... And I thought I really did hate you. I held on to that, we kept believing that for such a long time... We were both a pair of jack-asses and I don't think we knew why were that way." She said softly, "I asked Gildarts to let you back in the Guild, I stepped in when Rified was about to kill you- when Hades was going to hit you with another Explosion Bullet, I fought with Ivan, and I'm willing to sit here with you all because of one thing- that despite everything..."_

_"I don't hate you. I can't, because even though you really piss me off, and you can be one hell of an ass... You are still a Part of my Family, and I'd do anything to help and protect anyone in the Guild. That includes everybody... Natsu, Gray, Gajeel, Erza, Freed, Bixlow, Evergreen, Aisha... Everyone, and it includes you. So don't be surprised I'm here, or that I'd fight to help you stay alive. That's what Family is for."_

_She glanced up at him, her lips pulling into a soft smile, as she faced him and the utterly shocked look on his face- and the blush that had deepened too as he sweatdropped a little._

_This was the first time she'd ever let herself show any sort of deeper feeling- she was always reserved and refrained from letting others get to the core of what she felt- part of that was because she was bad with emotions._

_She smiled a little more and tilted her head to the side, her hands still clasped in her lap and the moonlight from outside casting down on the both of them- her hair shinning in the cool light and nearly every shred of exhaustion hanging off of her seemed to fade before his very eyes, instead she seemed like a beacon of calm, peaceful bliss- the light dust of a blush that appeared in her cheeks did nothing but make her seem... More like a side of herself he had never seen before._

_"And I'm glad you're ok."_

_Was this happening? Or was he asleep?_

_His jaw dropped a little as he stiffened, eyes remained transfixed in her smiling face as the moonlight shimmered off her hair softly._

_This wasn't anything like the Frea he knew... Not the bull-headed, short-tempered, fiery woman who could easily kick his ass through a few walls if she wanted. The woman who was always picking fights with the guys in the Hall- the one who jumped in head first, the dangerous, extremely powerful Mage he had come to know._

_It was true same Frea who called him names and snapped his head off- the one who never, ever... Said anything as remotely nice nor sincerely genuine to him- as those words were just now._

_She meant it when she said she was happy he was fine, and that didn't make any sense to him- she'd never been concerned with his safety, and to hear her say that- and everything before it? About not hating him, that he as her Family and she'd protect him not matter what...?!_

_He didn't understand why this side of her suddenly showed up now- this side of her he had never seen before... A side that was kind and gentle toward him, something she had seldom ever been._

_Where was this side of Frea hiding all this time...? That I've never seen it...?_

_Worst of all- he hadn't any idea how to respond to that. He hated how his body reacted on its own- the lurch of his heart, the heat in his face. This had happened few times before- and everytime it did he didn't know why it happened at all._

_It was always with Frea too... How does she do that?! What the hell?!_

_And the way she smiled at him that way- so gentle and happy... The way the moonlight was coming in, her posture, all of it..._

* * *

__

_"... Listen, Frea."_

_Frea opened her eyes again, blinking once, her silver eyes glinting in the moonlight._

_"...look, I get you don't talk about the things you're feeling all the time, and I get you like to keep things secret, and that's fine. You don't have to tell anyone what you don't want to, and I get that maybe... There's things you don't talk about for good reason." His tone dropped and Frea stiffened,_

_Her grip around his neck tightened slightly, he swallowed slightly._

_"... Whatever you've got buried, you bury for a good reason. And I get that... I never thought about it, but I always knew. I don't expect you to go talking about any of it, and I'm not asking you to. Just realize... If you don't find a way to work through whatever is going on, you ain't gonna be able to keep going at the rate you are now." Laxus went on, his tone low and quiet, eyes fixed ahead as the pair of them moved forward in the silent town. "... Don't get me wrong... I know how strong, hot-headed and stubborn you are... But even all that ain't gonna keep you running if you don't try and start taking better care of yourself, and quit worrying about everyone else more than you. If you're hurting, or your exhausted... Don't feel like you've gotta do everything on your own, and don't think you are alone either. Whatever you've got going on... You ain't alone in it, and you've never really been able to realize that."_

_"... You don't have to act like everything is fine all the time."_

_Frea's arms pulled in, her fists bunching about his coat and her face burying in his back, jaw clenching as she let out a small 'tch...'. Her body started shaking slightly, shoulders hunched as she pressed her nose and eyes into his back and the ruffling fabric of his coat._

_She buried her face in his back even more, hands gripping his coat harder as she fought to gain control over the spinning of her mind and feelings. As her shattered and cracked mind swirled and fell away into an abyss that she had been trying so hard to stay out of- a deep chasm of pain and long side buried emotions she had kept under lock and key._

_Her breath caught in her throat as she kept herself silent, as she suddenly crumbled despite herself._

_Her grip on his coat grew harder, Laxus' gaze shifted sideways as he felt Frea's body begin shaking against his back slightly, ears catching to the sound of her stifled breaths, nose twitching slightly at the salty tang on the air- feeling her press her face into his back roughly, and the sudden damp. His eyes fell closed, sweatdropping slightly as he let out a small breath- feeling that strange feeling in his chest grow sharper,_

_And so the walls crumble..._

_"...you... you damn... Jerk..." Frea hissed, her voice hitching painfully in her stifled gasping. He sighed slightly, as they continued forward, his feet leading him toward Fairy Hills. For a very long while he just continued on in silence, eyes closing and sweatdropping as he felt her body shake against his- as the same woman he had known to be so strong and who could always stand tall against anything suddenly caved in under the pressure of the awful horrors that bastard from Death Bolt must have put her through. As all of it crashed over her head and broke her apart, too fast for her to keep herself together like she always had._

_"... I'm starting to wonder if it was a good idea to let you go running off to Death Bolt on the first place." He mumbled, sweatdropping a little more as he continued to carry her through the silent form of Magnolia, that incessant feeling in his chest never going away and only growing deeper as he felt Frea shake against his back. A good question... Considering how Frea was now, how broken and hurt... She's crying. Frea never cried before... And now its like she can't stop._

_His eyes snapped open, suddenly feeling Frea shift- a sudden soft bump against the side of his head as Frea lift her fist and lightly knocked her hand against his ear in a soft, exhausted attempt of a hit. Her hand fell back on his shoulder, her other one moving to rub against her face, taking in a small breath, as suddenly her tears ceased, and she fought to steady her breathing._

_He blinked, eyes shifting sideways though he couldn't see her face._

_"... Don't be stupid, you dumbass.." Frea murmured softly, her voice almost wispy and hoarse, his eyes narrowed slightly. "... You don't get it... But letting me go was the right thing..."_

_... And the thing I appreciate more than you could possibly know..._

_"... Sorry... If Master chewed you out for it.." Frea mumbled, Laxus blinked, eyebrow quirking slightly- hearing a sudden calm work its way into her voice, weariness and exhaustion too... But something softer._

_How on earth could letting her to have been the best..? And what the hell didn't he 'get'?_

_For a long while he stayed silent, blinking once or twice as he tried to wrap his head around the sudden change in behavior. He didn't get it, how she had suddenly seemed to shatter... How hurt and weak she was so suddenly, and how quickly she seemed to be able to pick the pieces back up, start pulling herself together again, if however slowly._

_And suddenly now she's worried about how angry the Old Man was? It didn't make any sense, her mid just have been on other things... And yet she thought of that just now, and apologized to him for it._

_What an idiot... Of all things she worries about that now...?_

_"... Hmph... Let the Old Man yell." He grumbled, but what didn't he get?_

_Coming face to face with Shadow must have been painful, what Hikien did must have been torture... Moving and going there after taking the beating she had most have been excruciating she was in so much pain. Going to Death Bolt had been a bad idea from the start, and it had only gotten worse as it went on. And now, this was the result._

_So how on earth could it have been the best thing?_

_"... I know it doesn't seem like a good thing, Laxus.." Frea's soft voice broke him from his thoughts, as if she could read them. "... And I know... Given what happened... It seemed like a disaster... But it was better to let go, and get hurt- than to keep me at the Guild, angry.. It doesn't make a lot of sense, but it was better the way it went..." He sweatdropped, it didn't make a lot of sense to him... But when did anything Frea did or said ever make a lot of sense? Damn it, why is she so damned confusing all the time?_

_"... Whatever you say.." He sighed, deciding it best to drop the subject- she sounded exhausted, and maybe it'd be better if she just gave it rest for awhile._

_"... I'm sorry."_

_He blinked, stopping a minute in his walking and glancing sideways, he felt her shift, her voice was so low he barely heard her,_

_"Hmm?"_

_"... For being such a pain... I don't mean to be a bother... Or anyone's problem..." She whispered softly,_

_"Well, you are a pain in the ass." He huffed back, she stiffened slightly against his back. "But don't be an idiot, what did I just say to you?" He huffed back, "Quit worrying about that, you don't have to act like everything's ok. You can lean on other people," He heard her take in a small breath, taking a moment to let what he said sink in slowly._

_"... You're such a freak..." She whispered lowly,  
_

* * *

__

_"... You know, Laxus." Frea murmured, "... you really do have a different side to you than the one everyone can see." He stiffened slightly, sweatdropping as he blinked in slight shock and question. She let out a small breath, "... I guess we both have sides of ourselves we don't usually let other people see, huh?" She added in softly,_

* * *

 

_"He's special to me... he's dear to me in his own way... but he's not the only person I feel that way for." Laxus blinked, head tilted slightly._

_"Everyone I know is precious to me, and I care for them all for different reasons, and I would do everything and anything for the people I care about... Moon, Chase, Erza... the Guild, everyone is special to me, and all of them for different, unique reasons." Frea smirked, her silver gaze moving over toward him to settle him with a gleaming, warm stare he found he couldn't look away from._

_"That means you too, Lightning-for-brains. I care about you too, so don't get all worked up, ok?" She smirked toothily, her mood lightening to cheery in all but a few moments time, Laxus stiffened, heart jumping as he felt his face heat up slightly, especially after noticing that Frea was blushing, just faintly._

_"Look! The Sakura's are blooming!"_

_"Woah!"_

_A sudden gleam of rainbow lit up the night sky around them as the wind suddenly swept past, carrying up the trees leaves with them in an array of gleaming and glittering multicolor. The petals swirled on the air, twisting and turning in intricate patterns and ways as the flow of color suddenly wove its way around the two of them, and for a moment it seemed all other noise in the world suddenly died away, and it was just them- just her and him, alone in their own small corner of the world for a few long moments._

_Laxus felt his heart jump in his chest, eyes riveted as he stood in the utmost stillness that reflected the stillness that time seemed to have so suddenly,_

* * *

__

_She lift a hand toward his face and hooked it behind his head, bringing his face down toward her. She smiled a little wider, bringing him closer as she lightly rest her forehead against his, ever so softly, and suddenly he felt something stir inside him, something warm._

_"Thanks, Laxus." She murmured before both of their minds were consumed by a bright light._

* * *

__

Why.... Why did.... it suddenly hurt... so much...?

He couldn't move, he was paralyzed, his eyes fixed, his chest suddenly flashing with pain that he had never experienced, and he struggled to breath.

A single glittering drop of moisture fell at his feet.


	58. Malurey

**Chapter 58**

**Malurey**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

**.:+:.**

"At last! The great Energy Dragon Slayer has fallen!"

Mordren raised his arms about him, his head tilting back as he called the words up to the sky, a wide smile spreading across his face as he stood in the destruction, among the wailing and the crying of those still trapped over his head.

His dull grey eyes glinted, his smile narrowed and twisted in utter delight as his face turned toward the center of the destroyed island, walking easily across the rubble and never losing his wide grin.

".... And light has fallen with her, and the balance of this world will reign in favor of the dark." He smirked, "After thousands of years of waiting, so much time... and now I can witness the new age." He breathed in deeply,

"... oh, that feeling. The feel of an Energy Signature being destroyed, ripped away from the world all in an instant.... It is the most addicting thing."

Everyone's heads fell, tears dripping from their eyes as low moans and hisses of pain rumbled in their throats. Chase held his face in his hand, his shoulders hunched and in his body the most agonizing numbness, feeling a sudden strike of sheer pain as the words were spoken aloud.

The sky overhead turned darker, the clouds rumbling and swirling faster now, more violent, stretching out across the horizon as the mass began to consume not just this kingdom, but moved toward the other nations in the world. The air was cold, throbbing with a dark, choking sense of pure evil that even the likes of regular mages could almost taste on the air. They felt chills run down their backs and pits of cold fear settle in the bottom of their stomachs, almost like the air around them was closing in, suffocating, slowly.

Pure evil was rising on the air, and still they stood, trapped, hardly able to breathe as their hearts fell into pieces with every tear and wrenching cry they let out.

Freed hissed, his head and eyes falling a moment, feeling his heart shatter more painfully than he could have imagined. Bixlow beside him had lost all of his usual childish and cheerful behavior, behind his mask there was a face twisted in pain, and his tiki dolls fell the floor around him, limp.

Freed's eyes moved to his left, glinting as his gaze settled on the form of Laxus, his heart dropping and jumping all at once as he saw his usually fearless and stony leader hunched. Laxus was bent over, his arms and clenched fists resting against the wall of Mordren's Magic, his shoulder hunched and his head bowed to the ground, hidden from view, not saying a thing, and not even seeming to be breathing at all.

Freed blinked, his eyes widening slightly as he stared at the blonde, his mind lost on all train of thought at what was quite the unusual stance for the Lightning Dragon Slayer, and yet maybe... maybe he wasn't surprised, and his heart clenched painfully.

Freed stiffened, his eyes widening more as his heart stopped altogether, his eyes locking toward the floor to catch sight of the glittering drop of moisture fall at Laxus' feet, the blonde's fist shaking as they tightened.

_L-Laxus...._

Mordren stalked forward still, his grey eyes glinting madly as he smiled, his lips twisted and wicked.

He stopped there, his eyes glinting in malice, locked onto the silent, unmoving form at his feet.

"..... light falls with the Energy Dragon. And now the strongest of the three Forces of Creation, has decided the fate of this world."

* * *

 

"You...... you can't..." He stammered, his voice wispy as he stepped forward, hesitantly, the water rippling out with every step upon it. His blue eyes glistened, sadness pulling at his features, his heart sinking.

He knew this feeling... there was only one way this was even possible, but he didn't want to believe it.

His hands reached forward, tentatively and shaking slightly as he lightly let them rest on their shoulders, feeling the cold against his skin instantly as he swallowed hard.

"..... you... you shouldn't..... why...?" He hissed, those dull eyes just looked back, he knew well he was probably nothing more than a ghost to them, there was no recognition, no awareness.... Just empty. He still searched though, hoping against all that he knew better, that maybe, just maybe, there would be some shred left. Some little clue as to the person he knew in those heart-achingly dull silver eyes.

"...... what happened...?"

He blinked, his eyes wide and his focus shattered when something suddenly clinked him hard against the shoulder, sending him immediately falling to the side and losing his footing. He sweatdropped, eyes whited out at the entirely unexpected, there shouldn't be anything or anyone here, let alone her, and let alone whatever it was that suddenly knocked him over.

_W-Wha?!_

"You are quite sappy for someone with such powerful control over my Magic."

He stumbled, regaining his footing as the sudden low rumble echoed over the dark, the water bouncing slightly at the sheer force of it's tenor. The air seemed to move all around him in that instant, throbbing slightly but no longer spinning, it had all settled, and great washes of power hung on the air, moving toward him in rhythm.

He froze, his heart leaping as he halted, not daring for a minute to turn toward the voice, that deep, gravelly voice that struck through his core.

He swore... he knew that voice...

"N-no.... no way..." He stammered, slowly daring to turn his head.

"..... Though given what she did with you, being so emotional is a given. Regardless, you will not be needed to Reap this one today, there are other plans in the works, human."

* * *

 

"It's almost a shame." Mordren murmured, is dull gaze glinting as he bent over, his finger curling into her hair as he lift her by the handful of dirty, bloodstained blonde pieces, the silver faded and without its usual shine.

He brought her up roughly, not a care in the world as she dangled limply in his cruel grip, his lips twisted as he pulled her face in toward his, shaking her a bit, as if she were nothing but a toy.

"If she had only given into the darkness, she may have lived." Mordren smirked, "She would have made quite the delightful Dark Mage with her power, and that deep propensity for cruelty she kept hidden..." His eyes slowly scanned up and down her torn, bloodied, and cold form, glinting slightly, his tongue pulled across his lips a moment. His other hand reached forward, his thumb tracing the gash in her stomach, slowly trailing up under her nearly destroyed shirt. "..... such a pretty thing too."

"STOP IT!!!!" Natsu yelled, his eyes flashing furiously despite his tears. The guilds around them yelled out, sending tear-filled glares toward the man, their anger flaring despite their pain,

"How dare you?!" Gray and Gajeel snapped instantaneously,

"BASTARD!!"

Mordren smirked, seemingly amused by the outbursts, though he didn't give them the pleasure of looking their way. He simply sighed, tossing her away by her hair and letting her hit the ground with a sickening thump, her body, hair and limbs sprawled, still.

"Hehe..... So much time waiting, so much power and energy spent to lead to this day, this fated day where I met the one, the Malunafrey." Mordren smiled, taking in a deep breath. ".... I never liked the prophecies of half-wit Mages too weak to fight for themselves, and it's amusing to see how senseless they are in the end."

His eyes trailed toward her, dull and glinting darkly.

"The great and terrible Malunafrey...... the one who would be responsible for bringing the world into Light, or fail and bring Darkness.... nothing more than a foolish, cowardly little girl with too much self-hatred and empathy for what she perceives as 'friends' and 'family'. Too foolish to see the real truth of Magic, and the sheer truth of Light and Dark." He paused, his eyes narrowed slightly.

"...... I find it odd still, that it was this girl.... Why this girl?" Mordren mumbled under his breath, his eyes narrowing to slits. "... a small, weak little girl, too ordinary to even bother with, Magic-less in the beginning.... A soul stripped, broken, separated, and bombarded with demons... and a girl who has now doomed the world." He huffed a little,

"Malunafrey.... What a ridiculous tale." He growled, before shaking his head and smiling again. He lift his gaze to those watching over his head, the sky rowing darker and heavier by the minute as he smiled toward them wickedly, his hand raising slightly.

"Well, now as the world is slowly consumed by the dark, I think I will take a moment to have a bit more fun of my own." Mordren called, "You'll live long enough to see your world fall apart... and long enough to watch yourselves kill every person you care for."

* * *

 

Jynx hadn't moved, she couldn't bring herself to, she sat there, shaking and sobbing as she held the small orb t her chest, her heart breaking into millions more pieces as she fought to delay what she knew was inevitable, and unavoidable.

She didn't think she could do it... how could she even imagine...?

"... this wasn't... I am so s-sorry..." She hiccupped, "...Of all.... I can't.... I s-shouldn't.... have to...."

"I'm so... s-so..... s-sorry..."

She's never felt this broken, she'd never sobbed like this... never... and now, she couldn't stop.

"You've never wavered before now."

Jynx's heart leapt to her throat, her head snapping upward and her tears hitting the air as she stared, holding the orb to her chest a bit more tightly as she faced something huge, something ethereal suddenly in the great, vast emptiness. Something there with her, where she had always ever been here alone.

She trembled, her mouth falling and moving slightly as she struggled to fathom.... H-how...? W....why...?

"....Y-you...." She stammered, "Y-You've... n-never..."

"Calm yourself, Little Master." The voice was low, floating so lightly and so softly as if it was nothing but the softest breeze, and yet it struck her core so deeply and so clearly it was almost deafening in her heart. It moved, slowly, lazily, as suddenly behind it shone the faintest outlines of two more.... Red and pale blue.

"... There is time."

* * *

 

Mordren snapped his fingers, his wandering gaze locking to Natsu, who looked back, motionless as he felt all free will of his own body suddenly snatched away, his and the hearts of everyone else rising in panic at the man's words.

"Y-you.... You can't win!" Moon snapped, "The world isn't just gonna bow down to you!"

"We're still here, and we'll sure as hell kick your ass for what you've done!" Gray joined in,

"We'll not bend to you, regardless of your Power, or your ridiculous 'rite'!" Erza snapped angrily,

"You ain't gonna take the rest of us down!" Gajeel snapped,

"We'll fight you with everything we have!"

"You're not gonna take the world!!"

"You're gonna pay!!"

"We're not giving up, never!!!"

There was a sudden uproar of angry insults and shouts sent out, indignation flaring as they were all suddenly faced with the very real possibility that the world would be consumed as they knew it, and all they knew was going to be shattered... more than it already had. They were faced with something too big, too big to beat, and yet they couldn't simply give up, they couldn't... they had to try, they had to fight until they couldn't.

Frea knew that...

"Energy God Slayer or whatever, we won't let you win!"

"What gets you off, acting so high and mighty? So what if you're older than Zeref? That doesn't change a damn thing!!"

"Just because you can jabber on about 'Forces of Creation' and all that nonsense doesn't mean a thing!!"

"No one is unbeatable, and you're gonna find that out the hard way!!"

Lucy blinked, her eyes slowly tracing toward Natsu, who was still, unnaturally so, and hadn't said anything, not even as the insults and shouting grey more fervent. She sweatdropped, beside her Happy looking worried suddenly too.

"N-Natsu...?" the blonde mumbled,

Mordren's eyes fell closed, his lip twitched upward a moment as the rabble overhead grew louder, and more futile, they were still trapped, they knew that, and he could feel their fear, he knew they were just lying to themselves, but their ignorance made a flash of agitation rise inside of him.

"You insolate fools!" He boomed, his eyes washing over the lot of them. "You know nothing of your own history! And you certainly know nothing of Magic!" He smirked darkly, his jaw clenched slightly. "The true nature of Magic runs as deep as the true Nature of Reality itself, as plain as the air you breathe, and the land under your feet, Magic resides in all life, in all existence. And in Magic, Magic exists only by the will of the Three true Powers of this world, and all worlds." He swept his arm out around them, slowly and surely, several more people found themselves suddenly unable to move.

"You may see your Magic as power, but it is nothing compared the sheer power of Existence that is created by those three Forces. All Magic, all life, and all existence spans from those, those Forces of Creation. You're pathetic parlor tricks you call Magic cannot begin to compare to what the Forces bring." He smiled wickedly, his hand falling to his chest. "Those Powers allow life, they allow worlds to live, creatures and humans to exist. They control the inner workings of everything tangible and intangible, and those Powers give rise and birth to anything, and everything there is in any world. You're 'Magic' exists only because of these Forces, you exist only because of them."

"You dare think you can stand against _me?_ The one true Master of one of those Forces of Creation? The most powerful Force of the Three?" Mordren laughed, his eyes glinting widely. "I have spent centuries longer than any of you, mastering every secret there is to be had in the deepest Powers of this world, I watched civilizations rise and fall, I watched as the Dragons and ruled, and as they were slaughtered. I stood and watched as the 'Legendary' Black Wizard came to be, and laughed as he toiled away with Powers he knew only the faintest about!" He threw his head back, his face twisted as he laughed, his voice rising in vigor.

"I? The God? He who is responsible for the destruction of an entire race of the most Powerful Wizards on the Planet? I single-handedly saw to the destruction of the Energy Mages, who in their prime ruled this world! I rose above them all, and mastered the Force of Creation, I mastered Energy itself- and thus mastered life with it!"

Chase's eyes widened, his heart dropping at the words. He knew this, he knew that Energy Mages were extinct, he knew they all disappeared, anyone who knew Frea knew that... but the reason they vanished?

Mordren.... he slaughtered them all....?!

A... A whole generation of Mages... killed by one person....

Mordren swept his hand out, his eyes landing on Mavis, who stiffened, her body shaking as she lost all control of herself.

"How else could I control not just humans, but ghosts as well?' Mordren smirked, "I am in complete control of every living thing on the planet. Everything that has Energy, the Land itself, the people, the air, Magic, all of it is under my direction." His hand closed, Mavis hissed as she felt herself be forced to walk forward a few paces, the Guild, all of them frozen now in Mordren's Magical grasp, watched helplessly.

"And now, I have control of the country. With the great Malunafrey fallen, I can claim that Power." Mordren growled, "That combined Power of the Forces of Creation she sealed away, twice it's been denied to me... but now I have killed the True Sealer, and the One Power will be mine."

_One... One Power...?!_

He didn't mean... what was trapped away in Nvindorr, did he?!

It couldn't be... the fabled One Magic..?! And what does he mean 'twice denied'?!

"And soon, I will take control of this world, and all the rest. Be it Spirit, or Human, it will not matter." Mordren chuckled,

"Now, shall I start with the Parent?" Mordren smiled, his eyes landing to Master Makarov. "He who loves and protects his band of children? Shall I force you to slaughter them all with your own hands?" Mordren's attention snapped around again, "Or shall I make the children murder the parent?" He smiled wickedly, his fingers snapping as the Guild began to move in around Master Makarov, their faces twisted in pain and fear as they struggled and failed to stop their bodies from moving on their own.

Mordren's eyes moved across the crowd of struggling bodies, his eyes landing to a blonde who was stalking forward closely, and to whom he felt, more than anyone else, the sharpest, most painful rage and hurt. Mordren blinked, suddenly catching he murderous aqua blue gaze of the man,

... he who is most angry.

"W-We.. have... to... s-stop..." Erza hissed through gritted teeth,

"I... I can't... c..control..." Mira hissed,

"...N-no.... I won't be forced.... To..." Moon stammered,

".... F...fuck..." Chase hissed, his body a wash of pain as he was forced to stand again,

"... I won't... I can't..." Natsu growled, there was nothing to do. Even the Mages in Lamia, SaberTooth, Pegasus, Mermaid, and Cerberus began to move toward each other, Mordren's control over them growing more absolute by the second, and still the air grew thicker, and darker.

The world was turning black.

"There is nothing for you to do, I am Mordren, true Master of the Force of Creation, Energy." Mordren smiled, "And soon to be Master of all Three Forces in turn."

Mordren froze, a cold drip of sweat falling down his back as some feeling suddenly rammed into him, something sudden, something small, something he dared not believe was there. All movement from the Guilds ceased as his concentration on them shattered, his eyes wide and glinting as he stood still.

His face twisted, something between rage and sheer disbelief as his jaw clenched hard enough to crack a tooth, he felt his heart jump for the first time in thousands of years.

* * *

 

"Y... you can't have been... serious....? When you said...?" The man mumbled breathlessly, his blue eyes wide and looking bewildered, and disbelieving.

"I thought I told you to leave, _Kala._ "

".... This is insane..." He mumbled, his mind spinning too much to even register the command, or the sudden strange and unknown title he had been addressed with so suddenly. (Or was it an insult? He hadn't a clue.....) "All this time, and it was _you_? How in the hell could it have been you?"

"You know so little, how did you even master my Magic?"

"I didn't learn it! I was always able to use it, shouldn't you know this already?" The man huffed a little hotly, "Mr. 'Lord of Death' know-it-all?"

"Most people wouldn't dare speak to me like this. Or disregard my orders."

"I didn't bring myself here, _you_ did!" He snapped back, "I don't come here on my own, I'm just called, and you're the only one who could call me, right?"

"I did not." The man stiffened, his eyes widening slightly at the unexpected answer. That large body waved toward the still form of her, still standing there, still unseeing of the both of them. "She did."

"... she...?" He stammered, "... but how... could she?"

"She did not do so consciously, you were brought here as she was, because and only because of who the both of you are." The man blinked, "As she entered this place, the invisible line that spans between the both of you, that has kept you connected far longer than you realize, or could understand, that pulled you in after her as she stepped foot here." There was a grim look, the green eyes locked to the blonde Mage.

"Here where she has been more than any human should ever be."

The man stared, his mind whirling and unable to grasp what cryptic words those were, he didn't understand any of this... what line? What was it about the both of them that could bring them together without consciously choosing to? And what the hell did he mean by 'who the both of you are'?

He sweatdropped, his blue gaze narrowed as she frowned slightly.

".... You're entirely unhelpful." He muttered, earning a low laugh in response.

"It's not in my nature to be helpful." He laughed lowly, his voice echoing over the space, making the water shake. He smiled wryly, fangs flashing in the dim as he looked away from the man, ".... However, this once, I will not have a choice.... And I expect I have some things to explain. But for now, I have nothing for your ears, Kala. So I will allow you to leave, you've been called too soon."

"What the hell do you mean?" The man growled, "And what the hell is 'Kala' anyway?"

"That is who you are. The true you... the Manifestation in the mortal realm of Me." He replied, smirking slightly. "You, as she is, you are the manifestations of our Power that walk in the mortal realms. You represent our power, as there have been others to serve that purpose since the beginning." The man blinked, sweatdropping a little more.

"And eventually, you all will have work to do."

Rified hadn't time to ask anything more, the darkness around them suddenly moved to sweep him up in it's quake, pulling him away into deep nothing as he felt himself sink. For a small instant, his eyes moved to catch hers, and she blinked.

_..... Manifestations..... of 'our' power?_

_... who the hell... is our?_

He was plunged under the water, dragged down relentlessly as he felt his consciousness waning, he was being pushed out, and he couldn't do anything to stop it. Soon he'd be awake in the world he knew well... the mortal realm, in his words he supposed.

He never made it there, something else pulled him, pulled him a direction he had never been, backward.

Everything was gray, there was no color in a solemn, silent and greyscale world. His world... but there was no life, and he air itself swirled in a wash of gray that almost seemed like water, and yet he couldn't feel it. This place seemed so still, and yet all at once it seemed to move.

He stared, turning around, his eyes washing over the empty, silent buildings that hardly seemed to be there, unsure of where this was, or how in the hell he ended up here.

"I would send you back, but I think it best not to allow the Black God to have you."

Rified spun around, the voice low and lacking all emotion, as if it was bored. He looked about quickly, trying to pinpoint where it came from, and yet still there was no one.

".... First she's there, and then _him_ , and now this..?" He mumbled, "... what the hell is going on...?"

"The Manifestation of the Mortal Realm for Energy, is dead." Rified stiffened, sweatdropping. "The Malurey, is dead."

"... I know." He mumbled, "I know she's.... wait, Malurey?"

"She is the Malurey. You are the Kala. That small child is the Seleyn." The voice repeated easily,

Rified stiffened, his ears catching to the sudden sound in the silence of footsteps behind him. He turned slowly, his blue eyes narrowed, sweatdropping and head continuing to spin all the more.

"And I am the Fealorr."

* * *

 

It was dark, and cold. Everything was moving, slowly, sluggishly, the air sliding past her on all sides as if it was water.... Maybe it was, she was so numb, she could hardly tell, her mind wasn't working, it was all... a jumble.

Somewhere, in the base of her core... there was something, some feeling, and it was faintly like that of something she had forgotten.... She couldn't place where she had been, or even why she was here. Let alone... what was I doing... before now...?

I can't.... feel anything.... I can't.... remember anything....

"W...What's going..... on...?" She breathed, her voice barely above a whisper, her lips wouldn't move, her body wouldn't budge... she hadn't the strength to. She felt her eyelids dropping, not that there was anything to see, it was all black, and she couldn't keep herself up much longer, she felt herself sinker deeper, losing herself... to nothing.

".... What.... Is this... place..?"

"You've been here many times before, Enogora Dragair Slajur."

She gasped slightly, her lungs filling with chill air after suddenly finding she needed to breathe, where she hadn't been. She huffed, her chest heaving as suddenly a wash of pain rammed into her all at once, something deep and settled heavily in her very center, though no external wound could be seen there- hard to believe with the level of agony that suddenly rammed into her like a train. Her body shook, her legs trembling violently as she struggled to keep standing, her head spinning and eyes locked to the floor... to see it rippling with every shake of her own body.

Am I... standing on water...?

"Though I suspect your memory of this place is nearly null, humans are not meant to be here more than twice."

Frea froze, her mind derailing away from the pain and her heaving chest, and even the fact she was standing on water, as suddenly the sound of the voice managed to work its way through the haze in her mind. A bead of sweat fell from her forehead, her body rigid as she slowly dared to turn around, she could feel something massive behind her, and she smelled the sickly sweet smell....

Her eyes went wide, her silver eyes glinting in the dim as her gaze fell on the massive, colossal form. The scales a pure black color, muscles rippling under the scaly skin, massive claws poking under the floor of water below them both. It's tail stretched out behind it, the top littered with black razor sharp spikes, it head long, narrow, ripped and torn ears stretching down on either side of the head. Its yellow stained teeth poked out from underneath the lips slightly, black spikes stretched down from the forehead, down the short neck, the back, and toward the tail.

Massive wings hung around its body like black curtains, ripped and frayed at the bottom with numerous holes and tears. The edges brushed against the surface of the water, causing more ripples as his head shifted down, looking her way as her silver eyes met his deep green ones.

"It's been some time, Enogora Dragair Slajur." He rumbled, his voice low and echoing in the dark emptiness around them, his lips pulling back in a small, almost amused smile. She swallowed slightly, sweatdropping a little more as she stood still, her eyes narrowed slightly.

"... Naraka." She murmured lowly, blinking a few times.

"You remember me then?" The Dragon murmured, looking amused slightly. Frea frowned a little,

".... You tried to kill me back in Crocus, when the Eclipse Gate opened." Frea replied lowly, Naraka laughed.

"Ah, I do faintly recall that." He chuckled lowly, "Though, as it happens, past events are slightly jumbled for me. The version of myself you came into contact with then was..... Hehe, a less enjoyable version." Naraka chuckled,

"... so you trying to kill me, I'm supposed to understand it was because you... weren't you?" Frea mumbled,

"How hard would that be for you to understand?" Naraka hummed, "You already know someone who had managed such a change, and that change was owed unto you, as I understand." Frea's head tilted slightly, Naraka took a seat on his haunches, shaking his head slightly. "... There is so much you don't understand, and I do not have enough time to tell you all of it."

".... What is going on Naraka? Why are you here?" Frea grumbled, "... _Where_ is here?" Naraka's green eyes glinted slightly, simply looking at her for a few brief seconds in silence.

"You are dead."

What heartbeat there was left in her chest suddenly stopped altogether, those three simple words stealing her breath away and making her freeze.

The sudden feeling that suddenly ran through her wasn't fear, nor really even surprise- what hit her in that next instant was guilt, regret, sadness.

She'd been expecting.... But..... she couldn't imagine what the Guild.....

Her eyes fell, her fists clenching at her sides as she sweatdropped.

"You are not surprised." Naraka nearly purred the words, almost amused. "Then it is true, you knew you were that you stood no chance against Mordren." Naraka shifted slightly, one claw trailing across the water lightly.

"... Great, Black God of Energy. Great bane of this Bealorr Greiin." Frea glanced up, blinking.

".... What do you mean, Bealorr Greiin...?" She mumbled, easily recognizing the language of the Dragons.

" 'Shattered Mirror'." Naraka murmured, "It is the term used to describe the separate worlds in which events happen in different ways, and different people exist." Frea sweatdropped, Naraka dipped his head. "... it is speculated, and most do not believe such a thing. But there is dozens, hundreds, and perhaps infinite number of worlds lost in separate corners of all creation itself. They mirror the world you know, but remain different. Perhaps only slightly, and perhaps drastically so... 'Edolas', you have seen. That is one of the many Bealorr Greiin out there, that world was drastically different. In not only events, but Magic, and the people who lived there. In yours, the Bealorr Greiin you know and exist in, Mordren exists only here."

"... most are unable to perceive the different Greiin. There is no way to know how many there are, or how they differentiate. Very few know of them, or what they hold." Naraka trailed off a moment, shaking his head and smiling wryly. "This is idle chatter however, I have so much I could tell you, and yet that would take more time than I can allow." Frea blinked, her eyes narrowing slightly as she felt a sudden flash of emotion come from Naraka.... Is that sadness?

Wait, is he saying he's on some sort of time table right now?

"... I suppose I did not answer you're initial questions, did I?" Naraka murmured, smiling slightly. He glanced sideways, "For those, I think there is time.... And I am sure there may be time afterwards." He didn't continue the trail of thought, nor did he give her time to ask.

"You are in the Reach. Humans refer to this place as..... the closest would be 'Purgatory', or perhaps the 'Afterlife'." Naraka murmured, "This is where all come to die, for good." He dipped a claw into the water.

"Everything falls beneath the water, and becomes nothing. To fall into sheer emptiness, that it was it means to die." Naraka murmured. Frea blinked, her eyes slowly moving to the water under her feet,

"... I not... falling.." She mumbled, he dipped his head slightly but didn't give in to her comment just yet.

"I am here, because I am the Master of the Reach. Master, of this realm of death." Naraka murmured, "It was not a fancy title I gave myself when I called myself 'Lord of Death'. But I think I do prefer simply my title, and true name; Retheata." Frea sweatdropped, her ears ringing slightly as she felt her heart jump, immediately her thoughts clicking together to recognize the one word in that enigmatic language that had caused her so much grief lately.

".... Death." Frea mumbled, "Your true name.... is _Death_...?"

"Indeed. I embody Death itself, as do my brethren." Naraka murmured, "We all embody one of those 'Forces of Creation' Mordren prattles on about. We hold dominion over our own planes, we live and breathe as our Magic, we _are_ the Magic.... We take the form of any powerful creatures we wish and live lives as those versions of ourselves, before we start anew. Or, we simply take no form at all, and just exist, never changing." Naraka went on, "Together we make up the basis of reality and life as you know it, without us there would be no existence, no life, no creation... there would be nothing, without us."

Her head was spinning, trying so hard to keep up with what she was being told, because how the hell was she supposed to believe all of this?!

And yet there was that feeling, that deepset feeling of familiarity, truth.

... without.... How could there just be nothing? And how could there be Magics that decide it all...?

"The four, the great four, where everything begins and ends. In Life there is Energy, in Existence there is Soul. In Reality, there is always time. And in everything, there is always Death." Naraka went on, seemingly almost wistful, yet amused as he smiled slightly down at her, the words rung through her core though, and she shivered. "My brethren and I were here when reality and life, where everything came into being, and we will remain long after worlds fall, over and over again. We are constant. We watch everything, keep forces moving, keep balance between one another. Rarely we meddle, and when we do, it is cause for concern." Naraka smiled wryly, his green eyes glinting as Frea continued to only stare, she was frozen.

"I do not like to interfere more than my duty demands, I did so once, and regretted it more than I like." Naraka explained, "My sister, however, meddles freely, and often pays the price over and over again... as is what is happening now." Frea blinked, her eyes narrowing.

Sister....?

"Your Foster Mother, the great and wise Chaitanya. Energy Dragon, and embodiment of Energy itself." Naraka announced easily, Frea felt her heart leap at the very mention of the name. "She has a soft spot for Humans, and has helped where she managed... and often times it has ended her lives, in an endless cycle, she is forced to die and be reborn in another form... and today," Naraka paused slightly, seemingly to take in a breath, "..... today the Energy Dragon you know, will be no more. And she will do this, to save you, her daughter."

Frea felt a cold sweat fall down her back, her heart dropping from her throat to the bottom of her feet, her breath catching in her throat. She felt herself shaking, her body trembling as a race of panic and utter fear rammed into her full force. Her mouth fell open slightly, shaking her head a little,

"...w...what....?" She barely managed to stammer the words, before she swallowed hard. " _W-What?!"_ She snapped frightfully, her silver eyes glistening. She stepped forward quickly, her heart racing in panic suddenly. "Y-you can't...!?"

"Recall I said you have been here many times before, Enogora Dragair Slajur." Naraka cut off her rising panic instantly, shaking his head firmly. He lift a claw, tapping the end of it against her shoulder and making her take a step back, "And recall, how many times I said humans are meant to be here, in the Reach?"

Frea found herself hissing as he pushed her back, she suddenly wanted to lash out of him as her panic set in faster, she hardly cared for his rambling.

"Twice." Naraka murmured, "Humans are given one chance to save themselves from Me. At a time in which they find themselves plunged into the dark waters, I hold off long enough to allow them chance to break the surface, to swim to the top and save themselves from the fall." Frea's jaw clenched, her eyes narrowed to slits. "If a human wishes to live badly enough, they will. They have their chance, and they live, until the next time they find themselves in the Reach- for the second time. And on the second time, they fall completely, and never return."

"You, you have been plunged under the water on numerous occasion, and still you have not drowned. For this, that is owed to the meddling and the power of Chaitanya herself." Naraka shifted again, his claws making the water ripple more. "You have been kept from falling time and time again because she has sacrificed her own Power and Life to do it, she has chipped away what life energy she has to save you, to keep you alive, and now, she is finally spent. You have no chance left after this, Enogora Dragair Slajur. With this last sacrifice, you will go back, in hope perhaps... you will beat the Black God."

Frea hissed, her fists clenching at her sides.

"She can't do that!" She snapped, "I'm not going to let her die for me, Naraka!"

"There is nothing you can do to change this." Naraka mumbled lowly. Frea's head fell, her body trembling violently as she felt her legs shaking, her entire form felt cold and suddenly numb, she couldn't believe she was staying standing.

"... I c-can't......" Frea stammered, ".... I can't let anyone.... I can't let her.... Not for me...."

"It is done."

Frea's legs buckled, her body hunching as her hands hit the surface of the water to catch herself. The water rippled, the moisture cold against her skin but she felt numb to it. It was too much, all of this all at once... all the ridiculously crazy notions, the ancient powers, forces that are responsible for... everything in itself. Creatures that embody the four forces of all creation, Energy one of them... Chaitanya...

... and the certainty, the truth. All of it, in her core, it was true... she hated so much it was true.

She felt it then too, nearly the minute those lasts words left Naraka's lips. Her core shattered, her heart, her soul, all of it. She felt it rip away, the candle went out, the brightest light..... the life that had saved her own, taught her, raised her, nurtured her. Loved her, more than she could describe.

Frea looked up at him, her eyes filled with tears, her core filled with pain and loss of the like she had never felt, too much, like the world and all it's pain and agony had crashed down over her head.

"..... please..." She gasped, her words broken and hushed. ".... I don't..... I can't take it.... Losing her..."

Naraka blinked, silent as he looked down at her, his body still and nothing moving around them outside from the water rippling as her tears hit the surface. For a minute, his amused and detached exterior shifted slightly, and for a small moment, he looked somber, sympathetic, and even pained.

"........ You may be losing her, Enogora Dragiar Slajur. I know it is painful, the loss of a parent to a child who was loved so... I wouldn't wish it on you, or any other child." Naraka murmured, his voice low, and soft suddenly, gentle. "You may have lost a mother, but there are many more in the living who love you still, and who you love in return. Right now, they are about to be consumed by the Black God. Those you have fought for time and time again, will be slaughtered at his hand, and the world will fall soon after."

Frea's head fell, her fingers curling into the water as she shut her eyes tight, her jaw clenched as she hissed.

"You have a chance, your last chance, you – the Mortal Embodiment of Energy itself, the most powerful User of the Element alive in the world today. You, you are Malurey." Naraka went on, Frea stiffened.

"... he killed me, Naraka." Frea growled, "... how can you even say that? Most powerful user of Energy?" She glanced up, her eyes glinting as she frowned at him, her expression still utterly pained. "He's centuries old, he has more Power than I have ever seen in anyone in all my life, maybe even more than Zeref. I'm a half-baked Dragon Slayer whose Element is Energy, and who doesn't have the very ability required to make _real_ Energy Mages in the first place. The only thing I'm good at is making shit up, being royally stubborn, hot-headed and getting lucky.... Mordren's had centuries to learn, to master, he knows more about Magic than I ever could.... How the hell could you even suggest I'm stronger than that..?"

"..... For someone so clever, you seem to have missed something crucial." Naraka murmured, smiling slightly again. Frea blinked, "Yes, Mordren is old, he has studied the inner depths of Magic and gained control over Energy that no Energy Mage before has managed. He is the sole responsible for the destruction of all Energy Mages so long ago, he alone is responsible for making the line of Mages nearly extinct. He has broken barriers no mortal should to gain the power he has, the power to destroy worlds. He is, in almost every sense of the word, a true God." Naraka waved a claw her way, "You have improved faster than anyone should in a short amount of time, you have tripled your power, several times over. But yes, he killed you, for all your effort, you still did not reach the level you needed to win."

".... Is this supposed to be empowering..?" Frea grumbled, Naraka chuckled.

" _Malurey_." He smiled, "Do not write off my words like that, they are important. And I do know what I am talking about." Frea blinked once, "You are the Mortal Embodiment of Energy itself, as Chaitanya was the true, immortal Embodiment. There is only ever one, of each Force. You are the Malurey, that is no lie, you are more powerful than Mordren, for all his power, for all your shortfalls. Where Mordren has had centuries, you have years stolen away where you may have reached the Power, the true extent of the Power inside of you. That loss of time at the hands of Acnologia ensured your growth was stunted, you didn't have time. But that does not make who you are any less true."

"Naraka..." Frea mumbled, this was going nowhere, and quickly she was finding she was too exhausted to even care, and his riddles and rambling were doing nothing to help.

If he was right, then? If she was more powerful than Mordren... or could have been, what did it matter? He already said she hadn't time to reach the level she needed, Tenrou ensured it. She certainly had no more time now, not unless Naraka was about to spout some nonsense about his 'brother Time' and magically rewind time, or add a few years to allow her time to become as powerful as he seemed to think she was..... maybe even the same sort of powerful Jynx had always thought she was.....

Frea paused, blinking a moment as her eyes fell to her hands, sweatdropping.

"Mordren, for all his boasts, does not understand anything at all." Naraka smirked, "Mordren, is still mortal. And all mortals, regardless of power, skill- they all bow to one thing."

_"Four Pillars meant to hold the base, a Fifth that threatens to break the Form. Balance of Four, the Creation of One. Force of Destruction, the Product of Four."_

"That ability you lack, the one you fear is required to make a true Energy Mage, and without it makes you lesser?" Naraka smirked, his green eyes glinting in amusement as he watched the thoughts begin to click in her head. " 'World Sense'. You learned a Magic incapable of being learned without, without World Sense Energy Mages cannot be made... and yet here you are. You, who is not bound by the laws of the Magic you embody, and you- who has been touched, and connected with all powers, Celestial in heart and those that create everything around you. The Sun and the Moon bow to you. To you the laws of the Spirit Realm matter not. Nor have the laws of Time mattered, you have fallen past that. And in soul, you've healed the broken and darkened souls of those around you, banished the ones that would do harm, and held to the ones bound within you with more control than should be allowed. You have done the impossible and by passed laws of Magic without even realizing you have done so. No Mage before, not Energy, nor any other, has been so free of the laws and shackles that Magic comes with. Mordren is bound by these laws, but you are not."

Frea stared, her eyes wide as Naraka rose to his feet, his wings rising around him as she felt the Reach begin to spin around them, the water thumping.

"You rule above the laws of your Magic, but all the rest. For you, there may be no limits, you simply must find the power inside of you." Naraka smiled, "And now, you will for a time, rule above the laws of even Me." His green eyes flashed red a moment, "Chaitanya's power and life was enough to save you the choice, but not this time, Malurey. Her sacrifice has made it possible so that this day, you had the chance to make the decision yourself. You will go back, and it will be on your choice." Frea stiffened, sweatdropping heavily.

"Go back and face the Black God, and do so knowing you are not bound by the laws of any Magic, and that they all, including Death, bow to you this day." Naraka let out a laugh, his head falling to place itself inches from her own as she stood up, her tears stilling. "Go back, knowing that Death itself cannot hold you once you make your choice."

Frea swallowed, her eyes flashing slightly.

* * *

 

Solana and Aisha stared, their eyes locking with those red ones of the small Little Ghost, the three of them alone in the expanse of the White Plane. The world around them and the image of the Guilds slowly being turned on one another vanished, they found themselves whisked away here, and yet somehow they still knew their physical bodies remained under the control of Mordren... yet their minds wandered.

Jynx looked up, her expression stunned as both Solana and Aisha's eyes locked to the glowing orb in her hand, their hearts clenching to see her tears, and quite stunned themselves.

"Why in the hell....?" Solana mumbled,

"The bridge between you has fallen."

Aisha and Solana stiffened, looking around wildly at the sudden wisp of a voice speaking all around them.

"You've felt it break, but it is not lost forever."

Jynx blinked, her jaw dropping slightly.

"... you... d-don't mean...?" Jynx stammered,

"This is a rare day... and a day where it is asked the Sun and the Moon relinquish their rule, to the only one who can stand above them." The voice went on, not pausing for even a moment. "For this day only, the power of the Sun and the Moon will rule in one host."

Solana and Aisha sweatdropped, their eyes wide as their attention snapped down toward their hands, eyes glinting as those same silver marks that had shattered not minute before, suddenly blazed brightly upon their skin. Jynx stared, frozen, before she felt the orb in her hands shift, and fade from her hands entirely, gone.

"..... S-she...?" Jynx, Aisha and Solana stammered in unison, hardly daring to think.

* * *

 

Rified stared, sweatdropping slightly as he stared into the eyes of the new arrival, and that neutral, almost off-handed stare he received in return from such yellow eyes.

"This is a fixed point in the current, and one long coming." The stranger murmured, "The circumstances shifted and varied, and yet it all has fallen into place... and one thing is certain."

The stranger lift a hand, his fingers falling into the colorless streams moving around them as if it was weightless, touchless water. Rified swallowed slightly,

"Today, All Magic will bow to One."

* * *

 

His green eyes met on silver, fangs flashing in a small smirk as his words strung on the air, and the water began to rise around them.

"Choose to stand and fight."

* * *

 

No one moved, no one breathed. Every body, every thought, all of it, suddenly still. Completely and utterly still, no fear, no panic, just silence, even the wind could be heard, if there was any, even the air had stopped.

Every gaze moved to one point, all hearts still and jaws dropped, all thoughts derailed in an instants time.

They couldn't...

Mordren hissed, his eyes giving away from the dull to small inklings of fear, and true and utter disbelief. He knew that feeling, he had stalked it for months, he felt it, right there.... but it had been gone!

"I-Impossible!"


	59. All Magic {End of Book 3}

**Chapter 59**

**All Magic**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas**

****.:+:.** **

You could have heard a pin drop half a continent away in the sheer silence that followed that harsh, unbelieving cry that made it past Mordren's lips. No one even looked at him, nor hardly any of them registered his shout of the impossible, all eyes turned to one thing, one person, and they couldn't look away, not for an instant. Many of them suddenly wondered if they were even awake, if it was a nightmare they had found themselves in? Or maybe a horror driven dream for something they wanted oh so much... and yet how?

"T-that...." There were broken gasps of half-formed words, nothing formed properly on anyone's lips as they stood in rigidness, their minds couldn't hardly make sense of what they were seeing, what happened, and they sure as hell hadn't a clue what to even feel.

Chase felt like he hadn't been breathing in years, like his body had been dragged down by tons attached to his legs, and he felt that hole in his very core shift. What part of him that had been ripped out suddenly filled again, almost all the way, but painfully low of the mark. He shook, trembling as his blue gaze stayed riveted, his tears spilling over in sheer silence as he stared.

He couldn't.... that..... how could it be....

"..... b-but.... T-Teach.... S...she....w...a...as..." He fumbled, could that even be reality?

_How can a candle snuffed out so violently.... It relit....?_

Mordren seemed as stricken as everyone else, some hints of humanity and bits of fear trickling into his face, showing even past the rage. He looked horrified, confounded, as he should be- he knew that Energy Signature, he felt it destroyed, and now suddenly, faint as it was now, barely a flicker- it was there.

Right fucking there.

"... You..... _Ferdey_... _Greullan Ferdey_....!" Mordren hissed, teeth gritted and shaking slightly, in rage or shock it wasn't really clear, nor was it clear what he growled just then, to everyone else's ears it meant nothing, and only faintly rung of that cryptic language of the Dragons they had seldom heard mentioned.

Mordren swept his arm out in agitation, his Magic rising around him in tune as his grey eyes flashed in the dim all around them, his body trembling as he stared, his lips pulled at the edges in a snarl.

"You cannot be alive! I destroyed you, I felt your Energy Signature snuff out!" Mordren bellowed, his voice ringing on the rocks and the lake around them, echoing slightly. "No one comes back when I kill them, no one! I am Master of Energy, of the Three Forces of creation, and thus I rule over life, and I stole yours!"

"You... you damned....fool... you really... don't get it..."

Fairy Tail's hearts clenched painfully, their tears falling anew as the painful, hoarse tenor of her voice reached them. Her words were soft, broken in places and interrupted by gasps as she seemed to just fight for air.

Frea stood, lopsided as her head and shoulders hung, nearly hunched over. Blood fell around her in a steady stream, her body heaving and shaking painfully as she struggled to just stand, her arms hanging and her hair falling about her face and shoulders, keeping her eyes and expression from view, part from the glimpses of blood still trickling from her mouth. She stumbled slightly, looking ready to fall over as the leg Mordren's Magic ran through buckled a few times, refusing to allow her put weight on it. She stayed up, but only barely.

".... How long..... have you spent obsessing.... Over the damned..... Forces of Creation... then..?" Frea managed in between harsh breaths, tilting again dangerously. "... how long... have you obsessed over the inner.... i... inner workings of Magic... and thought... you knew it... a...all.....?" She seemed to shudder, in pain or something else, it wasn't clear, but she looked up, just enough that one burning silver eye managed to lock to Mordren, he sweatdropped.

"... you don't know... a damned thing."

"Be silent!" Mordren snapped furiously, his hands sweeping forward as his Magic streamed past him in a great wave, swallowing the ground in pitch black as the mass hurtled toward Frea, who staggered backward, still barely holding herself up. The people watching overhead went rigid in sheer panic and fear,

"Frea!" Their voices were lost to the boom that echoed as Frea disappeared among the storm of black, Mordren smiled slightly, breathing hard and looking shaken.

"He... hehe... she has to be dead again..." Mordren hissed, eyes wild.

He froze, his eyes wide and stricken as he heard the soft, staggering sound of someone's footsteps, seeing her figure walk from the wash of shadow his Magic had created. She moved slowly, limping heavily as she shuffled forward slightly, her arm holding her stomach lightly as she continued forward, leaving drops of blood to spatter the stone behind her- but Mordren's Magic hadn't seemed to touch her, at all.

"... you were always... wrong." Frea hissed, panting still. "... Energy in all life..... maybe, but Energy does not control what lives and what... dies... _you_ don't..." She slowed to a halt, her body heaving and shaking still as her arm fell away from holding her stomach. "... Death does not bow to you... None of the Four Forces of Creation bow to you... not Death... not Soul.... Not Time..... and certainly not Energy." Mordren froze, trembling at the words.

"F-Four...?!" He hissed, "... There cannot be four of them... Death cannot be one of them...!" He paused, blanching a little. "... I am the true god of Energy, you insolent little girl! I'm the most powerful Energy Mage to walk the earth! How dare you spout your lies at me like this!?"

".... I would have agreed with you..... I've never met another Mage with so much power... I couldn't barely imagine... anyone more powerful than you..." Frea gasped lowly, swaying slightly as she shook her head a bit. Her leg gave out again, making her tilt dangerously to the side, for a moment only holding herself up on one, trembling leg. Mordren's black magic had not dissipated, it remained swirling behind her, almost on it's own.

"..... however, someone quite convincing has said otherwise..."

The ground shook, the stone cracking as one either side of where Frea stood, giant claws of some huge beast hit the ground, materializing from the black storm still spinning behind her.

Mordren stood, utterly horrified as his eyes locked to the massive, ethereal form of some dark beast, forming out of the black abyss behind Frea. The air shook, the sound of a low, dangerous growl rumbling in the beast's very chest. There flashed a set of powerful fangs amongst the swirling shadow, a snarl pulling at it's lips as blood red eyes flashed among the black storm.

Mordren stumbled back a bit, his face pale and breath shaking in his throat. He felt it, some deep, foreign, massive power that had suddenly materialized from nowhere, power so deep and so dark he felt himself shudder. His nose wrinkled, his and the other Dragon Slayers overhead as the overwhelming sickly sweet smell of blood and death hung on the air.

"What.... What is that...?" Wendy stammered,

"... that... that almost looks like a...." Lucy stumbled to find the words,

"... Dragon.." Natsu and Gajeel said in tune, eyes wide and sweatdropping heavily.

Moon stared, stricken in horror and completely frozen.

_That..... that looks like...._

".... I tend to know when I am being... lied to..." Frea breathed, "... it's all.... Crazy.... But... things tend to be.... Crazy around me.... Anyway.... If that stubborn ass thinks... I'm... somehow going to manage..... some damned surprise..." Frea huffed, her lips twitching upward in a rueful, half-smile for just a few moments.

The mass behind her swirled, the figure of the beast disappearing as the black did too, Frea slowly pulled her head up, shifting her weight back onto her injured leg as her silver eyes locked to Mordren.

"... who am I to disappoint...?"

She straightened up, stepping back down on her injured leg, her foot stomping into the stone hard enough to make it shatter, as suddenly her trembling form grew steady, her head raising all the way as her eyes narrowed, her expression calm and resolute. She took in a breath, her head tilting back as she let her eyes fall closed, Mordren flinched slightly, his eyes narrowing in fury as he pulled his hands up, his Magic swirling around him in his rising anger.

"DIE!" Mordren screamed, every ounce of his power seeming to pour out toward her, a great wave of it easily several stories high crashing over the land, making the land and the air shudder at its immensity.

_One last.... Impossible thing..._

They yelled and shouted overhead, their fear and panic rising on the air in the midst of the unbearable amount of pain and heartache they were feeling. It was all too much, too much deep and biting sorrow and anger and terror, they had seen it happen, they had watched her die... they'd felt the loss in their hearts a second time, and it was a loss she had never wanted them to feel again. She hadn't wanted this..... she hated it, always being caught up in some mess, having to fight tooth and claw to get out, getting hurt... her whole life was a mess, it always had been.... Maybe it just hadn't been clear until now. Or maybe she hadn't wanted to recognize it until now.

_Why is it me?_

There was too much going on, too much to understand and a lot of it she never would, she knew that. Ancient Powers and Magics that create all life and existence around them... and beings that embodies those powers, both mortal and immortal. It would have seemed nonsense to anyone, and yet she felt it was true- she felt that odd chord of familiarity all the way, like some truth so finely carved into her very being she knew on instinct it was all true, so very true.

_Was because of them? My family? Or was it because of Chaitanya..? Did she somehow... just choose?_

There wasn't anything special about her, she had never thought so and even now she wasn't convinced. Everything she had in life she got through hard work and pain, suffering..... she was a broken, little girl too afraid to admit to herself her truest darkest fears, and instead hid them behind bravado and a fiery temper. She was a coward, deep down, she had only ever forced herself to act against that fear she denied.... Because she did love them. She wanted to protect them... and maybe save herself what pain she knew was hurtling toward her.

She'd been tortured, broken beyond repair and learned to fear herself. She'd learned to fear her own power, strengths, and her own weaknesses.... Because she knew she could do so much bad, if she ever let herself fall that far, and she had been fighting that deep, black pit for oh so long.

And time and time again she still lost, she still failed and she still hurt them regardless what she tried to do. She always caused them pain, she could feel it, and she hated herself more for it..... her heart clenched painfully, she'd failed her family, her brothers, her Guild, her friends... all of them, and she had failed Chaitanya too, and now...

Naraka believed her this 'Malurey', the mortal embodiment of Energy... the strongest Master of the Magic in all the world, even above that of Mordren.

And away from that? He thought she ruled above the laws of Magic.... That she was more powerful than all of them.

_"You rule above the laws of your Magic, and all the rest. For you, there may be no limits, you simply must find the power inside of you. And now, you will for a time, rule above the laws of even Me. Chaitanya's power and life was enough to save you the choice, but not this time, Malurey. Her sacrifice has made it possible so that this day, you had the chance to make the decision yourself. You will go back, and it will be on your choice. Go back and face the Black God, and do so knowing you are not bound by the laws of any Magic, and that they all, including Death, bow to you this day. Go back, knowing that Death itself cannot hold you once you make your choice."_

Was she meant to believe it? That all Magic bowed to her? That there were no rules? How could anyone have that power, let alone her?

Surely someone with that power would not have found themselves here, facing an enemy too big and too powerful.... Surely someone like that wouldn't have struggled time and time again against so many, failed and been hurt and broken down over and over... and surely someone like that would have won this battle without issue, and surely they would not have been killed doing so.

She had given it her all, every inch of power and strength and Magic in her body had been spent trying to defeat him, she hadn't anything left to give, and certainly nothing like having all Magic bow to her. What did that even mean..?

Or maybe that was just the point... what doubts she felt were useless.... Because if no rules bound her in Magic, there wouldn't be any limitations to what she could do, right? Where someone may be unable to manage one a Spell because they lack the skill or the Magic Energy, if there were no rules, Magic could be..... endless, and what she could do with it would be endless too.

How does one possess any sort of boundless power, then? She'd always accounted her pushing past conventional limitations of Magic as luck and.... Stubbornness, she supposed.

World Sense... she had wanted to learn Energy Magic so badly, she'd felt it so deeply in her core that desire, and had spent weeks and weeks just focusing her strength on nothing but feeling everything. The world had been dead and numb to her once upon a time, she couldn't feel emotion, she couldn't feel energy, even in the slightest, not like Chase could, even before learning.

She passed that rule apparently..... she'd wanted it so bad, and struggled for it... and one day it was like the world bloomed, and what she had known before had been wiped clean, a rush of emotion and feeling she had never dared to dream or hope for.

But how did she manage it? That one impossible thing? That one rule she bypassed?

 _I suppose.... I just refused to acknowledge the rule at all. I wouldn't hear of it... at the time I thought it a stupid rule and just... ignored it, treated it like it wasn't ever there. I just kept pushing it, making myself believe I didn't need it, that it wasn't a requirement, and I wouldn't let my lack of it stop me_.

... worry and doubt was useless then? She could just ignore the limitations and go from there? Or was it because of who she was that had made any of it possible?

_What determines a person who can just.... Ignore the laws of Magic? Just by wanting to? If a person could just wish to do that... wouldn't everyone do it? There was something more then?_

_That can't be it... there's something else to it. People can ignore rules all they want, but when it comes to Magic, there's supposed to be walls you just can't pass._

_I didn't even have Magic in the beginning, not even the slightest semblance of it_.

Where most people could use Magical tools, they had never worked for her... not a shred, not even the smallest spark. For a long while it was almost like Magic was cut off from her entirely, whether it came from her own power or through the use of tools infused with ethernano. Nothing worked....

..... and then one day, after months of struggling to do any sort of Magic, it was like the world just, opened. All of it at once, some great warmth that ran through her very core tingling through her bones and limbs, she had Magic, she could feel the world around her and see Energy, feel emotion. She hadn't ever really wondered why it had suddenly all came to her, or how Magic had suddenly appeared where it had never been before.

Or maybe that wasn't true, in the grand scheme of things if she was supposed to believe in all the Fate bullshit and a greater purpose, or even in this 'Malurey' business..... If she was the Malurey, the most powerful mortal who uses Energy, did you become that by growing into power? Or was someone decided to be that person even before they're born?

_If I was just chosen to be that person.... Was all my struggling just useless? Have I always had a potential to be stronger, the strongest, and just never knew it?_

_That sounds freaking insane, how many times have I been screwed over because I ran out of Magic? Or wasn't strong enough to protect myself or someone else against something? If I have some ridiculous amount of hidden power, wouldn't I have found it by now?_

_Damn it..... now it's starting to sound like what Jynx said to me. 'In you there is much more Magic Power than I have ever seen- though you may be unable to utilize it. In you a Lost Magic has survived- and thrived. In you, you possess such Colossal Ancient Power, no one could ever begin to guess the limits of your abilities. In you lives a Magic as old as the World itself! One of which played a part in the Making of much greater forces than anyone can ever know!'_

_Why can't things be simple? Everything is insane with me.... It's always been insane._

She hated it though, she knew it was just how it was, and she had long since given up on trying to make sense of the insanity that was her life. She had ignored it, mostly, because she couldn't explain it. Maybe she was born 'destined' to be the strongest, maybe she could have worked herself up to being that, and maybe it was all bullshit..... it hardly mattered, to be entirely honest. This was real, Naraka was real, and she was there... Mordren was here and he was threatening to destroy everything she cared for.

Frea hissed, her body trembling as she glanced down at her hands, her skin smothered in her own blood and trembling as her breaths were. She hardy cared of what mass of Magic was streaming toward her, she hardly heard them yelling or the crack of stone around her as Mordren's power shattered the earth.

The pain was so blinding she had gone numb, she couldn't feel her wounds, she couldn't feel the inevitable weight and exhaustion that should have been keeping her down. Her own pain was gone, she felt hardly there at all, and yet the ever persistent feeling of all their emotions overhead and around her kept her aware she was there, standing, alive for now... and facing down the one thing that threatened to destroy everything she had ever fought for. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew she wouldn't last long... but she felt _it_.

The one last impossible thing

There was a feeling, a tingling in her hands and her fingertips, something slight, something warm... it reminded her of that first day she had been able to feel the Energy of the world all around her, the very first day she had found her Magic.

It was Magic Energy... it was power, but it wasn't hers... or at least it wasn't how she had ever felt it before. Her Magic had always been familiar to her, it was second nature, it was easy, it flowed through her body like blood would, but she had never felt it _moving_ under her own skin, never felt it with such detail, as if she could literally feel every strand of it running through her body, imagine every inch of it as if it were a physical thing.

What it felt like now... it felt like that first day, it felt like.... _Everything._

It felt warm and wild, and cold and slow, it felt light and thin and thick and hard all at once. Like leaves falling against her skin, or rain or wind... it felt like the warmth of flame and the prickling that ran across her skin she felt when around lightning. The steadiness and the strength of steel, or bright light, and even the depth of shadow, or the burn of something so hot it was deathly cold. The warm, thick feeling of blood or the sickly scent of death, and the sting of poison and venom.. Too many sensations all at once, too many to count and too many to distinguish between.... It was like all the energy and all the emotion and feeling in the world were suddenly burning through her.

She'd never felt anything like this before, it wasn't even completely like that first day the world opened up, then she had just felt it all, bombarded on all sides by no end of emotion and power and energy. Back then she had just been feeling it, though at the time it had been so overwhelming it hadn't quite seemed that way.... But right now, it was like..... it wasn't just a feeling, it felt like actual power. Like her Magic was..... changing, altering.

... _. This feels... odd.... Like I could almost..._

She rubbed her fingers together, sweatdropping slightly as she let out a breath.

... _. This feels like..._

Her hands fell, her eyes closing as she felt the wind buffet against her face, the sheer waves of Mordren's Magical Pressure as his Magic crashed out toward her, and still she didn't move a muscle.

_What was it..... Energy in all life? And Energy...._

She took in a small breath, she could feel it running through her neck and hands, curling around her arms in a sudden rush of energy and power she hadn't ever felt before, her pain was gone, she wasn't numb... she felt it all. She felt it bubbling, from somewhere far below, somewhere so far down in herself she had never seen it before, but suddenly it was there, it was there and she was grabbing it, she was controlling it, it was rising and she had full control over it.

Maybe it was her will to protect everyone, maybe she was just so fed up with everything.... Or made it had taken dying for her to find it, but she felt it now.... A sudden power and rise in Magic that raced through her body, unbelievable power she had never felt before... power that belonged to her.

_Energy in all Magic_

She flicked her hand up, no longer shaking, and without hardly any shred of exhaustion or pain. Her eyes remained closed, silver light bounced up around her and clashed with the force of Mordren's Magic with a deafening boom. Her Magic swept his to the side, diverting it entirely as it crashed out across the land and over that of the water, splitting the lake in two before the waves crashed back into eachother.

Mordren took a shaken step back, his jaw dropping and eyes bulging in utter disbelief. Over their heads the other Guilds stared, growing into a sudden tense stillness, bewildered at the sudden turn in events or even how she managed to just deflect that attack like it was nothing, she hadn't even flinched.

Frea stepped forward, her silver eyes blazing icy cold as her Magic rose around her feet, swirling around her body and winding tightly around her arms, spinning and spiraling as a sudden wave of immense pressure ignited on the air, it was stifling, it felt heavy on their lungs suddenly as they felt something on the air begin to shake their cores.... And it wasn't Mordren.

They watched in awe, stricken as the markings under her eyes suddenly glowed, stretching down her neck and twisting across her skin on her arms, and curling into spirals down her back. The silver blazed coldly, painting her skin as the markings stretched further, twisting down over her spin like a chord, shining brightly against the blood that still stained her skin and torn flesh. Blue shone across the back of her left hand as red flashed across the back of her right, there suddenly blazing two identical marks of a spiral and a dragon's head, a familiar enough marking that had been seen before, and identical marks that blazed across the back of Aisha and Solana's hands.

The sisters grimaced, Solana leaned against the wall keeping them at bay as she felt her strength dwindle and fade, Aisha beside her looked a little off balance for a moment, feeling drained too. But their eyes didn't leave the scene unfolding before them, they didn't care they felt so weak so suddenly, they knew why, but they hardly believed it.

Frea kept walking, her Magic swirling faster around her as her eyes remained locked straight ahead, her pupil's suddenly reptilian, small splotches of glowing lines like scales spread across her arms and legs, shining grey and purple faintly. Her hair shifted and moved in the sudden wind her Magic was stirring up, the silver ends of the strands shone brightly as they glowed, moving downward in a blaze of light that left her hair a length that reached just past her lower back. The stone glowed white under her footsteps, leaving cracks that shone dimly in the ground behind her.

"W-wait... is that...?!" Lucy stammered, her eyes wide as the rest of the Guilds were. The sudden development was staggering, they couldn't wrap their minds around any of it, and many in the Guild found themselves breathless- many of them immediately recognizing a change in Frea they had only had the opportunity to see, just once.

They had seen these markings appear before, seen her eyes change as her Magic began increase, they had seen this side of her appear as she stare down Senna, the Mage who used Poison Magic and had gone on a killing spree.

But that hadn't been _anything_ like this.

"Is that.... That's Dragon Force, right..?!" Mirajane stammered under her breath.

"This is different.... This isn't like the first time...." Natsu mumbled, "... it's almost like.... That first time... she barely even went into Dragon Force at all...."

"This is what..... the full extent of her Dragon Force looks like...?" Erza stammered, a bead of sweat falling down her face.

"You may be centuries old, and your power may be beyond anything I have ever seen, it doesn't matter." Frea growled, her eyes flinty.

Her Magic swirled tightly around her form, blocking her from view for a moment as she glowed a bright golden white they hadn't seen her Magic take the form of before.

The light disappeared, glittering bits of gold falling past her as she stepped forward still, her steps never faltering even as she disappeared in the midst of it for a second. Her torn and tattered clothes had disappeared completely, the Magic leaving her in a new outfit entirely.

She wore a thin, pale blue shirt that tied around her neck, and was trimmed in gold, with silver designs swirling around the front of it, her back was left open as the shirt flowed down, the bottom of it ending at her lower back and then tying off with a thin ribbon around her waist. The bottom of the shirt flowed past her hips and ended mid-thigh, cut at an angle and slit up one side. Underneath she wore short black shorts, on her feet she wore silver fabric that cut off at her ankles and just above her toes, leaving her mostly barefoot though she hardly seemed to notice.

Her hair flowed around her, now tied back into two neat, low braids on either side of her head and tied off with golden rings in the middle and on the ends, like bits of gold coin among a river of silver shavings.

The fabric of the shirt stained immediately, blood seeping through it as it touched the gashes in her chest and stomach, and running down her leg as the markings on her back continued to stretch down her legs, glowing still as she continued to walk forward, not an ounce of pain or weakness showing in her eyes despite it all. She stared at him, her eyes cold and burning as her Magic continued to swirl around her in thin streams.

Erza went rigid, her eyes wide and trembling a minute as she felt her heart skip a beat. Around her everyone else looked confused and unsure, several of them shot glances her way in question.

"... Frea... did she just... Requip...?" Erza stammered to herself, "H-how?"

"You're talking about killing everyone, everyone I care about and destroying it all. I can't let you do that, I _won't_ let you do that." Frea growled, her eyes flashing dangerously as Mordren stepped back again, looking terrified for a moment, his eyes wide and flashing with a look that would have betrayed familiarity, like his attention and his mind suddenly moved somewhere else, and he wasn't looking at her- he didn't see _her_ , instead he saw a ghost of someone.... Someone he....

"Y-you..." He stammered, his face twisting in fright and rage all at once as he grit his teeth. ".... You can't be... they're all gone!" He snapped, Frea glared, hardly seeming to care about his banter. "You can't be.... I killed her! I killed the last one! There are no more, no more Energess'!"

"You're wrong." Frea hissed lowly, "Energess or not, you have had it all wrong. There were never three, there was always four. You thought you could control Salengoreath? Or any other of the Forces? You think you're a god? You're _human_ , you always have been, and you are _not_ the strongest Energy Mage, you never were. You're mortal, and all mortals die... and yours has been a long time coming. You sought to control powers out of your reach, unaware this entire time you couldn't pass what rules kept you from them..... you learned the secrets of Magic and yet missed what it truly is. You've killed and destroyed and frivolously used your power to your own gain, hoping to turn the world on its head and let shadow rule over light. You call Energy the greatest of the Forces, and failed to see the one Force you had so carelessly been feeding all these years." Her voice was steady and low, reverberating around the area as Mordren stared, his eyes never leaving her for a second- it wasn't her, not the Energy Dragon Slayer. He wasn't seeing her, the only person in front of him now, with that commanding tone of voice, that dangerous glare and yet so calm expression was someone else entirely- it was her, but she was _dead! Dead for century upon century!_

"You felt all the world and all energy around you; and took it as knowing how reality itself works. Your connection to the Land and Energy and your Magic itself is what blinded you... and in the end, it's what's bound you, _limited_ you, without knowing it." Frea mumbled, her steps slowing as she came to a halt, not fifteen feet from where Mordren was, her eyes remained fixed to him as he trembled. "You don't know what it feels like, for the world to be numb and lifeless, you never did. And for it... you've never felt the world fall on your head all at once, and felt it all so deeply, every last emotion and power, all of it flowing with no end, no resistance, connected so deeply it can never be cut out again."

Mordren's eyes flashed, narrowed to slits. "What are you saying?" He snapped lowly, his lips curling. "... you're an Energy Mage, an Energess.... There is not a single one among our Magic that have felt the world as _numb_. We feel all of it, from the day we are born to the day we die, that is our legacy, to tap into the energy and emotion of the world.... We control what we feel, we control it all. Every Energy Mage falls into this, in World Sense, our Magic is born from it, and those with the greatest power can control it. I can, I can cut off all emotion and all energy and control any living being on this planet. I control what others feel, and I twist and turn their Energy to my own will, they feel nothing because I cut off every ounce of Energy in their body. I can control Energy to that extent, I am the only one who can! Even the great Energess could not accomplish this! I hold complete control over Energy, and in such I hold complete control over every living being, all living things are made of Energy!"

"And yet you're still bound by it's rules, for that precise reason." Frea murmured quietly. "You can block out your senses, and you're powerful enough to do it to others..... but you're limited by what control you have. Energy _isn't_ about control, it's about freedom, free flowing, it's about change and growth, it is life, and life is best lived without being controlled or restricted. It connects everything in our world, flows through it all, gives shape and form and it runs so deeply in everything it can do.... impossible things, things that can only be achieved when one lets go and just.... Lives, hopes, dreams.... Loves.." Her eyes softened slightly, her voice dropping lowly, enough that hardly anyone could hear her anymore. "You've always been able to control, everything.... You've never had the world so deeply ingrained inside you, you couldn't push it away. World Sense let you see the world... and World Sense let you control it, and destroyed any chance you had of really understanding Energy and what it really is, or what it can really do. World Sense bound you by the laws of Magic as it did all the other Energy Mages... laws I have been told... I don't have to follow." Mordren stiffened, his stomach dropping as he stared. Her power kept strengthening, he could feel her Magic rising though she kept it under control, this was the same power he had felt before, the power she had unleased at Hilshine, the full extent of her power, the same amount of it she had and was unable to beat him with. It wasn't different, it couldn't be... and yet it was like she was suddenly a different person. She entered Dragon Force in an instant, and it was... it was stifling.

Frea sighed slightly, her eyes falling a moment as she seemed to look worn. "... It's all so insane, I don't even know if I get it... I just.... I know how this feels, and it's all I can come up with..... I've been playing guessing games all my life, and right now.... I'm guessing, maybe I'm right."

"..... y... you talk as if...." Mordren hissed, his mind whirling and spinning as she suddenly seemed so.... So calm. How could she be?! She should be in so much pain, she shouldn't even be standing! Let alone with this much power still left, she had spent it all! _He'd felt it!_

"... if World Sense bound me... and you are not...." Mordren stammered, Frea never looked up at him, she stood still, even when his voice rose in agitation and he was shouting the words now, breathing heavily and trying very hard to just get a handle on what utter nonsense had started so suddenly. He smiled wickedly, his eyes wild as he laughed, "Y-you mean to tell me, you do not possess the ability World Sense?! The very ability that decides if one can utilize Energy Magic at all?! Now I know you are a liar, you could not use this Magic without it, you would have never been able to feel and connect with any Energy at all or the Magic, if that was the case! You could not be an Energy Mage without it!" He laughed, holding his arms out toward her as his Magic rose, his anger and emotion rising with it in tandem as black swathed over their heads, his power rising as he threw his Magic out toward Frea, who still did not look back at him.

"What insanity! I'm done listening to you prattle!" Mordren snapped coldly, laughing wildly. "It's time to put you down, and you'll stay that way this time!"

"... I haven't ever been able.... To block off the world.... I ripped open the lid... and it can never close.... It's been bound in my body so deeply, written in my soul so heavily... I feel it all....." Frea mumbled under her breath, sighing slightly as she said the words in a wispy breath.

 _Too_ much almost, she couldn't make sense of all this feeling, all this power festering and boiling just under the surface where she had never known it was... almost like it was all the Magic in all the world was just there, just close enough to reach it, feel it running through her body and her core, stable and so powerful... it felt like it was meant to be there, she could use it... hone it. It was so much, it _was_ too much..... the more she wanted to let it in, the more she felt her numbness fall away, and she felt her body being torn up by the sheer wild and fierce power rushing through her. She couldn't control it, not all the way... it was like she could hold on to it but it would still cut her even as she tried, she didn't have the strength to hold this much raw, sheer power in her body, but yet it was there... and she wouldn't stop it. Even with this new power rising, her body was being torn apart by it, her Magic wanted to heal her, instinctively so, but her Magic was also killing her, so the wounds remained no matter what she did.

... _one last impossible thing then..... for the last time._

The world around her slowed down as Mordren prepared an assault that was sure to be brutal, and most definitely driven by what anger and rage he had against her and what she was saying, maybe even more at the fact she was still breathing. He wanted her dead, she could almost taste his bloodlust, she knew he would throw every ounce of power, use every spell he knew and he wouldn't stop until it was over... until she was dead and gone, and this time around she wouldn't be coming back. She knew that... that's why this was the last time, her last chance... and she had to win.

That's why it didn't matter if this new power bubbling over would shred her body apart, it didn't matter how much pain she was in or if any of being Malurey was real or nonsense or whatever. She had to win, there was no choice.... If she lost everyone else would be dead, and she couldn't let that happen.. too many had already died for this.

Her eyes opened slowly, her gaze moving sideways to catch sight of Chase, still laying amongst a pile of rubble and stone, his face pale and eyes wide in fear as he watched Mordren's Magic approach her. She saw the blood seeping through his shirt, she knew he couldn't move.... And she knew that this island was about to become a warzone unlike any other.

She felt her heart clench painfully, her eyes falling away from him as she flicked her hand lightly in his direction.

... he was such a young, stupid little kid when they met..... he looked up to her, he always had, he respected her, cared for her... and he saw that. He saw the very thing that she feared in her heart, and he still had so much faith in her..... damn it, she didn't deserve him, or any of them.

_I'm going to break them.... And I am going to do it willingly._

She'd never wanted power, she never wanted to be the strongest... she had been afraid of herself most of her life, and at that moment, feeling this strange power rising, her power... more power than she had ever felt, it _terrified_ her. If she stepped over that line, embraced this 'immeasurable power'.... She'd never be able to come back, she'd never be the same, everything would change. She wouldn't be her, she never would be again, she'd become something she could hardly fathom, and she'd be more powerful than anything could be, or should.

She wouldn't come back if she stepped over that line, she knew it... the minute she let this power run free, she'd be someone else, and honestly... someone she'd never want to be. How could she even think of letting herself do this? She'd failed, she was weak, even after everything, here, on this mountain she had lost herself- if only for a few minutes, she had gone dark. Chase knew it, she knew it... she had been murderous, she hadn't cared, she wanted to kill, she had fallen and turned into some monster... what could she do, if she fell into darkness again, and had this power? The horrors she could manage.

... but she didn't have a choice, it terrified her, she was holding herself tightly, forcing herself to keep back, to push away that power, a part of her wanted it, a part of her felt... it was natural, familiar.

She let go, and took a step forward straight over that line, leaving it far behind... forever

* * *

 

_This couldn't... how was any of this real....?_

He couldn't hardly breath, his heart was pounding in his ears and his mind racing, with no intention of grinding to a halt- he couldn't look away from her, couldn't fathom what he was feeling or how any of it could be possible.... How she could be alive, when he knew he felt her Energy Signature snuff out.

And least of all he couldn't wrap his mind around this... this power. It was hers, he knew it was hers... but how could it be? It rose, quickly and steadily, the air shaking and growing heavier with the feel of it, almost so much it was making it harder for him to breath, it was beyond stifling... it was beyond anything, he couldn't possibly imagine this much power, not in anyone.... It was more insane than Mordren's Power was, her Power was..... she was... He'd never felt anything like it, he'd never felt her Magic feel like this, it was amazing... and terrifying all at once.

His head was spinning, his body on fire and waves of pain flashing through his body- most notably from his very torn up arm, and the sizeable hole in his right side, to which his shirt was slick with blood that gave no indication of stopping. It took everything he had to keep his attention focused on Frea and what she was doing, what incredible potency her power was adopting... and how odd it felt, like it wasn't her normal Magic at all..... it sounded crazy, but usually when he felt her Magic it was warm and steady. It had always felt the same to him, almost like second nature.... But this was different. It was like her Magic felt warm and wild and cold and fluid all at once, melding into so many different feelings he couldn't even begin to place them all, or understand why it was suddenly so different.

She looked like a different person, hell, she _felt_ like a different person. She walked right up to Mordren, who by now was looking panicked. She moved toward him, the conversation they were having muffled and disjointed, he could hardly hear all of it, and what he did manage was way beyond him. But Teach.... It was like she just suddenly knew, some part of her knew what she was talking about, about the 'Forces of Creation', about Energy Magic and it's deepest secrets. It wasn't until 'World Sense' was brought up that he understood anything, and he felt is heart jump at just what Frea was getting at- because it couldn't be possible.

_Teach.... Is she saying she doesn't have World Sense..?! She has to... right?!_

Mordren didn't seem to believe it either, and it was understandable- especially so as how Frea had never once mentioned to him of all people anything of the sort. _She_ was the one who told him that Energy Mages could only be made of people with the World Sense ability!

"Y-you mean to tell me, you do not possess the ability World Sense?! The very ability that decides if one can utilize Energy Magic at all?! Now I know you are a liar, you could not use this Magic without it, you would have never been able to feel and connect with any Energy at all or the Magic, if that was the case! You could not be an Energy Mage without it!" Mordren laughed, holding his arms out toward Frea as his Magic rose, his anger and emotion rising with it in tandem as black swathed over their heads, his power rising as he threw his Magic out toward Frea, who still did not look back at him.

"What insanity! I'm done listening to you prattle!" Mordren snapped coldly, laughing wildly. "It's time to put you down, and you'll stay that way this time!"

Chase stiffened, his heart picking up in panic and fear at what insane amount of wild Magic Mordren threw out, like he wasn't even bothering to control it anymore, he just lashed out, violently. He watched the swath of black Magic tear out toward her, Frea didn't move a muscle, nor did she seem at all concerned with it, she didn't even look up, his mouth fell open to yell at her to move, but he couldn't find the words, he was frozen, his head spinning as his body trembled with what extreme effort it took to just keep his head up.

He went rigid, his body suddenly felt weightless as some strange Magic wrapped about his person, the blurry and swirling image of Mordren's assault heading toward Frea disappeared from before his eyes, he found himself for a few split seconds in a space of just emptiness.

He felt his pain dull slightly, something cool and refreshing wash over him as his wounds stung less, but he felt the breath catch in his throat- he recognized the feel of this Magic, it was the same sort of Teleportation Magic used by Doranbolt, but it was most assuredly _her_ Magic. Most definitely, but how the hell could it be...?!

He dropped again, feeling solid surface underneath him as the weightless feeling ceased, he hissed slightly as his pain caught back up with him again, though he noticed many of the minor and less severe wounds over his person had healed in a moments time. His head snapped up, his blue gaze glittering as he found himself up and away from the stone island entirely,

"Chase!"

Aisha was next to him in an instant, bending on to one knee as she let her hands rest on his lower back to steady him, her purple eyes glinting worry like nothing he had quite seen in her- but he didn't notice that first. The first thing he noticed was how exhausted and pale she looked, like she was ready to fall over. Her eyes fell from his as they landed on the crimson stain of his blood soaking through his shirt, her face pulled into a tense frown at the sight of the state he was in.

He stared, his mind racing and the world still spinning, sweatdropping heavily as he looked up at her. She was shaking..... and he realized with a pang of panic and shock that he couldn't feel Magic coming from her, _at all._

"A-aisha..." He stammered, his hand moving up toward her, only to pull it back as his eyes shut tight, wincing harshly at the pain movement caused. Aisha went rigid, her head snapping up and away from him and toward the crowd of Fairy Tailers, most of them transfixed on what was happening below, and only a few looking toward the pair of them, their eyes wide and sweatdropping.

"C-Chase..?!" Lucy gasped, her attention snapping around once Aisha moved, Loke and Solana glanced back too, their attention torn from Frea as the young Energy Mage seemed to appear up in the dome out of thin air.

"W-Wait, how did he get up here..?" Loke stammered,

".... Tch..... why am I... not surprised.... She did that...." Solana hissed under her breath, sweatdropping and looking just as pale as her younger sister did. The redhead leaned against the wall of the dome for support, her legs shaking as the top of her head rest against it, one arm holding her stomach and the other trembling as she pushed it up against the wall. For a small, brief second her eyes moved sideways to see Aisha and Chase, before she let them fall closed again, her body shaking and growing transparent for a small moment. Loke looked away from Chase, his ears immediately catching the hiss the Sun Dragon Slayer let slip, his eyes wide and heart jumping when he saw her looking so weak so suddenly. He was next to her in an instant, one arm curling over her back as the other moved to her hip, steadying her slightly as she trembled under his touch.

"Solana, what's wrong...?" He asked quickly,

".... Tch..... she's a freaking pain..." Solana hissed under her breath, though it was little of a response. She could feel herself relying on Lucy's Magic entirely to stay in the Human World now, and the blonde Celestial Mage could feel it to, though she looked torn between moving toward Solana as her worried gaze reached Chase. Loke's eyes watched her intently, only breaking away from her face when he noticed the bright silver glow of the mark on the back of her hand, for a small second he saw a small, slightly rueful smile appear on Solana's lips.

"... but damn it, if she want's my Power to take that bastard down, who the hell am I to argue...?"

"Wendy!" Aisha snapped, her tone curt and a little more firm than was needed. The small Dragon Slayer jumped, her wide, tear-filled eyes moving toward the Moonlight Mage in an instants time, her jaw dropping when she spotted Chase leaning against the hold Aisha had on his back, the young man's face pulled into one of pure pain as he doubled over slightly, his hand grasping to where blood dripped freely from his side. The sudden shout caught the attention of a few more people, their eyes snapping around to see the black-haired young man in Aisha's hold, their eyes alight in fear and shock.

"W-what in the hell...?!"

"W-wait, when did he get up here?!"

"S-shit! He looks bad!"

Wendy moved over in an instant, Carla close behind her as her focus moved to the person she could help- she had tried to cast her Magic several times now to help Frea, but the dome they were in restricted her from helping the Energy Dragon Slayer, but Chase was there (though she didn't know how) and she could help him.

"... A.... aisha..." Chase grumbled, her name broken in between the winces he tried to stifle. His exhausted blue gaze moved up toward her, dull and sparkling in pain and question, and even a bit of fear. She looked down toward him, a frown pulling at her lips still as her hold on his back grew a bit tighter, as if she didn't dare let him go. "... y... your Magic...."

"Don't worry over that, idiot." She told him quickly, her voice low but suddenly very gentle. Her eyes fell, her arms moving as she leaned in, wrapping her arms around his neck and shoulders tightly, yet so softly all at once, her nose burying itself in his hair as she held him close to her. "..... she risked herself to save you.... She can have all of my Magic if she wants... I just need you... that's all I want....." She whispered, hoarsely as her voice cracked. Chase stiffened in her grasp, his eyes widening slightly at how much pain rolled from her in that next instant, and fear. His head spun still, he knew she was the almost the only thing keeping him sitting up in that minute, regardless of how little he tried to lean against her.

"... you almost..... you almost died... don't.... don't do that, please." She hissed, her voice low as he felt his heart clench, he'd never heard her voice like that, so low, so vulnerable. For a minute, it all came crashing to a halt, and all he could focus on was her.

".... Damn it." He grumbled, he was struggling to just stay awake now, the black creeping up on the edges of his vision as he felt his fight quickly being lost ... he worried her, he could feel her fear like sharp daggers in his core, and he hated himself for it in that instant.

".... I'm sorry..." he mumbled breathlessly, he felt her hold on him tighten a little, like she didn't want to let go, and he didn't blame her, but what little strength he had to keep himself from leaning on her entirely dissipated, his hand falling away from holding the wound still bleeding on his side, and the world spun so violently, he felt himself thrown into a chasm of black.

"..Chase!" Her voice sounded distant, he couldn't keep himself above the waves, his eyes dropping as he lost strength to keep them open.

Aisha held him, shifting into a sitting position as his head fell into her lap, his chest falling and rising in quick, exhausted breaths, her eyes glittering as she held his head lightly, strands of her silver hair brushing against his cheek. Wendy was there quickly, the young Dragon Slayer on her knees and her magic flaring as she held her hands above the wound that tore through his right side, sweatdropping in panic as she set to work quickly.

Neither Wendy nor Aisha's attention left him for an instant, even as everyone else slowly snapped back toward that massive wave of black that streamed toward Frea below, who still, did not move an inch.

"What is she doing...?!" Natsu snapped, his eyes glinting in panic.

"She's just sitting there!" Gray hissed,

"Move!"

"Frea!"

It was like they lost all ability to hear, their eyes wide and jaws dropped as something exploded, Mordren's Magic shredded to bits in a sudden wash of pure, unbridled power on the air that left all of them, frozen and utterly breathless.

Half of the island was engulfed in a bright dome of silver that rose up around Frea, spiraling out around her as she stood in its center, the stone torn up and Mordren's Magic being wiped away, hissing and steaming as Mordren himself was thrown backward by the sheer wall of pressure that rung out around her. He coughed, hitting the stone and sliding backward a ways toward the edge of the water, only managing to flip back over onto his feet before his back smashed into a boulder that had been erected as a wall around them from the beginning. His eyes shone, riveted and shaking as he stared at her, her Magic sweeping up around her, high above her head, bits of earth floating and flying from the wind that picked up, there was an icy cold pang of fear that ran through his core.

The air was absolutely shaking, it was heavy and he could scarcely breathe under the weight.

He growled, his eyes flinty and glinting dangerously as he pushed himself off the stone, his own Magic rising to meet hers, rising just as high and spinning just as wildly, he swung his arms out toward her, flickering orbs of black materializing all around her and on over side.

"Energy God's Black-light Bombardment!"

The orbs jumped, small bursts of Mordren's Magic firing like thousands of high-burst bullets suddenly streamed down toward Frea in all directions, the air rumbling with the sound as Mordren started forward toward her, looking murderous.

Frea's hand raised above her head, her eyes closing as her Magic flared up around her arm..... golden, flickering jaggedly, like.... _Like....._

Frea brought her hand down roughly, her eyes snapping open. The air clapped, their ears ringing as dozens of bolts of glittering, golden lightning shot down from the mass of clouds in the air, striking through and setting the bits of Mordren's Magic alight, the electricity jumping between them and making them explode all in succession, not a single one making it near her before being destroyed completely. The clouds swirled, golden flashing across their dark surface as the Guilds overhead squinted at the intensity of it, their jaws dropping and breath catching in their throat.

"W-WHAT?!"

Mordren jumped back, his jaw slack and eyes wild in absolute shock, his mind unable to come to terms with what she had done... her Magic, that couldn't have been!

Frea didn't hesitate for a second, oblivious and uncaring of the shocked cutting at the air as much as the lightning- as much as _her_ Magic had- in that very instant. She didn't hear the Guild stammer and stumble, gasping and letting out quiet shouts of question and surprise, they knew what they had just seen, but they didn't know how.

Laxus stared, a bead of sweat falling down his face as his hands rest up against the dome of Magic still keeping them at bay, his eyes trailing over the clouds, feeling the buzz and smelling the electricity on the air.... But it smelled like her, so much so he felt his heart jump a little in his chest. It _was_ her, her Magic... but how could she have created Lightning? Let alone controlled it like that? So powerfully?

Frea swung both her hands forward, the air suddenly engulfed in a cloud of sickly purple that smelled sour and rank on the air, the same purple light that streamed from the tips of her fingers like jagged arrows, jumping and dancing around her before adding to the mist. Mordren stumbled back, his Magic swirling up around him to try and ward off the cloud, his face paling as he coughed, sweatdropping when the air burned his throat and lungs,

No... not air, _poison._

The cloud of dismal purple didn't let up for another few seconds, even when Mordren's Magic flashed up to try and force it away. Frea wasn't at all bothered by it, where before she had coughed and gasped the minute such a cloud appeared on the air- it did nothing to her, she was calm and her eyes remained locked to Mordren.

Mordren coughed again, his face twisting in rage as he swiped his arms around, black puncturing the air and engulfing him and everything around him, the cloud of purple thrown up over their heads and out of his way, his jaw clenched and teeth gritting as he swung around, his eyes looking to land on her- before widening in utter shock, stumbling backward and stepping to the side, hardly missing the sudden clean, razor sharp edge of the steel beam that struck past him, lodging itself deep into the rock and slicing clean through the stone. His eyes flicked sideways, seeing Frea raising her hands at her sides as she moved toward him, her movement light and quick- too quick.

Her arm glowed a bright white as she clapped her hands above her head, her skin turned jet grey, her eyes flinty as the iron that suddenly encased her skin, her arms lost entirely to the huge, story high and glittering sword that materialized in her grip, jagged strips of gold glittering around the edge of the massive blade.

"Karma Demon." She hissed, her eyes alight in a fire that no one had ever seen from her before.

"Iron God Sword!"

She swung the blade down with incredibly force, headed straight from Mordren who seemed to have stumbled to a halt in utter shock, the air itself seemed to be pierced by the edge of the blade, it hit the ground with enough force, it sliced through the depths of the island and split the waterfall, sending boulders and bits of the clifface crashing into the water.

The Dome of Mordren's Magic keeping Fairy Tail at bay couldn't hold back the tumult of wind that danced across the air, buffeting some of them back and making them cover their faces against what debris was sent flying.

"... y... you gotta be kidding me...." Gajeel hissed, his red eyes glinting as he saw his Magic and his Spell recreated before him more powerfully than _he_ had ever managed it. Around him no one else seemed able to take their eyes away, their hearts racing and faces pale in astonishment.

The sword disappeared in an instant, breaking apart into glittering pieces of Magic as Frea's head snapped up, her eyes narrowed and body tense as she jumped back- a wash of Mordren's Magic streaming from what dust and haze had been kicked up in the quake of her attack.

"Energy God's Bellow!"

Frea flicked her hand down, one of her Energy Boxes appearing midair as her feet touched down on it for but a second, before she pushed herself up again, skimming just over the top of Mordren's attack as it reached her. Her hands reached out on either side of her, her eyes flashing as she spun in air, and the air _moved_.

"Aera Bane!" Frea snapped, the air around her glowing pale blue as it shifted, swirling violently as it converged in on itself around her, swooping down and swallowing up Mordren's Magic in a tight cone, arcing a sharp turn in air in instants and sending itself and his own Magic crashing back into him, the sheer pressure of the wind cutting at the stone and shredding his skin and clothes regardless of how much he attempted to block it.

Wendy and Sherria alike went very still, their jaws dropped and snapped toward the sudden Spell they heard called out, their hearts jumping.

"... b-but.... That's..... that Spell's almost impossible to cast..!" Sherria stammered,

"... h-how.... Is Frea using... Sky Magic....?" Wendy stammered under her breath, for a minute her hands ceased working away on Chase's wounds. Aisha held Chase's head in her lap still, her eyes narrowed and fixed to the ground, she needn't look toward the scene that had everyone else captivated, she felt her strength wane a bit more and shuddered at how empty it left her feeling.

".... How are you doing this... witch?!" Mordren yelled, his tone dripping in anger and hatred. He jumped forward, snapping his fingers as he enacted another Spell, and then five more, hundreds of sections of his Magic spinning and moving in air as they raced out toward Frea, his skin was cut and bruised but he looked nowhere near done, he simply looked furious. Frea's eyes turned on him, cold and daunting as she failed to answer, still falling back toward the ground as her Magical Pressure never wavered.... If it was possible, it tripled, over and over.

Her feet had barely a second to touch the ground before Mordren's Magic raced toward her again, too close and too many on all sides to hardly even see her through the haze of black that danced on the air, millions of small, deadly bits of Magic, all of them that would tear clean through her body as they had before.

Frea's eyes narrowed to slits, her eyes casting sideways toward that Magic that shook and pulsed in so much power and so much evil she would have found it hard to breathe, let alone move.... But it was nothing, not now... it didn't make a difference, it simply melted in with that feeling of everything crashing over her head.... Every shred of magic and Energy pulsing through her body, her numbness fading by the second as sharp waves of pain struck through every bone, ever muscle and every tendon, pain that rose drastically the more steps she took over that line she had forced herself to stay back from so long.

There was a flood of it that entered her mind, her body, her soul.... Magic she knew and Magic she didn't, things she had never seen nor felt and yet they were there, just at her fingertips... a wash of Spells and movement that entered her head from some unknown pit of information deep inside her, she understood all of it, perfectly... she needn't think, it was second nature, it was natural. And yet all at once it was too much, she understood it but she didn't, not unless she actively tried.

It felt like hardly her voice when she recanted those words, it felt hardly her body and her movement and her Magic that suddenly took up the call of the Sky, of Iron and Lightning and Poison... and yet it was her Magic, her power was doing this. The pain becoming increasingly more vibrant in her body reminded her of that, because it felt so easy to cast, because it was second nature... that was what her Magic felt like.

And her mind and body reacted in the haze and the wash of it all as it flowed through her, tearing her body to shreds while simultaneously keeping her standing. It didn't matter, her focus was on him, she needed this over, she needed him beat... and it needed to be done fast, as fast as possible, and at whatever cost. Her thoughts and actions were in such a whirl and so dead set on that one goal she didn't hear them over her, didn't feel their emotions, they were lost to the whirl of her Magic tripling, doubling.... Growing ten times more potent and then some, it didn't end, like there wasn't an end.

She felt his Magic amassing overhead long before she even bothered to glance in that direction, his attacks were coming faster now, stronger, more brutal, and much less controlled. He was throwing everything he had at her, and even with the rise in her own power, it wasn't enough, she had to keep at it, strike hard and fast with everything she had, wear him down.

Her body fell into that action without consciously deciding on it.

"Etherion Cannon!"

The orb that had crashed over both Frea and Chase before had swirled into existence in the sky again, only this time around it had tripled in size, and in power. The wind buffeted down at Frea's body, making her tremble slightly at the pressure of it, the air turning dark as the black of his Magic seemed to creep into it. Fairy Tail's eyes grew wide in horror, seeing a Spell that had nearly killed her before, and now suddenly in triple the strength.

Aisha bent over slightly, her eyes shutting tightly as she pressed her forehead against Chase's her entire countenance shaking, she tried and failed to stifle how harsh her breathing was getting. Chase stirred against her touch, just slightly, drifting in and out of wakefulness, he felt her against him... he felt her shaking, and how cold she was. Even in unconsciousness..... he felt that too, that wash of Magic and power he had never felt before, Frea's Magic.... And he felt Aisha's Magic, but not in the Moonlight Mage's body. His hand moved up, shakily as he lightly held onto one of her arms that was resting on his shoulders and chest, she tensed under his touch, letting out a shaky sigh but relaxing, just a little.

Solana was shaking, badly, her legs giving up on her as she slowly sank to sit on her heels, her breathing labored as Loke went rigid, his eyes alight in fear as he bent beside her, not liking how frail she seemed and entirely unaware at just what was going on with her. His arm moved behind her back, steadying her as the other one rest on her knee, the light of the silver marking still glowing faintly on the back of her hand bounced against his glasses.

It was like a part of them had been drained, taken away completely and they felt empty and cold in the absence of it. What part of them that kept them connected to the Celestial Powers they embodied had shifted, moved and taken over by someone else, if only for a time- but it was a shock on their bodies and the feeling was less than pleasant..... but they both wouldn't have had it any other way.

Frea's hand lift up above her head, her other arm grasping to it as if she struggled to keep it above her. Her eyes snapped up toward the orb that was sent hurtling toward her, but she wasn't looking at it, her eyes flashed as she bared her fangs at the sky, blue and orange spiraling around her arm.

"Solar-Moon;" Her voice rose up among the booming of the air, clear and cold as she clenched her hand, and swung her arm down toward the ground, her eyes snapping shut as the blue and orange shown brilliantly.

"Celestial Fountain!"

The sky tore open, the clouds amassing over their heads were suddenly wrenched away, a clap like thunder echoed over the land as two Massive Magic Circles appeared above them, one blue and the other orange, one with the sun in the center and the other the moon. The two Circles shifted, pouring forth massive streams of burning hot and incredibly cold Magic, dumping it over their heads like a waterfall as the streams shot down and converged, stars and blasts of fiery light shot in every direction as the Spell tore straight through Mordren's Etherion Canyon- and then headed straight for him. Wild torrents of wind and debris were kicked up, waves of heat rolling into the faces of the Fairy Tailers as they struggled to simply breath under what massive wave of Pressure radiated from the Spell. It was like Frea had stripped the power of the sun and the moon all at once, and threw it down toward the land.

Frea's eyes fixed to what destruction she wrought, her silver eyes reflecting the light dazzling around what a minefield the Spell had created in front of her, her arm still holding to the other as she hissed under her breath, seeing flickers of Magic run up her skin and leave it dark and bloody in a few places. She could feel her muscles groaning and snapping under what wild strain this massive overflow of Magic was subjecting her to.

She coughed, her eyes leaving the scene for a split second as she bit back at it, immediately tasting the blood as it slipped past the edge of her lip. She growled, her eyes snapping back upward and ignoring what agony her body was slowly allowing her to feel as her numbness faded to nonexistence.

She swiped her arm in front of her, pale blue and white springing between herself and what onslaught of Mordren's Magic that suddenly broke through her Spell to stream out toward her, the Lunar shield cracking against the force but not giving into it.

Mordren jumped out into sight, his face twisted in fury and murder, his skin bloody and burned, but still looking no more weary than before. His hands moved in front of him, his fingers forming a triangle shape, his Magic pooling into a thin, compact stream between them before he swept his arms out wide, the Magic growing in size to the width of his armspan.

"Energy God's Secret Art;" He growled, Frea stiffened, her eyes narrowed to slits as her fists clenched at her sides, the Lunar shield disappearing from sight as her eyes locked to him. Her arm moved behind her, her palm facing the sky and fingers curled slightly,

His hands moved back together, his palms clapping together with a resounding boom as the Magic beamed toward her in an instant, tearing up the stone underfoot as it traveled, and wearing a line into the stone that reached several dozen feet.

"Black Hole!"

Frea stepped sideways, moving quickly as she jumped, missing the blast by barely an inch and close enough a few strands of her hair were cut clean off, Mordren's Magic carved straight through the water and over the edge of the mountain, finally stopping as it hit the side of a distant mountain far off- and it was set alight by sparking black that made the stone and earth cave in on itself with a resounding boom that carried for miles.

Frea had turned, her arm swinging around as she spun to face Mordren again, the ground torn up behind her as blazing silver sparked from her hand, the air around her suddenly fogging as shining sheets of ice sprung up from the ground in her movement.

"Energy Dragon Slayer New Secret Art;" She hissed under her breath, Mordren's eyes snapping away from his Spell missing her entirely toward what action she had moved into with only a seconds pause.

"Ice Shock!"

The ground was torn up in a flurry of immense power pouring from it and around it, large fissures wearing into the ground as Energy and Ice alike shot up from the pits of the earth, shaking the ground all around and sending up large slabs of stone and huge sections of ice that cut straight through the stone, while her Energy detonated everything else. The attack shot out across toward Mordren in a beeline, too quick and too powerful for him to even think of trying to move or dodge.

His arms crossed in front of him, his Magic blazing as he was thrown backward, his body bombarded with explosions and cut instantaneously by the ice, his skin covered in frost, dirt and blood as he landed against the ground, hard. He flipped back over on to his feet, his Magic streaming forward past him toward Frea, his eyes glinting in a murderous light. He didn't care how impossible this was, or how she was managing this at all- he wanted her dead and that was all that mattered.

"Energy God's-" His head snapped up, before he was caught short, his eyes widening slightly to see the wall of black that appeared in front of him, Frea materializing from the mass of it an instant as her fists swung out toward him, one blazing in cold, bright white, the other surrounded in pitch black shadow.

"White-Shadow Dragon's-" She hissed, her hands moving forward instantly as the Magic converged with a flash, a wave of pressure rising up to meet him as an orb materialized from the combined Magic. "Flash Fang!"

Mordren yelled, instantly thrown back by the combined blast that spiraled out to meet him, hitting him square in the chest and ripping apart his clothes, leaving them bloody. Frea didn't let up, her cheeks puffing up as she sucked in air, her eyes shutting tight as she forced herself not to react to what flash of searing pain ignited in her core and her chest at the action,

"Elemental Dragon Roar!"

The spinning column was composed of silver, red, blue, grey, purple, gold and white and black... Shadow, Light, Energy, Wind, Poison, Iron, Water, Ice, Lightning, Fire, Sunlight and Moonlight all at once. All of the Magics, dancing and flashing in a blur of color and sheer power, the Roar easily reaching several stories high and destroying everything in it's path, swallowing Mordren whole as it stretched past him, tearing across the lake and obliterating the mountainside, sending rocks crashing and rolling.

Frea stiffened, her hand moving up to hold her stomach lightly as she ended up coughing as soon as the attack was finished, her teeth gritting together and hardly able to breath, she felt more blood dripping from her mouth now, it felt like she had torn her throat up with that attack, and her stomach and chest seared in agony. Her fist clenched at her side, her eyes flashing, the stone underfoot cracked from the force of her Magic Pressure doubling, again, she went rigid, feeling pain coursing through her veins now without end.

... _damn it.... This much Magic... it's too much...._

"Black God's Demolition Barrage!"

Frea jumped back, twisting and turning out of the way of what powerful bursts of Magic shot toward her, her body moving and her Magic flaring to block what ones she couldn't dodge, and even cut through a few, all regardless of how much it hurt, how much agony it was to move, to keep using Magic... to let it keep flowing through her, rise more and more.

Mordren was in front of her in an instant, seething in rage and fury but still- even after all the insane amount of Magic she was throwing at him- he was still going, and he didn't look like he would be letting up anytime soon.... He wasn't a man, not really, she hardly doubted any human could keep going like this, or at least she never believed one could.

... _shit..... my body won't last long enough at this rate.... How in the hell is he still going...?! I'm throwing every ounce of Power I have and it's tearing my body to pieces... how is it still not enough...?!_

His hand shot forward, his fingers pointed toward in a gun shape as a sharp, small burst of Magic appeared at his finger tip, something so small and yet something with enough Magic Power she felt it ram into her in the next instant, stronger than it even was before... and the same Spell that had killed her, now, nearly point blank, and pointed right at the center of her forehead.

... _. Fuck.... I can't... what Magic would even block that, at this distance....?!_

"Dark will win over Light, witch!" He hissed, eyes wild. "Dragons fall to Gods, they always will!"

The Magic was too much, her body was on fire, her mind ebbing away by the second... what insane instinct had allowed her use of so many different Magics at once, that let the magic and the Spells flow freely through her body and almost on their own, it all came to a halt, nothing... there was nothing, not with what Power she had now.

The world screeched into a terrified slow moving blur, all eyes plastered to the scene below, their faces twisted in utter terror as they saw Mordren's hand move not a few inches from Frea's forehead.

She heard it, even in that small instant. A voice, a voice she had heard before, and she felt the Power flowing through her rise up anew.... Her hands started to move on their own as it all flooded into her head and senses.

... _. Energy in.... All Magic... That includes... even...._

"Energy God's Piercing Shot!"

There was an earsplitting boom, the shot striking out toward her and what small distance there was between herself in it.

Mordren's smile fell, his eyes growing wider than ever before as he watched her hands move up, and the small, compact bullet of his Magic.... Halted. Entirely.

She moved her hands forward, shaking and trembling as the bullet moved back with her, following her command as her eyes fixed away from it, and to him.

Mordren's Magic was shot backward, striking him clean through his core and sending a scarlet spray of blood through the air behind him, his jaw falling slack as he struggled to grasp exactly what it was she had done.

"Y-you.... You....." He stammered, the pain filling his core as he felt his Magic drip through his fingers, fumbling at the wound. ".... Did you.... Resend.... My Magic....?"

Frea never answered, her Magic exploded around her as her hand swung forward, the water of the lake frothing and churning from behind her as she glared, her eyes flint and dangerous.

"Water Nebula!"

The water of the lake rose up behind her, two columns of water rotating around each other and forming a helix, streaming past her and slamming into his body with a painful jolt, the water hissing and burning against him, tearing and slicing his body in every direction all at once. His Magic flared around him instinctively, but the onslaught that rammed into him couldn't be held against, even by him.

"Darkness will _not-_ " Frea snapped coldly, her arms raising behind her as the ground trembled, pillars and sections of the earth raising up, crackling and flickering with Magic. The earth shot out toward him, ramming into him on all sides as the water ceased, breaking bones and pummeling his body painfully as he failed to defend against it- in an instant her Magic had reached beyond... anything. And he didn't know what changed.... Only that his control over that battle had been shattered, by this woman.... This impossible...

"- I won't let you... or anyone else destroy the world, or kill anyone, not a single person!" Her voice cut through what incredible amount of noise the sudden onslaught of magic was tearing out toward him, she spun, her hands moving out as lightning arced from the sky, striking at him in powerful bursts and waves, he was on his feet, taking every hit, his Magic destroyed each time he tried to block hers, he was stumbling and staggering against it all.

Frea ran forward, the stone shattering under her footsteps as she swung out toward Mordren, her fingers curled and dancing with silver and red, she cut straight through his jacket, leaving long, blistering marks across his arm as she grazed him. "Beat me, torture me, tear my body apart, kill me- I don't care, I will not let you win!" He hissed angrily, his Magic flaring with his emotions as he bombarded her with heavy attack after attack, Frea was pushed back, hissing as some of the Spells left a few marks, but the fire in her eyes never wavered.

"To hell with it if my Magic breaks my body, and to hell with it if you or it kills me!" She snapped, her words icy and seething. "To hell with all of this nonsense! I don't know what gave you the right to decide you were going to be the one to plunge the world into chaos, or that I was gonna be the one in your way. But I'm here if I like it or not, _and I won't let you_. If I have to give in, change myself, let myself fall past that line I held myself back from crossing... _then so fucking be it!"_

Her hands raised over her head, streams of Magic in so many colors and shapes to count spinning around her at an insane amount of speed. Her Magic and her Power lashed out, violently as he stood against it, taking the beating that had the air and the earth trembling. He tried to throw his Magic out, latch to her Energy, stop her in her tracks and send her senses into what numbness control allowed... but he _couldn't._ The Magic and the power swirling around her, it was like his Magic couldn't even get close, not close enough to take control of her mind and body.

She was in more pain than she could ever remember being, fire raced through every inch of her body, muscle snapping and bone splintering under what wild backlash of the Magic coursing through her body was inflicting with every passing second. She could feel the blood dripping from those fatal wounds still, she tasted the metallic liquid on her tongue as it dripped steadily from her mouth, and even her nose, small thin streams making its way past her tearducts. She could hardly even see straight any more, but she didn't care, the only thing keeping her going was her own Power.... And her own drive, and anger.

"I'll be the goddamn Malurey if I have to, and I'll destroy you, no matter what!"

A few more Spells managed past her Magic and rammed into her body, she grit her teeth at it, but didn't relent. Every form of Magic her body would allow was ramming into him, cutting and burning and pounding, his body was breaking and yet his Magic wouldn't let up.... Truly a monster (or god) of a man. She was sent stumbling backward, a shot tearing through the top of her shoulder, she hissed, her fangs bared as she started forward toward him, his dark eyes glinting maliciously.

"Your days of murder are over, MORDREN!"

She let go, her Magic racing through her veins in an agonizing wave that left her body feeling like nothing but fractured stone, every ounce of it rushed forward toward him, the sky overhead churning as lightning and streams of blue and red alike tore down at him, the wind racing past his body and tearing him to shreds, stone erecting and steel and metal that plunged through his limbs and torso, his blood mixing with hers that had been spilled all around what was left of that stone island. His yell of pain rung on the air, his Magic exploding around him and fracturing hers, he landed on his feet, trembling and bleeding as his dark gaze fixed to her, and his Magic threatened to tear toward her again. His body was breaking apart, and yet it wasn't over, he wasn't done-

Frea spun, her arms on either side of her as bright, red and orange flame flickered off her skin, silver sparking among the fire as she threw her body weight in his direction, every inch of her person was bloody too, skin torn and ripped, bruised unnaturally in places, streams of crimson dripping from every wound, her nose, her mouth, her eyes- and yet she never looked more resolute, more powerful.

"Exploding Crimson Energy Blade!"

The spinning arc of silver and red shot toward him, scooping him up in it's fiery blaze as his body sustained what immeasurable force rammed into him- too much force, more force than every Spell yet had had, Mordren yelled in pain as he fell back through the air, the anger in his eyes leaving as Frea's hand curled, holding it out toward him as he felt agony like a thousand blades piercing through his very core, it wasn't his chest, nor his body... it was like he could feel his very existence being gripped tight in her Power and wrenched apart into millions of pieces.

Jynx stared, riveted and shivers running up and down her spine as she watched that pitch, tar black soul.... _Shatter._ Consumed by silver and destroyed, all at once.

Mordren's body fell away into pieces, his entire existence wiped out as his Power and his Energy Signature ceased to exist, his form broke away into ash, dispersing on the wind and leaving no trace of the Energy God Slayer, all that remained of him was what damage had been done, what a warzone the entire area was, and the horror that lingered in the hearts of everyone who had seen him.

The Great Black God of Energy, he who brought the world to it's knees, who's Magic Power could consume a country, and who destroyed every Energy Mage.... Who had lived centuries beyond count and nearly threw the world into chaos.... Was suddenly no more.

The world fell into utter slowness again, still and silent as the clouds overhead rumbled, rain pattering against the stone and drenching everything in sight, the scarlet pools littered everywhere running thin in the sudden downpour.

Frea had come to a halt, her Magic and the feel of it disappearing completely the minute her Spell was done, it faded into nothing, not even a wisp of it stirred in her core, that silver markings that had run over her skin and the glowing scales had gone too. Her arms fell, her body heaving and shaking violently as her eyes remained fixed to where Mordren had turned to dust, her silver gaze growing dull and unfocused by the second.

Pain seared through her core, her eyes snapping shut as her body hunched, her chest heaving as she stumbled, a pool of blood coming up her throat and splattering against the rain soaked stone under her trembling feet, her arms hugging her body as she felt the waves and pain crash over her head and pull her under, the world tilting and growing dark.

Even through the pain she felt that familiar prickle on the air, she smelled his scent even among the overwhelming scent of the rain and her own blood. In a world going grey there was some small, faint flicker of gold. She felt his arms wrap around her broken body as she tilted forward, her legs giving out completely and threatening to send her crashing into the stone... but he didn't let her fall.

Her body was limp, she couldn't move and she hadn't the strength to try, the world was fading fast, blurred and swirling as he let her lie on the ground gently, his voice fragmented and lost on her ears, trying to keep her attention on him and her head above the waves and yet it did little good.

There was fear...

"... F.. Frea... Hey..... sta..... wit... me...."

She couldn't feel the rain splashing against her face anymore, let alone hear it's patter on the ground..... there was the low rumble of thunder, deep and slow...

"... Fr....ea...!"

The thunder faded into silence too... the black crawled up, faster... stronger.... Silence was settling...

"... s..he....."

She felt it... the waters of the Reach.... Surrounding... drowning...

".... Fre...."

....Falling....

...

....

...

* * *

 

**A/N**

**And that is THE END OF THE BOOK.**

**Next one is 'Broken Fairies'**


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